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A Mommy-Track Mystery #7
Bye-Bye, Black Sheep
The newest arrival in the bestselling and wildly funny Mommy- Track mysteries.
Their fledgling detective agency has spread its wings-and now Juliet and Al are finally flying high. They're used to seeing many people come through the doors of their garage-turned-office, seeking their help. But they're about to realize that they ain't seen nothin' yet.
Heavenly has come to Juliet with a story too sad for any detective with a conscience to turn down. Her sister, an addict and streetwalker, has turned up dead-and the police couldn't care less. With any luck-and with plucky Juliet doing all she can-Heavenly will bring the killer to justice. But it's hard going undercover when you're a tall, gorgeous transsexual.
Their fledgling detective agency has spread its wings-and now Juliet and Al are finally flying high. They're used to seeing many people come through the doors of their garage-turned-office, seeking their help. But they're about to realize that they ain't seen nothin' yet.
Heavenly has come to Juliet with a story too sad for any detective with a conscience to turn down. Her sister, an addict and streetwalker, has turned up dead-and the police couldn't care less. With any luck-and with plucky Juliet doing all she can-Heavenly will bring the killer to justice. But it's hard going undercover when you're a tall, gorgeous transsexual.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2006
6 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Ayelet Waldman
28 books40.3k followersAyelet Waldman is the author of A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life, Love and Treasure, Red Hook Road and The New York Times bestseller Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace. Her novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits was made into a film starring Natalie Portman. Her personal essays and profiles of such public figures as Hillary Clinton have been published in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Vogue, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Her radio commentaries have appeared on "All Things Considered" and "The California Report."
You can follow Ayelet on Facebook and Twitter.
Love and Treasure is available for purchase here.
You can follow Ayelet on Facebook and Twitter.
Love and Treasure is available for purchase here.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
March 25, 2010
I found it rather slow-going and tedious. I didn't care for the main character at all. Her constant flipping back and forth about the case and the family grew old around chapter four.
I won't be looking up the rest of the series.
I won't be looking up the rest of the series.
January 11, 2023
I loved Red Hook Road and I enjoyed the first three mysteries in this series. But I REALLY LOVED this book! Very diverse and very much focused on social justice and the grave differences between a childhood in the "middle class" or "elite" versus a childhood in "poverty"... Extremely well done mystery and very well-defined characters! Having been a knitter this cover image cracks me up! Anxious to read the other three books in this series and continue on with Waldman's writing!
September 15, 2012
This is the first book of the Mommy-track Mystery series that I've read, although the seventh and author-proclaimed last in the series. Juliet Applebaum is an ex-lawyer and full-time mother of three, while a half-time private detective. Juliet Applebaum seems to be a homunculus of the author and Wikipedia seems to agree, stating, "Like Waldman, Juliet is a 5-foot-tall (1.5 m), red-headed former public defender, with a nocturnal-writer for a husband, who has become a stay-at-home mother but finds it boring."
I picked this up off the shelf at the library this morning when there were slim-pickings. Although a very quick read, I set it down at page 113 of 259 because I just wasn't enjoying the pace. For a cozy mystery, this book is not very happy. It does not have the comic breaks that I would've enjoyed. Further, there didn't seem to be much action or interest going on with the protagonist regarding the murder mystery. The easy-to-read made the pages go by fast and yet the pace seemed slow due to the lack of anything of much interest going on. The protagonist, and by extension, the reader, doesn't really have any great experiences of connecting with another character by this point and we're already 100 pages in.
I would've preferred something funnier and having more supporting character development.
I picked this up off the shelf at the library this morning when there were slim-pickings. Although a very quick read, I set it down at page 113 of 259 because I just wasn't enjoying the pace. For a cozy mystery, this book is not very happy. It does not have the comic breaks that I would've enjoyed. Further, there didn't seem to be much action or interest going on with the protagonist regarding the murder mystery. The easy-to-read made the pages go by fast and yet the pace seemed slow due to the lack of anything of much interest going on. The protagonist, and by extension, the reader, doesn't really have any great experiences of connecting with another character by this point and we're already 100 pages in.
I would've preferred something funnier and having more supporting character development.
June 14, 2009
I think this is the last one in the Mommy Track mystery series, which makes me sad. What other fictional private investigator obsesses about the dilemna of staying home with her children vs. working like this: "I had been unprepared for how slowly the time would creep along, how interminable a day would feel. I'd been unprepared for how lonely and bored I would be. But I'd also been unprepared for the intensity of my passion for my children, how their lives would consume and subsume my own." I love the issues Waldman decides to tackle in her books, whether it's how we want our crime victims to be blameless or what constitutes being an overprotective, over-the-top parent...
February 16, 2009
I never warmed up to this book. I think it was not "tight" enough or something. I finished it, and thought, "um, okay..." which is unusual for me. I really can't give it much of a review because it was not gripping in any way.
Shallow and uninteresting. Nothing to write home about, a disappointing read.
Shallow and uninteresting. Nothing to write home about, a disappointing read.
October 4, 2013
I read this only because the author is coming to the lecture series. shallow mystery series. Too political and the plot line wasn't that great either. maybe her new book is better
March 4, 2023
First of this series I’ve read. Not a bad book. I liked the anxious narrator and could relate but some far fetched things in her investigation and irresponsible behavior that irked me. Also the character is supposed to be a former attorney and she seems to misunderstand some common legal concepts or way things work. Not bad though quick read and I liked the unclean and realistic ending
June 1, 2017
I did not think there was much depth to the story. Perhaps the writing was not good.
October 11, 2020
My first read in this series and it was afairlt light hearted and lightweight read. Will hunt down another in this series sometime in the future
March 7, 2023
Loved Juliet
I am sorry this is the last book. I’ve loved Juliet and her family. I will lol at Ayelet Waldman’s other books.
I am sorry this is the last book. I’ve loved Juliet and her family. I will lol at Ayelet Waldman’s other books.
February 22, 2024
The final book in this series and so good. I have loved reading this series by a former public defender. The are all well-written and fun!
May 14, 2010
Bye-Bye, Black Sheep. Ayelet Waldman. 2006. Berkley. 259 pages. ISBN 9780425216392.
Bye-Bye, Black Sheep is the final book in the "Mommy-Track" cozy mystery series by Ayelet Waldman. Mom and ex-lawyer Juliet Applebaum is back to help a transsexual named Heavenly solve a mystery surrounding the death of her prostitute sister, Violetta. Because the cops have discarded the murder case given Violetta was not only a hooker, but a drug user too, Juliet becomes aggressive to obtain justice for Heavenly and her family.
The tone of Bye-Bye, Black Sheep is much darker and more somber than the series' previous books. The humor is sparse if at all present, and Juliet's narration voice is much more powerful, sending a serious message about the dangers in today's world from the standpoint of a mother. I really love Juliet's soliloquy-ish pieces throughout the book about being a realist versus a pessimist, as well as her mothering fears and worries about keeping her children safe. What mother doesn't feel the same way these days? These specific components are what really make this book great!
This book is excellent and engaging without any lulls, my only disappointment being the abrupt ending for a series finale. With Bye-Bye, Black Sheep being a cozy mystery, I would have enjoyed a more solid ending or snapshot involving Juliet's family.
I have delved into Ayelet Waldman's work outside of the "Mommy-Track" series and am pleased to see she is continuing to write outside the cozy mystery scope. I highly recommend Love and Other Impossible Pursuits and have Daughter's Keeper on my to-be-read shelf.
Ayelet Waldman is married to Michael Chabon, famed author of Wonder Boys and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
For more book reviews by DreamSE22, visit http://DreamworldBooks.com.
Bye-Bye, Black Sheep is the final book in the "Mommy-Track" cozy mystery series by Ayelet Waldman. Mom and ex-lawyer Juliet Applebaum is back to help a transsexual named Heavenly solve a mystery surrounding the death of her prostitute sister, Violetta. Because the cops have discarded the murder case given Violetta was not only a hooker, but a drug user too, Juliet becomes aggressive to obtain justice for Heavenly and her family.
The tone of Bye-Bye, Black Sheep is much darker and more somber than the series' previous books. The humor is sparse if at all present, and Juliet's narration voice is much more powerful, sending a serious message about the dangers in today's world from the standpoint of a mother. I really love Juliet's soliloquy-ish pieces throughout the book about being a realist versus a pessimist, as well as her mothering fears and worries about keeping her children safe. What mother doesn't feel the same way these days? These specific components are what really make this book great!
This book is excellent and engaging without any lulls, my only disappointment being the abrupt ending for a series finale. With Bye-Bye, Black Sheep being a cozy mystery, I would have enjoyed a more solid ending or snapshot involving Juliet's family.
I have delved into Ayelet Waldman's work outside of the "Mommy-Track" series and am pleased to see she is continuing to write outside the cozy mystery scope. I highly recommend Love and Other Impossible Pursuits and have Daughter's Keeper on my to-be-read shelf.
Ayelet Waldman is married to Michael Chabon, famed author of Wonder Boys and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.
For more book reviews by DreamSE22, visit http://DreamworldBooks.com.
October 16, 2012
This was the first book in the Mommy Track series that I've read, but apparently it's the last in the series. Juliet Applebaum is an ex-public defender, now the mother of three and a part-time private investigator. She is hired by a transsexual named Heavenly to find out who killed her sister, a drug-addicted prostitute. The police don't care about the murder, so Juliet takes the case.
I thought the book was very well written, although darker than most cozy mysteries and not exactly what I was expecting. The author is clearly a very gifted writer, and I have no negative comments about the writing itself or the plot. The only thing that keeps me from rating this book higher is the fact that I didn't connect with the protagonist. That surprised me because as someone who has spent time working in the legal field (though not as an attorney) and who has raised children of her own, I expected to connect with Juliet. Instead, I found myself wondering why Juliet even had children since she didn't seem to like them much.
I also found myself wanting to skip the long bits of introspection about how the world works because they felt preachy to me -- less the character's opinions than the author's. As I read reviews from other readers, I notice that those are the parts of the book some people liked best . . . which only goes to show how subjective this whole business of books and reading is.
I thought the book was very well written, although darker than most cozy mysteries and not exactly what I was expecting. The author is clearly a very gifted writer, and I have no negative comments about the writing itself or the plot. The only thing that keeps me from rating this book higher is the fact that I didn't connect with the protagonist. That surprised me because as someone who has spent time working in the legal field (though not as an attorney) and who has raised children of her own, I expected to connect with Juliet. Instead, I found myself wondering why Juliet even had children since she didn't seem to like them much.
I also found myself wanting to skip the long bits of introspection about how the world works because they felt preachy to me -- less the character's opinions than the author's. As I read reviews from other readers, I notice that those are the parts of the book some people liked best . . . which only goes to show how subjective this whole business of books and reading is.
December 1, 2007
I really, really liked this -- the latest entry in Waldman's "Mommy Track" mystery series. The plot seemed more robust than in Waldman's earlier books, the characters were rich, and it was a lot of fun to read -- that is, until I got to the end and realized there was no clear resolution. Yes, I realize that that's how life is -- not everthing is tied up in a neat little bundle, with all the loose ends clipped. But if I wanted ambiguous, I don't need to pick up a book to get it! To me, mysteries are formulaic, and that's why I read them: Bad guy commits crime. Good guy investigates crime. Bad guy gets caught and punished. Good guy lives to solve another day. Period. Instead, I was more than a little disappointed when I was left hanging at the end.
I also thought the book would have been stronger without the occasional author's-rants-hidden-as-character's-thoughts about the fairness of "society," and the injustice of the world. Enough is enough! We get the picture already
I also thought the book would have been stronger without the occasional author's-rants-hidden-as-character's-thoughts about the fairness of "society," and the injustice of the world. Enough is enough! We get the picture already
June 4, 2007
My usual mystery fluff, begun and finished in a day.
Different from the usual Mommy-Track novels, but with more of a social conscience. More thoughtful, more contemplative than the others. Waldman's first Mommy-Track since her stand-alone Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, an obvious shift shows clear in her writing. I should be more specific, an obvious shift for the better and a sincere testament to the social justice obsession that detective Juliet Applebaum often mentions but has finally illustrated.
Different from the usual Mommy-Track novels, but with more of a social conscience. More thoughtful, more contemplative than the others. Waldman's first Mommy-Track since her stand-alone Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, an obvious shift shows clear in her writing. I should be more specific, an obvious shift for the better and a sincere testament to the social justice obsession that detective Juliet Applebaum often mentions but has finally illustrated.
January 10, 2010
Juliet Applebaum had been a defense attorney before becoming a full-time mother. She loves her children but not necessarily every moment of long days of isolation. She kept getting involved in detection and finally sets up an agency with a retired policeman. These books are hilarious and right on in their details of modern motherhood and involve interesting cases in the L.A. area. Ayelet Waldman, Michael Chabon's wife, is also a master at exploring the tensions and intimacy of a loving, healthy marriage.
Read
July 30, 2011Another in the clever series of mysteries in which a former public defender becomes a private detective and solves murders while breast-feeding and taking her kids to play dates. This one involves prostitution, drug addiction and transgendered person. It moves along at a headlong pace like a toddler chasing a balloon, but the ending slightly resembles the air leaving the elusive globe. Nonetheless, it's sprightly and topical and the characters are likeable. What more can we ask?
Read
August 4, 2011I really liked this installment in the Mommy-Track series. It was a sad story about the murder of a street walker and the fact that no one cared except for her family. Once again the best part of the book were the characters not so much the mystery. It's a sad commentary that the murder of some people are viewed as unimportant compared to others. I really hope she writes more in this series. The main characters are just so fun to hang out with.
June 26, 2021
Great mystery series for a very fun, quick read. “Mommy-Track Mysteries” are about a harried, very busy mom/detective. What really makes these books are the stories about her kids. I have no kids, but I feel I’ve never lived so vicariously though the experiences of child rearing. This series is just too funny.
February 23, 2009
This is the first one of this series that I have read. I really enjoyed it. The author really gets what it feels like to be a mother. At least what it feels like to me. I had a lot of "Right on!" moments while reading. The story was good too. I will definitely be searching out the others in the series.
August 20, 2014
The only problem with this book is that it is the last in the Mommy Track Mystery series. I am going to miss Juliet and her family so much. I always enjoy spending time in her world even though the answer to her mysteries are often as tragic as the case it's self. In this series it often seems that family is your biggest enemy.
July 25, 2011
the last 2 of the series where alittle disappointing. The story its self wasn't that great and it seems like her main character Juliet was becoming more arrogant and pompous. Not something I found appealing and weldcoming to such a fun character to begin with.
August 2, 2012
Loved this series and hate that it's over but WOW Ayelet Waldman...enough with the freakin' editorializing! Just write me a right, quirky detective story and enough of the carrying on about your own personal politics. Definitely not her best work,
November 25, 2012
Madcap mom detective, not a lot here for a 40-something guy. Simple, pedestrian plot, but I suppose that offers reading comfort and some "oh-I've-been-there" to Waldman's target audience. She's a good writer, just not of interest to me.
June 2, 2007
Another good Mommy-track mystery. She does a great job expressing the feelings of a modern mom with a so-so mystery trown in.
August 2, 2007
Ayelet Waldman's Mommy Track books have proven to be quick and entertaining reads, without fail.
March 3, 2008
There are some detective novels that cross the line into real literature, and this is one. Great, poignant story about a murdered streetwalker in LA.
November 30, 2008
The Mommy-Track Mysteries:
1. Nursery Crimes
2. The Big Nap
3. Playdate With Death
4. Death Gets a Time-Out
5. Murder Plays House
6. The Cradle Robbers
7. Bye-Bye, Black Sheep
1. Nursery Crimes
2. The Big Nap
3. Playdate With Death
4. Death Gets a Time-Out
5. Murder Plays House
6. The Cradle Robbers
7. Bye-Bye, Black Sheep
May 7, 2008
my first mommy mystery. bought it in a mystery store in dublin last summer.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews