Mood Indigo [Paperback]

Charlotte Vale Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2000

It is late winter 1934 in Manhattan when DeeDee Carlson dies after falling from the balcony of her apartment at the Ansonia. Her boyfriend, Chip Stevenson, begs Honoria Barlow-his late mother's closest friend, and his, as well-to look into the circumstances of DeeDee's death. Honoria insists that her experience as a script doctor doesn't qualify her to play gumshoe, but out of love for Chip, and against the wishes of her protective, Russian-born husband, Mikhail, she agrees to do a little sleuthing. This commitment takes Honoria and her assistant, Maybelle, into some of New York's most elegant dwellings where they meet the dead girl's mother and friends. Some of DeeDee's friends adored her; some loathed her. The young woman had many secrets, and as Honoria begins to uncover them, the situation turns as dangerous as the murderously cold weather. With homeless families living in a Hooverville in Central Park, and the popular radio shows, restaurants, nightclubs, and shops, the era is meticulously reproduced; it's black and white, like a film that's the end-product of one of Honoria's doctored scripts. It's Manhattan; it's a clever, unique woman working her way through a puzzle; and, ultimately, it's a matter of whether Honoria will survive the experience.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It's New York, it's winter, and it's 1934. Honoria Barlow, raised from infancy in a Catholic orphanage, is a dedicated and prosperous "movie script doctor," currently living with her lover, Mick, a mysterious Russian she met while traveling in Europe. Maybelle, a proud and determined young woman from Harlem, is Honoria's fiercely loyal secretary of five years. At the urging of guileless Chip Stevenson, the son of Honoria's deceased best friend, the women try to uncover the secrets behind the murder/suicide of wolf-in-sheep's-clothing Dee Dee Carlson, Chip's fortune-seeking girlfriend. Curiously, the mystery-solving endeavors of Honoria and Maybelle take a backseat to the interaction between Honoria's comrades and housemates and Allen's vivid portrait of Depression-era America. However, the arrangement works quite nicely, allowing the character's devotion to Honoria and their personal and collective histories to shine through. Mood Indigo is a truly delightful tale, complete with an unpretentious mystery and a refreshingly warm tribute to friendship thrown in for good measure. Toni Hyde --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 284 pages
• Publisher: Island Nation Pr Llc (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965743721
• ISBN-13: 978-0965743723
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,537,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charlotte Vale-Allen was born in Toronto and lived in England from 1961 to 1964 where she worked as a television actress and singer. She returned to Toronto briefly, performing as a singer until she emigrated to the US in 1966. She sold her first novel Love Life in 1974. Prior to this book's publication she contracted to do a series of paperback originals, with the result that in 1976 three of her books appeared in print. Her autobiography, the acclaimed Daddy's Girl, was actually the first book she wrote but it wasn't until 1980, after she'd gained success as a novelist, that the groundbreaking book was finally published. One of Canada's most successful novelists, with over seven million copies sold of her 39 books, Ms. Allen's work has been published in all English-speaking countries, in Braille, and have been translated into more than 20 languages. The mother of an adult daughter and grandmother of twins, since 1970 she has made her home in Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mood Indigo is my favorite book!, September 16, 2001

By 

Thomas Ligotti Reader (Somewhere, on earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mood Indigo (Hardcover)

Mood Indigo is my favorite book. The writing is excellent.

Mood Indigo is brilliant; it kept me guessing "who did it" until the end. Usually in mystery books I can tell right off the bat who the killer is. But not this time. And usually I can say at least one thing I didn't like about a book. But not this time.

I highly recommend Mood Indigo to anyone who wants to read a mystery with exceptional characters in a time before the internet and cell phones. I guarantee you will not be disappointment.

Charlotte Vale Allen has written many books, all different, and Mood Indigo is no exception. She makes you care about the characters.

Mood Indigo is a must read for mystery buffs. Once you've read the book you will see why it's my all-time favorite book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perfectly consummated mystery, September 20, 1999

By 

[e-mail] ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mood Indigo (Hardcover)

Wonderful as always, Charlotte develops and then allows us to explore vivid and complex characters. She weaves an amazing tapestry of a book, starting with only a few colors then leading us on with the promise of more and brilliant additions, and she does not disappoint.

The pace of this book is exactly as a novel should be paced -giving us time to savor yet propelling us to turn the page. There are valuable insights into the reality of abuse even in the setting of the great depression. Add to all of this a perfectly consummated mystery and you have MOOD INDIGO.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Charlotte Vale Allen - Once Again!, May 4, 1998

By 

Donnell McCullough ([e-mail] (West Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mood Indigo (Hardcover)

The book starts off lightly, like an evocative Blues song -with a couple of instruments playing, teasing us with a hauntingmelody line. We 'witness' the crime and are introduced to some of the main characters. We don't know them well at this point, but they are intriguing enough to keep us reading, wanting to know more.

In Blues tradition, as each new segment of the song is played, more instruments are added, a few at a time, adding depth and power to the resulting sound, and we don't even realize how subtly we've been drawn into the heart of the music. So it is with "Mood Indigo". These are people we'd like to know (most of them, anyway!), and their lives, both past and present, form a rich tapestry which comes to life as we share with them this frigid winter month in the heart of New York City during a year when a lot of us weren't even born yet. The settings in which they operate and the clothes they wear, as well as the language they use, draw us back into that era.

As the rhythm of this story picks up momentum, all of the players are now in place, interacting with each other in fascinating, surprising ways, giving us entrancing 'solo' action at unexpected moments. Their individual 'melody lines' weave in and out, all headed in the same direction, but traveling in their own unique way. Honoria, who occupies the pivotal position in the story, is all at the same time strong and vulnerable, in control and at the mercy of, loved and feared - wonderfully, powerfully human. She is the rich, underlying 'melody line' throughout the piece, and her commitment and loyalty draw the remaining players along with her, including us as observers to their drama. We follow eagerly, gratified to be involved.

The end of the 'song' is approaching, all the 'players' are in full swing. The mystery has drawn us in, full of surprising twists, giving us clues, so far, but no answers. We proceed quickly, devouring paragraphs in great gulps as the story expands. We attempt to take it all in, not wanting to miss anything along the way. Once everyone's part in the performance has been disclosed to the fullest (in a song), and the characters' roles have been defined, giving us the answers to our questions (in a story), the individuals begin to slowly withdraw from the inner circle, backing away one or two at a time, leaving Center Stage to the one with the lead melody line. "Mood Indigo" follows this path. The music slowly fades in our heads, and the book is reluctantly closed, because we're not yet ready to be finished with either the entertaining 'song' or the remarkable people whose lives we've shared.

From the haunting picture on the cover to the last typewritten line, "Mood Indigo" will captivate its readers, as it gives us yet another pearl to add to our string of Charlotte Vale Allen treasures. I laughed out loud, cried real tears, and was disappointed only by the fact that the end of the story came so soon. My thanks, once again, to the author!