Blanche Passes Go.

Blanche Passes Go by Barbara Neely Viking, July 2000, $22.95, ISBN 0-670-89165-7

Barbara Neely's heroine, Blanche White, is a sexy, dark-skinned, confident, over 40, size 16 sister still learning about herself with a reverence for her spiritual center. In Neely's newest installment, Blanche goes home for the summer to Farleigh, North Carolina, to work in her best friend's catering business.

Blanche's adventure begins on the train ride south from Boston where she meets a handsome conductor, Thelvin Lewis. The momentum builds at the first catering gig when she hears a familiar voice among the guests and is shocked by her involuntary response as an unresolved past rears its ugly head. After a young woman is murdered, a wealthy family hires Blanche to dig up information that only she can get. But her investigation turns out to be deep and dangerous.

Blanche Passes Go is like going around the Monopoly board-you don't know where your next move will end up until you toss the dice. The various strands of Neely's story come together with surprising twists and are balanced between Blanche's investigation, the people involved and her personal relationships. Not just another story about solving a murder and digging up dirt, Blanche Passes Go is an emotionally charged, multilayered exploration of violence and abuse. Neely skillfully works her way around the seedier side of human nature and brings readers a story that is finally about our relationships with the ones we love. Mystery lovers--stand up and take notice!

Sharita Hunt is a writer and actor whose credits include the original Broadway production of "For Colored Girls ..." and her one-woman show "A House is Built."