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Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | MYSTERY WAL | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stillwater Public Library | MYSTERY WAL | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
The newest arrival in the bestselling and wildly funny Mommy- Track mysteries. Their fledgling detective agency has spread its wings-and now Juliet and Al are finally flying high. They're used to seeing many people come through the doors of their garage-turned-office, seeking their help. But they're about to realize that they ain't seen nothin' yet. Heavenly has come to Juliet with a story too sad for any detective with a conscience to turn down. Her sister, an addict and streetwalker, has turned up dead-and the police couldn't care less. With any luck-and with plucky Juliet doing all she can-Heavenly will bring the killer to justice. But it's hard going undercover when you're a tall, gorgeous transsexual.
Author Notes
Ayelet Waldman was born on December 11, 1964. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 1986 and from Harvard Law School in 1991. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked at a New York law firm and as a federal public defender in California. She is the author of the Mommy-Track Mysteries series, Daughter's Keeper, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, and Red Hook Road. In her essay Motherlove, which was published in Because I Said So: 33 Mothers Write about Children, Sex, Men, Aging, Faith, Race and Themselves, Waldman admitted that she loves her husband more than her children. Her book Bad Mother was written as a result of the negative reaction to her essay. She and Michael Chabon are co-editors of, Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Juliet Applebaum, a PI and mother of three. continues her balancing act in Waldman's smart seventh Mommy-Track mystery (after 2005's The Cradle Robbers). When Heavenly, an African-American transvestite, shows up in tears at the office Juliet shares with her partner, ex-cop Al Hockey, the sassy, bighearted former public defender commits to tracking down the murderer of Heavenly's sister, Violetta, a drug addict and prostitute whose death has been ignored by the LAPD. The case takes Juliet from the privileged comfort of her home in the Hollywood Hills to the projects of South Central, where she interviews Violetta's family and streetwalker colleagues, all of whom are depicted with compassion. Juliet works methodically through her list of suspects-"Tricks, Boyfriends, Coworkers, Family"-until arriving at the sad answer to Violetta's demise. Whether scrambling for child care or bribing pimps, Juliet is resourceful, and her humor shines through in this brisk, thoroughly readable tale. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Mommy meets working girls. Juliet Applebaum, wife of a schlockmeister L.A. screenwriter, mother of three and part-time partner in the p.i. agency former cop Al Hockey runs out of his garage, barely gulps when she surveys her new client's vibrant green eye shadow and nail polish and full-fashioned wig, not to mention her six-foot-plus frame. Miss Heavenly, a former he, wants to know who killed her sister Violetta. So what if she was an addict and a Figueroa Street hooker? She's been dead six months, the cops haven't a clue, and her poor mother's heart is breaking. Juliet carpools her kids, then heads for Figueroa, where, with the permission of Baby Richard, the pimp loitering at the taco stand, she buys coffee and buns for his girls and learns Violetta was not the only one killed, probably by the same man. Juliet rushes off to the detective in charge of cold cases. Meanwhile, another pimp crosses Juliet's path, and she sinks much of her babysitting budget into coffees for the working girls. Turning to Violetta's family for insight, she discovers that Violetta shot up the money supposed to finance her rehab and came on to her own brothers, even Heavenly, before he changed over. But did it all add up to murder? Though Juliet (The Cradle Robbers, 2005, etc.) is still adorable, Waldman has bouts of preachiness better suited to the op-ed page than a mystery. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Juliet Appelbaum and her partner, Al Hockey, have nursed their detective agency into the black, but their latest case, which began when Heavenly, an African American transsexual, asked them to investigate her sister's death, just may put the firm back in the red. Heavenly's sister, Violetta, was a drug--addicted streetwalker who worked in one of Los Angeles' worst neighborhoods. The police did little to solve her murder. Juliet, still juggling the demands of motherhood and career, finds herself visiting Violetta's turf and trying to get information from the prostitutes and pimps plying their trade there. She manages to convince the cold-case squad to investigate and learns that the situation is complicated by family dynamics. As always, Waldman manages to depict the life of L.A.'s yuppie parents with humor while showing genuine compassion for the less-fortunate inhabitants of the city. --Barbara Bibel Copyright 2006 Booklist
