Blue McCarron is a mouthy lesbian psychologist whose rat-a-tat-tat narration is the best part of this delightful detective story.” —The Advocate
“Ms. Padgett knows how to tell a story with passion and purpose.” —New York Times Book Review
“Superior . . . highly recommended . . . Padgett is a stylist of an extremely high order.” —Houston Chronicle
“A daring and obviously gifted writer.” —Chicago Tribune
“A completely webbed, very literate mystery, rich with idiosyncratic characters, insightful.” —Philadelphia Inquirer
“Padgett has become an excellent storyteller, and she builds suspense skillfully to an exciting climax . . . a promising new mystery series.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“[This] witty, suspenseful lesbian-detective thriller is hard to resist.” —Booklist
“Padgett has imbued her new series with a feminist will that will leave fans feeling blue if more works are not soon released.” —Midwest Book Review
“Blue is sassy, tough, scared, vulnerable, and funny—a great new character from Padgett.” —Library Journal
“Padgett is an excellent writer.” —Bay Area Reporter (CA)
“Padgett is a sensitive, convincing writer with strong descriptive powers . . .” —Ottawa Citizen
Don't be put off by the too-cute character and plot descriptions on the jacket of Abigail Padgett's The Last Blue Plate Special . This is not one of those pukingly politically correct modern mysteries that mistake tepidly sassy comments for humor or offer earnestness in lieu of depth. This book is a solid mystery and a wonderful, highly entertaining study of human nature. By setting up characters who might easily have been stereotypes and then combating the expected with warmth, intelligence and humor, Padgett has written a novel that delights the reader on every page.Washington Post Book World
Once again, Padgett develops...three-dimensional African American characters and beautifully evokes the landscape and mindscape of the desert...
A funny, idiosyncratic cast of characters and a cunningly developed series of murders are the highlights in an otherwise middling sequel to 1998's Blue, which introduced social psychologist and amateur shamus Blue McCarron. Here Blue and her foxy lover, prison psychiatrist Roxie Bouchie, join detective Wes Rathbone and his wife, Annie, and Blue's Doberman, Bront , in nosing through San Diego and the surrounding desert in search of the fanatic who is murdering prominent local female politicians. The murderer, who leaves a Blue Willow china plate as a calling card after each killing, is somehow causing women who have had plastic surgery at a posh clinic where the blue plates are part of the d cor to suffer fatal strokes. Who hates successful women enough to commit wanton murder? Is it one of the members of the clinic's staff? Is it a political enemy? Or could it be a random religious fanatic who leaves messages from "The Sword in Heaven" (Isaiah 34) for Blue and the cops after the murders? Unfortunately, a buildup that promises a racy, risqu , zany story never really pays off. Some readers will applaud the feminist political sentiments, but others will find the novel ultimately as flat and dry as the desert sand. (Mar. 7) Forecast: Padgett, author of the Bo Bradley series (Strawgirl), has a strong following among feminist mystery fans, but this so-so effort is unlikely to help her win the broader audience her publisher is seeking with its concerted marketing and promotion campaign. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
When two prominent female politicians die in San Diego of cerebral hemorrhages within days of each other, social psychologist Blue McCarron knows that their deaths are a statistical impossibility--they simply cannot be from natural causes. Within hours, a female evangelist almost dies, and threats from a religious fanatic, illustrated with blue willow plates, tie the three victims together. Blue and her lover, Roxanne, a criminal psychiatrist, are hired by the police as consultants and trace the three women to a posh plastic surgery clinic. As Blue and Rox investigate the clinic, the killer turns his attention on Blue, a strong, nontraditional woman who offends his ultraconservative religious beliefs. When Blue finds a blue willow plate on the doorstep of her isolated desert home, she knows the hunt has become a deadly game and that the unknown killer has every advantage. This second mystery featuring Blue McCarron (following Blue, LJ 10/1/98) is full of unpredictable turns and is totally enthralling. Blue and Rox are funny and sweet, brave yet scared, as they navigate their new relationship amid the terrifying hunt for a serial killer. Highly recommended for public libraries.--Karen Anderson, Quarles & Brady/Streich Lang, Phoenix Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
African-American prison psychiatrist Roxie Bouchie lives and works in California. While Roxie depends on her intellect to guide her, her partner and lover the highly respected social psychiatrist Blue McCarron lives on emotion and hunches. The duo provides consulting services, which include the San Diego police department as a prime client. Two state politicians, Senator Mary Grossinger and Assemblywoman Dixie Ross, died of cerebral hemorrhages two weeks apart. Blue and Roxie realize that the odds of the two women dying like this in such a short time are astronomical. A maniac, The Sword of Heaven, is murdering females in high profile positions with the only link between the two legislators' death being having plastic surgery at the same place. However, suspects are plentiful, but impetuous Blue decides to risk her life to flush out the Sword of Heaven killer. The Last Blue Plate Special is a very fine laid out mystery due to a horde of suspects, a land mine of red herrings, and dexterously unexpected twists and turns. Abigail Padgett uses a relationship drama starring two individuals who love and care for each other against all the odds of their making it together o crate a wonderful mystery. Though obviously targeted for fans of medical, psychological, and gay mysteries, the novel provides a mainstream appeal.
What are the odds that two healthy, liberal females active in San Diego politics would die of natural causes within two weeks of each other? Close to zero, thinks social psychologist Blue McCarron, consultant to a third endangered politician, and when a quick statistical analysis backs up her suspicions, she communicates them to the city cops. The results are gratifyingly prompt: A San Diego detective turns up on her doorstep demanding that she answer a few questions downtown, and two more uppity females are lethally attacked. Working with her partner and lover, forensic psychologist Roxanne Bouchie, Blue attacks the questions of who would want to murder state senator Mary Harriet Grossinger, state assemblywoman Dixie Ross, and the others; how their killer was able to induce a fatal stroke in each victim; and what the string of deaths has to do with the Blue Willow plates somebody keeps driving out to the desert to leave outside the hotel Blue shares with Roxie. The setup is irresistible, and Blue can make statistics so fascinating that readers may not even notice when the tale begins a slow slide into conventionality, with a cosmetic surgery clinic conveniently narrowing the field of suspects and the identity of the murderous"Sword of Heaven" pretty obvious early on, despite a shoal of red herrings. Lacking the blazing originality and comic energy of Blue's blistering debut Blue (1997), this sequel still shows her as adept as ever at tracking family scars through the generations in search of"a serial cerebral hemorrhage killer."
