Blanche on the Lam

Blanche White Series, Book 1

By: Barbara Neely

Narrated by: Lisa Reneé Pitts

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Blanche White is a plump, feisty, middle-aged African-American housekeeper working for the genteel rich in North Carolina. But when an employer stiffs her, and her checks bounce, she goes on the lam, hiding out as a maid for a wealthy family at their summer home.

That plan goes awry when there's a murder and Blanche becomes the prime suspect. So she's forced to use her savvy, her sharp wit, and her old-girl network of domestic workers to discover the truth and save her own skin.

Along the way, she lays bare the quirks of southern society with humor, irony, and a biting commentary that makes her one of the most memorable and original characters ever to appear in mystery fiction.

©1992 Barbara Neely (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Neely's deftly written first novel pays tribute to the community and culture of a working-class African-American woman who becomes both a sleuth and a fugitive from the law." ( Publishers Weekly)

This is great!

A different perspective on being caught up in a mystery! This is well written: the author sets the
scene well: Blanche gets herself in trouble with the Law (and she does herself no favors by
skipping town..) and she finds employment (she is invisible to her employers, and this time it works)
but is pulled into an almost gothic southern family brew. The author does a terrific job of creating
characters, and Blanche is one we trust implicitly! The suspense of the last hour of the book will
keep you glued to the unfolding mystery. The narrator, who some complained about, does
a great job with this: her voice is authentic to the character, and carries with it the touch of vulnerability
the character deserves. I hope she narrates the subsequent books.

Enjoyed from cover to cover!

Loved Blanche's sassyness, her sense of justice, the historical lens and Mumsfield's character being so significant. As a mystery, whodunit was well concealed and unfolded nicely.

An okay cozy mystery

Slightly repetitive in descriptions and narration somewhat slow. Plot was fine and twists at the end pretty good

mystery novel of note

i loved this book. Barbara Neely is a smart mystery novelist and i like her cheeky style.

It was an interested mystery, performed well

Great amateur sleuth story with some interesting twist. I'm interested to see what happens next in this series.

Exquisite

First of all, this story has the most excellent narration ever!
I was hooked from start to finish! I cannot wait for the second installment!

Not at all what I thought.

I really liked the whole storyline. At the beginning of the story, I was trying to imagine where Blanche would be and how her character would develop. It was riveting all the way through. Can’t wait to start the next one!

great narration

i could listen to Blanch and her mom on the phone for hours. there is nothing like an entertaining raking over the coals when you are a fly on the wall.

oh the bad checks to pay utilities...brings me back to when my kids were little.

Blanche - Great Woman

I read this series back in the 9os and was sorely disappointed that Ms. Neely didn't add more stories to the series. For years I would conduct searches hoping that I would find another story by her. I know that Ms. Neely had other ventures to tend to and finally accepted that there would be no more stories about this beautifully developed character. I'm so pleased to invest in the audios of Enemy's work because the add another dimension to her work.

Wonderful storytelling

So in love with Mums-field, the autistic genius. Never expected this ending. Ready to listen to the next story by this brilliant writer!