Book Review

Over on LJ, there's been some discussion about books by people of color (PoC), and there's lists of suggested books for reading. I like mysteries, so when I noticed a series by Barbara Neely about the amateur sleuth Blanche White, I tracked down a source and got some of them. They're not in print now, so you have to hit the used bookstores, and I've got the second or third in the series (not the first, I never start with the first book except by accident). This one is Blanche Cleans Up, published in 1998.

Blanche White is a black woman with confidence, a business (housekeeper/cook/etc.), and two kids (courtesy of her dead sister). In this book, she is asked to fill in for someone at the home of a rich white couple; in the course of two weeks, she stumbles across a mysterious videotape, several dead bodies, and figures out the murderer as well as solving a few other mysteries along the way.

Barbara Neely is an excellent writer; from the very first page she grabs hold of you and pulls you along. There's all kinds of people in here, from elderly preachers to teens with attitudes. Definitely worth reading, and I hope to find more by this author.