Blind Side: A Connor Westphal Mystery

Blind Side is her fifth Connor Westphal mystery. Connor, or C.J., as her friends call her, owns and operates the Eureka!, which is the local newspaper in Calaveras County (yes, the very same county of Mark Twain fame). Naturally there is a frog jumping contest each year, but no one counted on the fierce competition that evolved between Jeremiah Mercer, C.J.'s employee and friend; better known as "Miah," and Dakota Webster, Miah's old school chum. Dakota's frog turns up dead; then Dakota himself, with Miah's frog stuffed into his mouth:

"Where did you find it?" I managed to ask. "You sure you want to know?" I nodded. "In Dakota's mouth." "Oh, my God!" I gasped in horror. Talk about a frog in your throat. But it wasn't the thought of the frog in the dead man's mouth that caused the blood to leave my head."

Connor Westphal is one enjoyable heroine. She is independent; has an attitude that makes dull people cringe; and is deaf. Penny Warner manages to slip in quite an education for the hearing public, and to make us laugh in the process. Connor is constantly getting herself into scrapes; occasionally being rescued by her "anvil-armed" boyfriend, Dan Smith, who good-naturedly upbraids her for her antics. But secretly Dan is proud of Connor, and their relationship is warm and true. Blind Side is one raucous mystery, and Warner is a helluva writer.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer


Enjoyable, lightweight whodunit.   June 13, 2001
 2 out of 4 found this review helpful

It is hard for me to give less than a five to one of Penny Warner's mysteries because I want so badly to be able to encourage and cheer on her deaf protagonist, Connor. This is an fun read, an entertaining read, and it teaches those who are nondisabled much about the deaf and hard-of-hearing world. This particular novel with its give-away title is also teaching about those who have sight disabilities. While I applaud Ms. Warner's determination to teach about deafness and other differences, sometimes the plot of the mystery and the characterization ends up taking a back seat to the details with which Warner almost floods the book about American Sign Language, about reading lips or trying to make sense of partial sentences, and in this book, how diabetes can cause blindness and the development of other senses in the face of loss of hearing or sight.

Having said that, most people will find this book intriguing and certainly I found the use of Mark Twain's story about the frog jumping entertainment of that area of California to be great fun. I also enjoy Connor's snide and irreverent attitude toward 'stupid hearing people' such as the mayor, and her coming to terms with her own deafness and the occasional social problems it brings (yes, there is a sign for 'stupid hearing people' but it may be different in California!) I have read other books of Warner's and enjoyed them more...I think she put just a bit too much information in here about disabilities when she should have fleshed out the other characters more, such as Miah who was introduced as the major suspect and then he totally disappeared until the end of the book with no explanation.

I will continue to look for and read Ms. Warner's books. For the most part they are fun mysteries and I certainly appreciate the education that she provides to those who have no disabilities about those of us who do have them. She continues to break the stereotypes for us, but next time...more mystery, and less preaching please! Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh


Flat Skunk is hopping in Penny Warnerys latest mystery.   March 21, 2001
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Connor's job is to judge the Worse Verse contest for the Jubilee celebration. Everything is coming up frogs with green ices, corn dogs, frog shaped hot cakes, etc. The Jubilee is presenting the annual frog jumping contest and someone is taking it a little to seriously. Last year's champion is found murdered -- the frog, not the owner, although the owner does suffer a similar fate. Connor is led in plenty of directions, and it's her special abilities of reading expressions and lips that helps her to bring clues and suspects to a final outcome. But even in the end, she still wishes the mayor did it. It's an unusual plot with some great reoccurring characters.

For me, this is a special kind of series. When it comes to deaf characters, I am a little more critical about how they are handled. Penny Warner keeps her deaf character in character. She has a way of reminding the people in the story line and the readers of Connor's handicap with an occasional mistake or situation. The reader shouldn't be distracted by it; in fact, it makes the mystery more unique. Penny Warner has cleverly achieved the ability to blend the daily life of a deaf person in print without loosing those who are not used to it.