Title: Blanche Cleans Up
Author: Barbara Neely
Genre: mystery, Black literature
This book is the third in the “Blanche White” series. I haven’t read the first two, but I had no trouble following the story. I picked this book at random off my shelf and am so glad I did. What a fun story, and Blanche is just a great character. She’s strong and funny, full of love and sass. She has no qualms about eavesdropping and speaking her mind. You can’t help but cheer for her.
From Goodreads: Blanche White is a very black, middle-aged woman who cleans white people’s houses for a living. Tart-tongued and shrewd, with a keen nose for trouble, she’s also a queen-sized snoop – who sees at a glance what people are really up to – especially if it’s criminal. It’s been three years since she had to grab the kids and scurry out of Farleigh, North Carolina. Now they’ve all settled into life in the Roxbury section of Boston, and Blanche herself is feeling like she may finally be free to enjoy life – at least a little. But before Blanche can say, Breakfast is ready, she gets suckered into standing in as cook-housekeeper to one Allister Brindle, a Boston Brahmin politician, and his do-gooder wife. Blanche is quickly enmeshed in a festering canker of a scandal that moves from the Brindles’ house (a.k.a. Prozac House) to her own black community as she tries to figure out the truth behind the swimming-pool death of a young black man who knew a little too much…
What I loved about this book was that it deals with so many different topics in excellent ways. Neely doesn’t shy away from current events (even though this was published in 1998) like LGBTQ acceptance, especially within the Black community, teenage pregnancy, environmental issues, etc. Sadly, 20+ years later and not much has changed. This book could have been written a year ago and the same themes would have been present. Blanche is such a great character, and it’s not as if she’s an amateur detective. She just gets caught up in a terrible situation with people she cares about who she wants to help. She would much rather mind her own business (but still be in on the gossip) without putting her life on the line. If you want a funny, well-written heroine, this book is a great one. Maybe start at the first book, but it’s definitely not mandatory.
Pleasant Nights 