Blanche Among the Talented Tenth A Blanche White Mystery by Barbara Neely

244 Pages
Publisher: Brash Books
Release Date: February 3, 2015

Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, African American, Racism

Blanche describes herself as the color of an eggplant and wears a size sixteen. She is flawed, unfiltered, loud and loves with her heart and soul.She is raising her sister’s two children in Boston. The two go to a private school and have been invited by school mates to join them over the summer at Amber Cove, an elite African American resort in Maine. Blanche is also invited for two weeks while the other parents go on a boat trip.

One of the resort guests dies in a bathroom accident before Blanche arrives. She overhears a couple talking about the death and becomes curious. Many of the resort residents are light skinned and distance themselves from the darker skin guests.

This book shows that racism exists everywhere and uses the term “colorstruck” to describe the treatment of others by the light/dark color of the skin. I learned about the Talented Tenth and their influence in society. The book has a steady pace, well developed characters, and is written in third person point of view. If you like big, bold characters, you will enjoy Blanche and this book.

I am so glad to have discovered this series. I love the character of Blanche and want to read more about her. She is brilliant. The storyline is very good and so is the writing. I look forward to starting the next installment.
Many thanks to Brash Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Very cool idea for a book, and an excellent execution of that idea. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Recommended. .

I'm trying to branch out and read more authors of color. This was delightful! Just up my street! A canny black woman detective. A good cozy mystery. And I learned something about a culture not my own. I look forward to reading more Blanche mysteries. I really appreciated being inside the head of this remarkable woman.

Blanch Among The Talented Tenth is a mystery novel focused on colourism particularly within the black community. In all honesty I didn’t find it that engaging, skin colour was constantly mentioned which distracted from the storyline. Colour bias could have been addressed in a more subtle fashion I feel, the constant mentions were jarring. Nonetheless it’s an important topic that deserves further attention.

I enjoyed the first book in the Blanche White series, but this one, not as much. Blanche has moved north with her sister's two children, who she is raising. They are attending an elite private school and due to connections there, they have all been invited to Amber Cove, an exclusive resort in Maine for wealthy blacks. Once they arrive, Blanche is smacked with the prejudicial looks of lighter skin blacks. You see, there is even issues about skin colour amongst those who have darker skin. The story begins very slowly as we deal with the issues that occur while they are settling in. Shortly after arriving, one man commits suicide and a woman is electrocuted in her bathtub. It appears there are a lot of secrets among the residents and Blanche works to unravel them. There are some twists, some reveals, and a few suspects. The think I did not like was that once the mystery is solved by Blanche, that is it, there is no police involvement, no arrests, nothing. I might try one more in this series, before I give up on it.

I love how real Blanche feels!! Her perceptions and the inner thoughts she experiences are realistic and every reader can relate to them. The book was full of humor and an understanding of human nature from an absolutely unique perspective!