I read a print edition of this some time ago. After reading Blanche Among the Talented Tenth and really loving it I decided to try the first in the series as an audiobook. The reader was not the best, but I suspect it was the direction she received. The dialog was rendered faultlessly, but the narrative seemed kind of stilted. Her pronunciation hitting consonants really hard and using long vowels in unexpected places just felt a bit strained. The story is very engaging and I appreciated being inside the head of this character so different from myself and yet so similar. ( )

As a murder mystery, Blanche on the Lam is only so-so: a housekeeper in late 80s/early 90s rural North Carolina figures out that there's murder afoot in the household of her rich employers. The whodunnit is so obvious that the fact that there was no twist or subversion is what's really surprising. But for me the redeeming feature of this book is the voice that Barbara Neely gives to the main character, Blanche. A fat, dark-skinned, working-class Black woman, Blanche leaps off the page. She's observant, smart, and really clear-eyed about the world around her—she's less a detective in the traditional mystery mold than she is a woman who's trying to survive the circumstances she's found herself in. I'd definitely read more of this series, particularly if Neely managed to get a better grip on plotting as she went.

One caveat: where this book is really dated is in its treatment of one of the main characters, who has Down Syndrome. His portrayal, while intended to be positive, is rather cringe-inducing 30 years on. ( )

Blanche White is a special kind of sassy woman; not your average maid. When we first meet her in Farleigh, North Carolina, she is waiting to go to jail; convicted of writing bad checks. This is her second offense so she knows the judge is going to throw the book at her: thirty days in jail if only to set an example. When she unexpectedly finds an opportunity to slip away from the bailiff, she takes it quiet as you please. Just slips out the back door of the courthouse.
Through a series of misunderstandings Blanche ends up working as "the help" for an upper class white family: Everette, Grace, Mumsfield, and Aunt Emmeline. Luckily, Blanche has her wicked humor and uncanny intuition because from the moment she starts working for the family, she can tell something is wrong with all of them except mentally challenged Mumsfield. It wasn't just from eavesdropping on Everett's conversation with the sheriff, despite the sheriff’s death the very next day. It wasn’t from observing the odd behavior of alcoholic and seemingly senile Aunt Emmeline, who never leaves her room. It wasn’t from the gardener who perishes in an “accidental” house fire. It was from watching and talking with Mumsfield. From the moment they met Blanche had a special connection to the boy; he was always on her radar whether she liked it or not.
Blanche on the Lam, while humorous also carries the stark reality of sexism, racism and prejudice. Neely deftly weaves these sobering themes through an otherwise funny plot. ( )

this became a little more far-fetched to me by the end, and so dropped off a bit. but otherwise, i thought this was mostly really great. i loved the character's voice and the way she spoke about race and white people. it felt very much like i was hearing both how black people often feel like they need to speak to white people, and then what they actually want to say or how they actually feel. there's a lot of stuff about race and class woven very nicely into this book. that's not what this book is about or anything, but it's all throughout and is a nice addition to the mystery itself. i thought the writing was really good, as well. the mystery ended up being something different than what i thought it was going to be, which was fun.

my only real quibble is that i suspect that disability advocates would probably have something to say about how she wrote mumsfield's character. he's sort of the savant and his disability is what saves him as a white person in blanche's eyes. he's meant to be a positive character, but i doubt he would go over well in disability circles.

still, i really liked this and thought it was well done. i would absolutely read her again.

"A lot of what they owned really belonged to people like her, who were grossly and routinely underpaid, and to those who worked in the factories and mills and made the money for the big boys."

"This is how we've survived in this country all this time, by knowing when to act like we believe what we've been told and when to act like we know what we know."

"She lugged the vacuum and a bucket holding a feather duster, furniture polish, chamois, sponge, spray cleaner, and a long-handled brush up the back stairs. She had no intention of using all of these items, but it looked good to have them." ( )

I enjoyed reading this debut novel about an African American woman working as a domestic servant while hiding from the authorities. Blanche was funny and likeable, but she also did not shy from the realities of how society treats people who look like her. I especially like her relationship with Mumsfield, a member of the household where she works. Mumsfield is a young man with Mosaicism (similar to Downs Syndrome) and Blanche can relate to him because he is often treated like his is invisible or less because of his condition just like Blanche is because of the color of her skin. The mystery wasn't too hard to figure out, but how Blanche figures it all out is fun to read. I definitely want to spend more time getting to know Blanche, I will definitely continue the series. ( )