Review: Blind Side

Calaveras County is best known from the famous Mark Twain story about its frog jumping contest. Now Penny Warner is making it equally famous as the home for her publisher protagonist in the Connor Westphal mysteries.

Its time again for the annual from jumping contest and Connor and her assistant Miah are busy preparing the latest edition of her weekly newspaper, the Eureka. They've soon got more to worry about than just their "Worst Verse" competition. First comes word that Buford, the odds on favorite to win the jumping contest, had been "murdered". What's worse is that Miah seems to be the leading suspect. Dan Smith, a former cop who's now a private investigator, is hired by Buford's owner Dakota Webster to get to the bottom of things. Further complicating the situation is the fact that Dan is also Connor's boyfriend. Things begin to escalate when the next victim is Dakota. Connor soon has her hands full trying to clear Miah of murder charges, investigate possible hospital corruption and drug dealing, to say nothing of running a newspaper.

Connor Westphal is your traditional amateur sleuth in many ways. However, Warner gives us a twist by presenting a sleuth who is also deaf. This doesn't seem to slow her down much and has some benefits (i.e. lip reading, sign language). But she's no superwoman, and her deafness is at times a handicap to her investigations.

My only complaint about the book, and its not a major complaint, is that at various points in the story Warner seems to be force feeding us information about what its like to be deaf. While I do appreciate the additional information, it often seemed to disrupt the flow of the narrative.

The first Connor Westphal book earned Warner a nomination for an Anthony and won a Macavity for Best First Mystery. Blind Side is the fifth book in the series. I haven't read the previous books, but that didn't seem to affect my enjoyment of the latest escapades of this very interesting heroine. It's a fun, entertaining book. I read it on a rainy afternoon and it brought a smile to my face. Its not deep or introspective, but sometimes you just need a fun, light read. I'm looking forward to checking out the other adventures of Connor Westphal and the rather eccentric residents of Flat Skunk.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Mary R - RAM

Book Review: Blind Side