Abigail Padgett

This is the second in the Bo Bradley mystery series.

Bo Bradley is a worker with the Child Protective Services. As such, the mysteries revolve around child abuse and death--a very hard topic to read about. However Bo Bradley is also bipolar. And, in my experience, she gives a pretty realistic view of this disorder. There is also at least one strong Native American character in the two books I have read so far.

In Strawgirl Bo Bradley investigates a case of child abuse and murder. She must show more weave her way through the media onslaught which is decrying the murder as Satanic activity. She must also protect the dead child's sister both from the predator, and from the CPS bureaucracy which sometimes seems more focused on following rules than the mental health of the child.

There was an odd bit of deja vu when Bo Bradley hides from the bad guy in a cave until help arrives. This scenario also occurred in the first book in the series.

Nevertheless, even with its faults, I saw myself in Bo's loved ones who are annoyingly hypervigilant about scanning her for symptoms of mania. I will continue to read this series for its depiction of bipolar and its portrayal of a strong protragonist dealing successfully with mental illness. show less

Bo Bradley, a San Diego social worker employed as an investigator for the Children’s Protective Services Department, is assigned a case regarding a Mayan child who has been poisoned while being cared for by a Latino couple while his mother pursues her singing career. The child is called Acito, Little Turtle. The poison is very rare, must be carefully cultivated and stored, and is usually fatal.
Relying on her acute instincts, brought about by her manic/depressive condition, Bo travels not show more only to find the person who poisoned Acito but also to figure out why, to find his mother, and to find a home for him.
While learning about the Mayan culture, Bo finds out that among the Mayan, deformities were considered gifts by the ancient Maya. “A cleft palate or club foot, an extra finger or crossed eyes–any departure from the physical norm was evidence of the god’s favor.... Often a baby’s head was wrapped to flatten its forehead so the child would become godlike.”
TURTLE BABY has many twists and turns and maintained my interest. The writing is crisp, the characters believable and likable, and the answer to the poisoning question totally unexpected. My only criticism is that some of the situations are a bit too contrived: The person just happened to be in the right remote location at the exactly correct moment.
This is the third of the series and all of them are good reads. show less

The Paper Doll Museum is about the scary but frequently hilarious magic that accompanies long experience, not about dewy-eyed teenagers pitted against evil elders who've made a total mess of things. Of course that battle is required of the young in every generation. But the real battle lies elsewhere and requires wisdom as well as magic. A very different story from Abigail Padgett but very intriguing. There are so many different aspects of the story I enjoyed. I would like to read a sequel show more to see where she goes from here. show less

BONE BLIND begins twenty years ago with a one-page prologue describing the grisly scene of the murder of a man, Karl Knock. It quickly jumps twenty years to Finn Ryan, the author of a series of horror books, working on his latest story when“ an enchanting woman died and an undead thing was born.”
I was ready to stop reading at this point because while I do like to read mysteries, I rarely like horror stories or science fiction. I am glad I persevered.
In chapter 2, we are introduced to show more Detective Warren Yost, who was the detective on the Knock case and is three months away from retirement. His big dream is to solve the case.
Ryan says he is bored by his writing but explains his métier success as “a fantasy in a glass bubble of fiction people would read for the same reason they hopped on carnival rides. He wondered if real life ever provided an equivalent experience....But words weren’t real life; they were only its shadows.”
“Even he didn’t know quite how it happened; it was as if the stories were already there, waiting to be discovered. They were like dismembered ghosts. Their pieces were everywhere, just waiting to be assembled..” And he continues to let his story develop.
Meanwhile, Yost finds some possible clues about Knock’s murder which seem to link it to more recent killings. While trying to determine the killer, his path crosses Ryan’s and the two of them work both together and against each other.
Abigail Padgett has a wonderful way with words. Her characters seem very real, though I don’t understand the attraction of Ryan to one of the women. The story twists and turns, giving information and then taking it away. She manages to blend the two stories into one without awkward manipulation. BONE BLIND has its moments of humor. For example, at a workshop, Yost wears his shoulder harness. A nun sitting next to him says, “So reassuring to know we’re safe from armed attack here in the library....Dare I ask what you’d wear to a bank robbery?”
He responds, “Usually I try for a layered look....You know, Kevlar vest, Ka-Bar knife, M-5 assault rifle and a riot helmet from the same color group.”
I’ve read many of Abigail Padgett’s books. This one was totally different: different characters, different location, different genre. But her storytelling and writing style remains superb show less