Investigating a murder attempt in which the targeted victim was a Mayan infant, baffled child abuse investigator Bo Bradley undertakes a journey that leads her to Tijuana, where Mayan mysticism helps her uncover an important clue. Reprint. K. NYT.
From 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.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From 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.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.