Blue

Oh my goddess...Blue McCarron, Ph.D. is one hot character. A recluse out in her desert hotel, Blue and her wonder dog Bronte (loved Bronte). Blue has many skeletons in her closet...Misha, the woman she loved who one day disappeared. Her aunt, Carty, is acting mysteriously and there's the necklace Blue's seen before. The mending of her relationship with her twin brother David, who in prison, but is getting married. And there's Muffin Crandall's friends who are being picked off one at a time by someone unknown. Blue and Bronte survive many encounters in the desert with some unsavory characters. Her new friends BB and Rox are better friends than she knew. Beautifully written with character and environmental development.

BLUE is a wonderful read. I found myself laughing and cheering as it unfolds. It's militantly feminist, compassionate, humorous, well-written, suspenseful and action-packed. I bought it in hardcover, and I don't usually, but I knew I would want to read it again.

What shines through in BLUE, as in the Bo Bradley mysteries, is the enormous and delicious intelligence of the author. Padgett is a scrupulous researcher, so I am always certain that what I am learning in her books is authentic. And I admire her great concern with and commitment to integrity, honor, honesty,compassion, and justice. Her absolutely wickely fabulous sense of humor is highlighted in this new series in a way that makes me laugh remembering a couple of the funniest scenes I've ever read. I agree with an earlier reviewer who commented that the book transcends the genre -- while at the same time fulfilling all that we mystery lovers crave from the genre. I think this is a tremendously important feminist novel. I can't wait until BLUE comes out in paperback because then I will be able to afford to make it the chief gift item to share with women friends for birthdays and Christmas/Chanukah for that year. To men friends, I will be giving etiquette books for the next few years, inspired, as those of you who have read BLUE already will understand, by this memorable mystery.

Padgett's Blue McCarron is so well-written and has such an unusual mind and point of view that I hope she becomes an ongoing character in other novels. The novel's plot is interesting and was sufficiently complex to keep me interested from start to finish. I am recommending this book to everyone I know.

I have been following the Bo Bradley books from the beginning, since they combine several topics of interest to me: Native Americans, Child Welfare, and bi-polar disease. I run around giving copies to people who I would like to have understand these issues. When I got "Blue" my first reaction was momentary disappointment because it wasn't a Bo Bradley book. But, as I read, I quickly became entranced. I agree entirely with her analysis of human behaviour in terms of chimpanzee (NOT gorilla) behaviour. I am a 64-year-old cultural anthropologist, and as every new chimp study has come in, over the last 20 years, I have seen clearly how closely human behaviour is tied to our genes. It has discouraged me greatly. Padgett's riotous take on it has cheered me up. As for those who can't take the lesbian side of the story, it's a love story, for pete's sake! Love stories are not tied to gender or gender preference. What I hate is lesbian mysteries which ape certain male mysteries, serving as excuses for soft (or not so soft) porn. Like "Cathy" (comic strip): I spent the first half of my life learning everything I could about men; now I'm spending the last half trying to forget it. I will look forward to another book in this series. Don't forget Bo, tho!