Who Killed Blanche DuBois? (Claire Rawlings Mystery) [Paperback]

Carole Bugge (Author)

Book Description

Series: Claire Rawlings Mystery | Publication Date: November 1, 1999

While teaching writing at an artists colony in Woodstock, mystery editor Claire Rawlings gets some bad vibes from the writers there. And things only get worse when she finds the colony's resident beauty -- dead in the bathtub.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Who Killed Blanche Dubois is an absolutely delightful and wonderfully clued story ... captures the reader's imagination." -- Romantic Times, November 1999

"Who Killed Blanche Dubois? is the work of a seasoned professional and it shows... pure entertainment at its best...." -- Geraldine Galentree, Remember the Alabi

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Berkley (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425171957
• ISBN-13: 978-0425171950
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,446,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pleasant Surprise, June 15, 2000

By 

Bruce Edward Hall - See all my reviews

This review is from: Who Killed Blanche DuBois? (Claire Rawlings Mystery) (Paperback)

Several years ago, Carole Bugge announced to her circle of friends that she wanted to be a poet. She hadn't written anything before, to the best of our knowledge, so we who knew her just looked knowingly at each other and smiled. Meanwhile, Carole wrote her poem, submitted it somewhere -- and won a prize. Then it got published in an anthology, and then a short story got published, and then a book ("The Star of India") and then a three-book deal from Penguin. And that is when I decided that I should hate her.

I suppose I am biased, but "Who Killed Blanche DuBois?" filled all of my murder-mystery requirements. It had atmosphere, some interesting characters, and a solution which actually surprised me. There was one main character who I found acutely annoying at first, but I eventually warmed up to her. And even though I picked up on some fairly arcane clues right away, I somehow didn't add them up correctly -- but then I never dreamed the Carole Bugge I knew would become a writer, so there you are. I would definitely recommend this book to any fan of Agatha Christie, as I am, even down to the fact that everyone's reaction to tragedy seems to be to sit down and have a proper cup of tea. One big difference, however, is that Carole develops her characters with a really lyrical prose. None of that clunky Christie type-casting and cliche.

I suppose that one problem I had was that, as the former owner of the upstate house Carole uses as one of her principal settings, I have to say -- my house was never that clean.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A delightful whodunit, September 20, 2000

By 

Sheila L. Beaumont (South Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Who Killed Blanche DuBois? (Claire Rawlings Mystery) (Paperback)

"Who Killed Blanche DuBois?" is the first in Carole Bugge's well-written, very entertaining series. I happened to read the second book ("Who Killed Dorian Gray?") before this one, and it contained many spoilers for the first, including the murderer's identity. No problem, though: I had great fun watching for the clues and red herrings. Of course, I spotted them easily, but it would have been much more difficult had I not already known who the villain was. In any case, it's a delightful whodunit with three intelligent detectives: the thoughtful mystery editor Claire Rawlings; the alarmingly precocious 13-year-old Meredith Lawrence, whose role model is Sherlock Holmes; and the affable, attractive police detective Wallace Jackson, a widower and former schoolteacher. Running through the story as a sort of background theme is Goethe's poem (and Schubert's song) "The Erl King."

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining mystery, November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Who Killed Blanche DuBois? (Claire Rawlings Mystery) (Paperback)

Industry insiders recognize Claire Rawlings of Ardor House Publications as one of the best mystery editors in the business. Her two biggest clients are the obnoxious Willard Hughes and southern belle Blanche DuBois. After several successful cozies, a doubting Claire agrees to allow Blanche to write a serious non-fiction book about the Ku Klux Klan.

Claire has a boy friend Robert and a semi-permanent teenage ward Meredith who fancies herself as a modern day Holmes. When Somme murders Blanche, the thirteen-year old girl begins sleuthing. As the suspects pile up, a second killing occurs. Meredith and a sexy police detective try to ferret out the culprit before Claire becomes a victim.

WHO KILLED BLANCHE DUBOIS is an entertaining amateur sleuth novel that is the first entry in what should be a long, successful series. The cleverly drawn who-done-it leaves the audience to decide who the killer is amidst a plethora of viable suspects. Meredith is an adorable genius with a teenage attitude that will have readers alternating between spanking her and hugging her. Carole Bugge demonstrates that she is a top rate story teller.

Harriet Klausner