Bye-Bye, Black Sheep
A Mommy-track Mystery
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Brilliantly witty mystery from the author of Bad Mother and Love and Treasure...
Teeter-tottering on the brink of sanity, Juliet Applebaum not only solves crimes; she does it with diapers, bottles, and…oh yes, three kids in tow. This time she’ll play hide-and-seek with some of South Central’s seediest denizens. But this is no child’s play…
Their fledgling detective agency has spread its wings—and now husband-and-wife team Juliet Applebaum and Al Hockey, once in the hole, are finally flying high. A Hollywood lawyer uses them regularly to clean up after some of his less-than-discreet celeb clients. They see people come through the doors of their garage-turned-office, seeking defense investigation. They also see insurance investigation cases. But Juliet and Al are about to find out: 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 learn what she can about her sister’s death and, if possible, bring the killer to justice. But it’s hard going undercover when you’re a tall, gorgeous transsexual…
Ayelet Waldman, a Harvard Law School graduate and former public defender, is the author of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, Daughter's Keeper, and Red Hook Road as well as the Mommy-Track Mysteries, including such titles as Death Gets a Time-Out and A Playdate with Death.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.)
