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Blanche Cleans Up
Blanche Cleans Up: A Blanche White Mystery | Barbara Neely
7 posts | 5 read | 8 to read
Barbara Neelys skill is a force to be reckoned with! Essence Magazine The third, ground-breaking mystery featuring African-American maid and amateur sleuth Blanche White by Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award winning Author Barbara Neely Blanche White is working as a temporary cook and housekeeper for a right-wing, Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Alistair Brindle when someone tries to blackmail him. Its an ugly mess that Brindles political team is eager to sweep under the carpet and that Blanche cant resist cleaning up herselfespecially after a young black man is killed who knew too much about Brindles dirty laundry. Her investigation raises dark secrets involving sex, environmental contamination, and political corruption, difficult stains on the white, conservative Brindle family that someone is trying to remove with murder. Its a case that plays beautifully to the strengths Blanche showed in her first two novels: poking around, getting underfoot, and displaying maximum attitude as she solves the tiny mystery en route to sticking it to the Man. The title says it all, Kirkus Reviews Blanche's voice is sassy and sexy, and her take on urban life through African American eyes is blade-sharp and sometimes as cutting, Booklist One is tempted to describe Blanche White as a combination of Agatha Christies Miss Marple and Walter Mosleys Easy Rawlinsbut it would be a crime to suggest she is anything less than a truly original creation, Los Angeles Times
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Kathrin
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Pickpick

Book 3 in the series and I cannot recommend it enough. It's really that good.

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BrownGirlReading
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Pickpick

This is the third book in the four-book cozy mystery called the Blanche White series. I highly recommend this series which stars Blanche White a domestic worker who solves mysteries in spite of it all. The late great author of this series Barbara Neely continued to mix mystery, social commentary, and murder with intelligence and the sassy voice of Blanche. I can‘t wait to get to book 4 but am regretting that it‘s the last book in the series.

Mariposa_Bookworm I just found these in a local used bookstore. I love cozy mysteries! 5y
BrownGirlReading @Mariposa_Bookworm You‘ll live these. I‘ve read the first 3. Sad to read book 4 since it‘s the last book of the series and the author passed away a week ago. 5y
Litsi Authors live forever 5y
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Lesliereads
Pickpick

Very entertaining; although lots of characters and lots of murders made tying things up at the end a bit sensational and drawn-out.

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Lesliereads
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Blanche is nosy! #barbaraneely

AmyG Great photo! 7y
BellaBookNook I loved that series! 7y
Lesliereads @AmyG Thanx! @BellaBookNook They‘re fun! I read one book from the series back in the 90s, liked it, but never got around to reading the rest. 7y
12 likes3 comments
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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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Amazing characterization for primary and secondary characters, smart mystery plot twists, strong sense of place, pieces of wisdom about life, and seamlessly integrated commentary on race, class, abortion, sex work, domestic work, and environmentalism. I loved the amateur sleuth / maid Blanche, for her smarts, flaws, and sass. Neely does such an incredible job building Blanche as a character. I am completely hooked! #DiverseDetectives

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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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Stack of mysteries I got at the library yesterday! Featuring Liz Bugg's lesbian PI mystery series set in Toronto, Barbara Neely's third book in the series with Blanche White, amateur black sleuth and maid, Tanya Huff's paranormal urban fantasy mystery series with a woman PI and vampire team and Thomas King writing as Hartley Goodweather about a Cherokee detective. Am reading Blanche Cleans Up and it is BRILLIANT! #DiverseDetectives #Mystery

Bibliogeekery ❤️ Hartley Goodweather! 8y
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian @Bibliogeekery I'm excited to read it! 8y
WOCreads Excellent loot👌 Reading Blanche this weekend can't wait!! Also I really liked DreadfulWater!!! Hope you'll enjoy it and apparently there's a sequel I never knew about📚📚 8y
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian Thanks for recommending the Blanche White books! My library randomly only had the 3rd book so I will have to track down the other three. I loves it so much! I love Thomas King's other writing so am sure I'll like Dreadfulwater as well! 8y
7 likes1 stack add4 comments
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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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This book is so good! I have totally fallen in love with Blanche, her smarts and feistiness. She's an amateur sleuth and a cook/housekeeper who's intensely curious and doesn't take bullshit from anyone. Such an amazing job of characterization! #DiverseDetectives #WeNeedDiverseBooks #Mystery

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