Where To Choose [Mass Market Paperback]

Penny Mickelbury (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2001

Carole Ann Gibson: She used to uphold the law. Now she fights for justice.

Life isn't fair, but former D.C. Lawyer Carole Ann Gibson believes it should be just. A year ago, catching her husband's killer strained her faith in the legal system to the breaking point. Now she's climbing out of a numbing grief, and a plea for help from her mother may be all she needs snap her out of her lethargy...or get her killed.

Her mother's neighborhood has been one of Los Angele's little jewels: a couple of city blocks where mixed cultures got along and prospered. Now a rash of muggings and murders have residents scared to death. If the cops won't help, what can one woman do? Maybe nothing. But Carole Ann Gibson is willing to risk her life trying--to uncover the real reason for police indifference and enter a dark zone where those who catch criminals sometimes become them...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

On tough, Washington, D.C., defense attorney Carole Ann Gibson's first day back at Jacaranda Estates, the multiracial housing complex in Los Angeles where she grew up, she is threatened by two young gangsters.

"Do not come another step closer to me!" Gibson says in her best withering courtroom voice. Their surprise was replaced by anger, which, in turn, was replaced by snarling hatred. Carole Ann thought it a pity, the ugliness of their expressions, since they could have been--should have been--such handsome young men. Both reminded her of actors. One resembled the gorgeous Jimmy Smits, and the other could have been the offspring of the elegant Edward James Olmos. She wanted to tell them that if they resembled such lovely, creative men, they should behave creatively instead of destructively. She also wanted to kill them.

The same dynamite combination of sexual energy and unbridled aggression that distinguished One Must Wait, Penny Mickelbury's first book about Gibson, from the rest of the female legal-eagle horde gives her second adventure an equally impressive charge. Slowly recovering from the murder of her husband and the near death of her best friend, C.A. (as she's known in the trenches) responds to a call for help from her mother, one of a shrinking group of old women under seige at Jacaranda. Once a bastion of racial harmony, the housing estate has turned into a battlefield that the LAPD can't--or won't--control. So it's up to C.A. and her own private army of ex-cops, lawyers, and feisty old folks to find out what's going on--and you'd better believe they succeed. Mickelbury has also written two good books about lesbian detective Gianna Maglione, Keeping Secrets and Night Songs, both of which are available in paperback. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The characters in Micklebury's (One Must Wait, etc.) provocative new mystery are a diverse group: canny detectives and lawyers, burly security experts, newlyweds and aging widows. Added to a few gang members and unscrupulous policemen, they make for an explosive and unpredictable tale. A year after her husband was murdered, Carole Ann Gibson, once a high-powered criminal defense attorney in a top D.C. law firm, is still reeling from his death, alienated, depressed and unfocused. So when her mother, Grayce, calls from Los Angeles with a pressing problem, Carole Ann is ready to fly out to help. A Chicano gang has taken over Grayce's home in the once edenic subdivision of Jacaranda Estates, a working-class, family-oriented community planned by blacks and Hispanics. Two elderly black women have been murdered, and the apathetic LAPD refuses to investigate the killings. Carole Ann's sleuthing infuriates the authorities, provokes an attack on her mother and sinks her into profound legal difficulties. Yet by probing into the violence and the community's history, she unearths some astonishing facts and discovers a new sense of family and place. Long on suspense, characterization and attitude, here's a tale that pleases from start to finish. Charlotte Sheedy Agency.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (February 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312977085
• ISBN-13: 978-0312977085
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,215,021 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gibson mystery is great due to a superb role model, December 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Where to Choose: A Novel (Hardcover)

Two Americans (a Black and a Mexican) share a dream that they make happen when they build Southern California's Jacaranda Estates. The duo firmly believes that Blacks and Mexicans could not only harmoniously live together but that the sharing and understanding of the diversity of the two cultures will lead to a warm and lasting friendship. For the next five decades, twenty-five Black and twenty-five Mexican families share the beautiful dream.

However, even Eden had a serpent enter. Jacaranda Estates is no exception to the reptile invasion as a gang takes over the playground, turning it into their headquarters. They terrorize the entire community. A resident Grayce Gibson asks her daughter to learn why the police are ignoring their plight?

A widow for over a year, Carole Ann is excited to leave Washington DC after successfully uncovering her spouse's killers. Almost from the moment she arrives at her mother's home, Carole Ann begins to investigate the situation, concluding that law enforcement officials are either ignoring or condoning the gang's cowering of the community. Even though she places herself in danger several times, Carole searches for the truth.

The second Carole Ann Gibson mystery is a better tale than its wonderful predecessor was. Carole Ann is a genuine character, who is comfortable being a Black woman even as she is well aware of racism and sexism. She is a role model of female empowerment, not fearing to fight injustice no matter the personal cost or danger. The execution of the who-done-it is brilliant and the portrayal of race relations between Mexican-Americans and African-Americans is stunningly informative. Penny Micklebury is a talent worth reading by fans interested in a wonderful female amateur sleuth, starring in a fabulous series.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as "One Must Wait", March 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Where to Choose: A Novel (Hardcover)

"Where to Choose" was not as good as Mickelbury's first Carol Ann Gibson Mystery, "One Must Wait," which I found very enjoyable. "Where to Choose" has a promising plot, but it lacks the wonderful twists, turns, and surprises of its predecessor. Potentially interesting story elements, such as an early alliance between Carol Ann (C.A.) and a journalist (a profession of which C.A. is not fond), go nowhere. Too often C.A's male friends drop everything else in their lives to fly to her side to protect her from any peril. With so many guardians to take care of her every need, she seems more an artless victim than a cunning sleuth. As a result, in the only real risky situation she encounters in this book, she makes a really stupid move. It seemed that too much time was spent describing C. A.'s emotional state and the strong bonds between C. A. and her male protectors. The action throughout "One Must Wait", which gave birth to those bonds, was much more fun to read.

"Where to Choose" could have been as good as "One Must Wait", but all of the kinks were not worked out. Nevertheless, I think that the characters in this series are so appealing and have so much potential that, as a result of my enjoyment of the first book, "One Must Wait", I look forward to reading the third installment of this series.