I love Blanche. She's a fabulous character, maybe even more incredible than Barbara Neely herself (but that's tough). She's the only large African-American womanist and left-learning, open-minded domestic-turned-sleuth in literature, and she's got a wholesome love of life that I can relate to: good food, good friends, good gossip, good sex, all can make her day. But you don't want to piss her off because she's kick-ass, too. Anyway, this is the 4th book in the Blanche series, and I have to admit it's not my favorite. Still, Neely's mysteries always get you thinking about real-life issues that we all face (racism, sexism, domestic violence, rape, lead poisoning, to name only a handful), and all while you're following Blanche's sometimes-embarassing, sometimes-scary, always fun-to-read exploits.

Released on Sunday, April 06, 2003 at Home Depot (Assembly Square) in Somerville, Massachusetts USA.

I left this book on the workers' shelf in the Wood section.