Blue

Rating:
Summary: Witty and challenging
Review: Blue McCarron is hired by a man whose older sister Muffin has been arrested for murdering a man five years ago and hiding his body in a public freezer. Muffin has confessed, but Blue doesn't buy the confession. Blue is still mourning the disappearance of her lover Misha two years ago, and likes getting the money, but she ends up with more than she can handle when Muffin is murdered in prison and Blue is targetted next. It's a thoroughly enjoyable ride, but the mystery elements get baffling fast and while this could certainly derail many readers, I found Padgett's witty characters and exciting style drew me further in. Like Laurie King's "Night work" and Lauren Maddison's "Witchfire", there's a strong feminist thread through the story that educates as it entertains. And while the density of the convoluted mystery plot annoyed me until the very end, I highly recommend this book, and I can hardly wait to read the next in the series.

Rating:
Summary: BLUE
Review: First of two (so far) in the "Blue McCarron" series. The book introduces us to Blue who is a Social Physcologist hired to evaluate an elderly woman who's been arrested for murder when a man's body is discovered in the old woman's rented food locker.
The plot twists & turns from there. I enjoyed the set up, characters and sub plots. I particularly liked how Padgett interwove the physcological makeup of male species and behaviors and their effect on women's culture, throughout the book. In fact, I found her theories and poignant insights interesting as well as thought provoking. Regardless of your literary detection skills this is a good read for mystery buffs of all levels. I liked Blue McCarron and would definitely date a woman of this caliber...

Rating:
Summary: Could be just a rocky start to a potentially great character
Review: I love the personal challenge aspect of Padgett's books; heroes that proceed without regard to personal jeopardy, staying true to their moral principles. Blue is such a character and I am really hoping that now that the initial book has detailed her ENTIRE feminist theory (she's a Ph.D. that parallels gorilla behavior to human) we can proceed with a more coherant mystery. I am also not all that interested in lesbian life and would like it to become only (?) a characteristic of Blue not the focal point of each story.

All in all - I liked the book and will read futher in this character series BUT I really miss Bo Bradly!

Rating:
Summary: A Rollicking Good Read
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Blue, filled with suspense and humor. The characters were diverse and interesting, each filling his/her role superbly. The complicated plot with its many twists and turns kept me guessing until the very end. Padgett is quite the wordsmith and writes with intelligence and passion. Move over, Sue Grafton, Abigail Padgett is here!

Rating:
Summary: Blue
Review: Oh my goddess...Blue McCarron, Ph.D. is one hot character. A recluse out in her desert hotel, Blue and her wonder dog Bronte (loved Bronte). Blue has many skeletons in her closet...Misha, the woman she loved who one day disappeared. Her aunt, Carty, is acting mysteriously and there's the necklace Blue's seen before. The mending of her relationship with her twin brother David, who in prison, but is getting married. And there's Muffin Crandall's friends who are being picked off one at a time by someone unknown. Blue and Bronte survive many encounters in the desert with some unsavory characters. Her new friends BB and Rox are better friends than she knew. Beautifully written with character and environmental development.

Rating:
Summary: Blue
Review: Oh my goddess...Blue McCarron, Ph.D. is one hot character. A recluse out in her desert hotel, Blue and her wonder dog Bronte (loved Bronte). Blue has many skeletons in her closet...Misha, the woman she loved who one day disappeared. Her aunt, Carty, is acting mysteriously and there's the necklace Blue's seen before. The mending of her relationship with her twin brother David, who in prison, but is getting married. And there's Muffin Crandall's friends who are being picked off one at a time by someone unknown. Blue and Bronte survive many encounters in the desert with some unsavory characters. Her new friends BB and Rox are better friends than she knew. Beautifully written with character and environmental development.

Rating:
Summary: I loved BLUE and can't wait for the next book in the series!
Review: 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.