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Blue [Paperback]

Abigail Padgett (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 1, 2001
Blue McCarron, the savvy, gay social psychologist with a yen for crime detection, is captivated by the bizarre case of Beatrice "Muffin" Crandall, a proper grande dame of 72 who has just confessed to murdering a man, chopping him up, and storing his body parts in a frozen locker. But why is Muffin's brother Dan asking Blue for her help in getting Muffin to retract her confession? And why are Muffin's wealthy society friends clearly lying to protect her? Stalking the truth will lead Blue to a desperate, nationwide conspiracy -- and an unraveling mystery more dangerous than she bargained for.

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Two years after her lover left without warning, Blue McCarron has retreated to an abandoned motel in the desert near San Diego. She's a social psychologist who is decidedly antisocial; her only companion is a Doberman named Bront?. When the frozen body of a street hustler is discovered in a meat locker and an old woman, Muffin Crandall, confesses to his murder, Blue is asked to investigate. Muffin pretends to be crazy, but Blue doesn't buy it and sets out to find the real killer. Along the way, she befriends a prison psychiatrist and ex-con. Together they stumble onto a child prostitution ring and a secret organization determined to save the young prostitutesAat any cost. Blue has to confront demons from her past, including her twin brother, who is in prison, and her lingering passion for her missing lover. Blue is sassy, tough, scared, vulnerable, and funnyAa great new character from Padgett, known for her Bo Bradley series (The Dollmaker's Daughters, LJ 1/97). Recommended.AKaren Anderson, Arizona State Univ. West Lib., Phoenix
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Blue McCarron has a Ph.D. in social psychology. She teaches and writes while living reclusively in an abandoned motel in the middle of the California desert with her Doberman, Bronte. A minister's kid, she has an imprisoned felon for a twin and a broken heart from grieving over her lost lover, Misha. When a body is found trussed up in a public freezer and widow Muffin Crandall, 61, claims she killed an intruder in self-defense and then did some dumb things, including freezing the corpse for five years, Muffin's brother Dan hires Blue to free his much older sister by analyzing her. It is apparent to Blue and forensic psychiatrist Rox that Muffin's story is a hoax. But who is Muffin protecting? Who wants her dead? And, maybe more important, will Blue ever resolve her love for Misha and love again? Complete with commentary by a Rastafarian Greek chorus in the form of ex-felon BB the Punk, the witty, suspenseful lesbian-detective thriller is hard to resist. Whitney Scott --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Mysterious Press; Reprint edition (March 1, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0446677027
  • ISBN-13: 978-0446677028
  • Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,448,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Abigail Padgett grew up in Vincennes, IN, and holds degrees from Indiana University, the University of Missouri and Washington University, St.Louis. She has taught high school English and college courses in Sociology and Creative Writing in San Diego and Boston, directed an ACLU chapter in Houston and worked as an advocate for the mentally ill, plus enduring some truly weird temp jobs.

Abbie is the author of seven highly acclaimed mystery novels that have been translated into five languages, one novel among which, CHILD OF SILENCE, was made into a movie in France. (Which must have been challenging, since the novel's action takes place in the California desert and features Native American Paiute people.) Her eighth and latest mystery, BONE BLIND, is set in the Boston suburb of Newton, where two horror novelists and a detective just months short of retirement investigate a decades-old unsolved murder the spin from which proves even more deadly than the original crime.

Two new mysteries and a magical realist novel are in various stages.

San Diego is home, although Abbie spends much time on the East Coast and in France, where one of the new mysteries is set. She is a dog person happiest in the company of dachshunds, a lapsed vegetarian with heartland food preferences, and a lifelong fan of Poe, Algernon Blackwood and the Graveyard Poets.


 

Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
5 star:
 (12)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved BLUE and can't wait for the next book in the series!, April 10, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Blue (Hardcover)
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.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars liked this enough to search for more Blue books, March 1, 2001
By A Customer
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Blue (Hardcover)
I bought this book on a 'gamble' when it was in the amazon.com Bargain bin and really enjoyed it. It lead me to all the Bo Bradley novels as well, but I am really interested in following more of Bo AND Blue! Those who are put off by the sexual orientation of the main character amuse me...as it wasn't really the focus of the whole book. As neither a rampant feminist or a lesbian, I found this twist to be a simple character feature rather than the driving force of the whole book. Well written, it pulled me through the whole plot in less than a couple days. Hard to put down!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved BLUE!, December 2, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Blue (Hardcover)
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.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
When I was ten years old my godmother announced through clouds of Marlboro smoke that I was definitely not an old soul. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
public freezer, food locker
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Muffin Crandall, Helen Tewalt, San Diego, Victor Camacho, Nanna Foy, Dan Crandall, Frankie Lopez, Eden Snow, Glenda Martin, Bugsy Sneller, Roxie Bouchie, Deirdre Eckels, Cameron Wrenner, Carter Upchurch, Las Colinas, Lower Willows, Coyote Creek, Betsy Blue, Anna Lopez, New York, Wren's Gulch, Borrego Springs, Misha Deland, Palm Springs, Rancho Almas
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