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Overview
His hair is ebony. His skin is ruddy brown. He is unmistakably Mayan, even at eight months. They call him Acito, or little turtle. In fact, he seems to be as hard-shelled as his animal-spirit namesake. Lucky for him, because he's just survived a near-fatal poisoning. The lab analysis reveals that the toxin found in Acito's body is a rare, deadly herb that has to be carefully cultivated, harvested, and stored. There is no doubt that someone was trying to kill the child. As she pulls strings and makes deals to place Acito in a loving home, Bo must ask herself the unthinkable: who would want to murder a little Indian baby? Could it be the seemingly modest Latino couple paid to care for him? Or his elusive mother, an exotic folk singer clawing her way to the top of the Mexican music scene? Or the strange yanqui hillbilly who performs with her? And where - and who - is Acito's father? Finally, what could possibly be the motive? Despite the not entirely unwelcome distraction of a love affair, Bo pursues a trail of misty clues to the Mexican border town of Tijuana. Here her instincts - and the heightened perceptions that ever haunt and guide her - direct her into a seething brew of drugs and prostitution, stealth, and ambition. But ancient traditions and evil spirits hover over the case, even when Bo escapes to the desert to seek solace from her own demons. And they will lead her to the answers she seeks...in the lair of an obsessed and duplicitous killer.Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
When poison from a tropical plant puts eight-month-old Acito, whose name means ``little turtle,'' into a San Diego hospital, child abuse investigator Bo Bradley is drawn into her third suspenseful case (following Strawgirl). According to Andy LaMarche, a hospital pediatrician and Bradley's determined suitor, Acito's caretakers could not have poisoned the baby accidentally. This casts suspicion on Acito's mother, Chac, a bar singer who visited her son just before he fell ill. Bo meets Chac in Tijuana and comes to believe she would not have poisoned her son, but this becomes tough to prove after the woman collapses and dies on stage. Since the San Diego police aren't acting on Acito's case and the Mexican cops don't care about the death of another ex-prostitute, Bo focuses her lively curiosity on Chac's acquaintances and her American husband, who has escaped from from a Louisiana prison. Padgett expertly crafts this mystery, putting her sleuth in the requisite life-threatening situations. What sets her story apart, however, is her description of the workings of public child protection and her convincing portrayal, from the inside, of Bo's efforts to work and live with manic depression. (Feb.)Library Journal
Social worker/series protagonist Bo Bradley (Strawgirl, Mysterious Pr., 1994) involves herself in the attempted-poisoning case of an infant Mayan brought to the San Diego hospital by its caretakers. Bradley locates the child's aspiring songstress mother-a former drug addict-over in Tijuana, but death claims her before she can retrieve her child. Relying on the bilingual skills of co-worker Estrella, Bradley then vows vengeance on the poisoner. Indian mysticism, Bradley's psychological insights, and other narrative interruptions give rise to riveting and thrilling suspense. Highly recommended.Wes Lukowsky
An Indian infant is brought to a San Diego hospital, an apparent poisoning victim. Investigator Bo Bradley of Child Protective Services is assigned the case. Her investigation leads her to Tijuana, where the baby's mother, known as Chac, is a singer and former heroin addict. Impressed by the mother's feeling for her child, Bo hopes to arrange a mother-child reunion, but on another trip to Tijuana, Bo witnesses Chac's collapse and death onstage. She later learns that Chac was poisoned with the same rare herb that nearly killed Acito. Battling her own manic depression and the unyielding bureaucracy of CPS, Bo is determined both to solve the murder and to find a good home for Acito. With immigration and child abuse at the top of our national consciousness, this is a timely novel. It's also a fine mystery centered on the likable, self-deprecating Bradley, whose struggle to maintain a comfortable life despite her barely controlled mental illness and the demands of her job is almost as compelling as the cases she works.Book Details
Published
July 1, 1996
Publisher
Ulverscroft Large Print Books Ltd
Pages
496
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780708935606