Blind Side

by Penny Warner

Book Overview

Buford the Bullfrog is dead. And that's only the beginning. Connor Westphal, the feisty deaf publisher of the weekly Eureka , jumps into the annual Jubilee festivities when her sidekick and main... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373265336
• ISBN13: 9780373265336
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Perseverance Press
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Blind Side

Blind Side by Penny Warner is a perfect example why I love BookCrossing. I snatched up the book based on the ties to the frog jumping contest and the fact that Penny Warner is a local author. What I hadn't expected, was that I'd end up finding a new favorite mystery author in the process. But that's exactly what happened! Blind Side takes place in Flat Skunk, a fictional California town in Calaveras county with a name typical of the old mining sites. This little town, though, survived boom and bust of the gold rush era and is clunking along like so many of the small mountain towns. In the days before the annual frog jumping contest inspired by Mark Twain's story, frogs and then a frog trainer are found dead. Connor Westphal's friend and coworker Miah is accused of the murder. Refusing to believe that he'd be capable of killing a rival and to seek out a story for the Eureka! paper, Westphal sets out to find the true killer. Blind Side could easily have been like any of a number of cozy mysteries. It has all the usual trappings: a small town, a civilian sleuth, quirky characters and a relatively short page count. The book though, goes beyond the cozy subgenre at the strength of its lead character. Connor Westphal is deaf and her deafness tosses out many of the typical mystery conventions (like the overheard conversation). Instead, the cliches are replaced interesting details about deafness: nuances of ASL, TTY etiquette, misunderstanding spoken slang, and the pitfalls of lip reading. As this book is the fifth in the series, Warner mixes things up a bit by introducing a blind character, Del Oro, who forces Connor to rethink her own preconceptions of the world. The two women, though, hit it off and end up making a good sleuthing team. I've actually purposely skipped over the secondary mystery. I want to save some of the mystery for anyone who hasn't read the book yet. If you're looking for a new mystery series to try, I highly recommend Blind Side. I will be looking for earlier books in the series to read. The Connor Westphal series so far is as follows: * Dead Body Language (1997) * Sign of Foul Play (1998) * Right to Remain Silent (1999) * A Quiet Undertaking (2000) * Blind Side (2001) * Silence is Golden (2003) * Dead Man's Hand (2007)

One raucous mystery

Penny Warner is a wonder. She has written over twenty-five books; teaches Child Development and sign language at local colleges, has been nominated for the Agatha award and won the Macavity Award for best first mystery. She teaches nonfiction, mystery writing and has experience as a journalist.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 GlodowskiReviewer

Flat Skunk is hopping in Penny Warner?s latest mystery.

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.

A great heroine returns

In Calaveras County, California everyone expects Dakota Webster to again win the annual Jumping Frog Jubilee except perhaps rival Jeremiah "Miah" Mercer. Dakota's frogs are so good at the event he has become the most famous participant since Mark Twain placed Angels Camp on the map. However, this year a new champion will be crowned as someone murders Dakota's top gun, Buford the Bullfrog. An outraged Dakota hires private investigator Dan Smith to uncover the identity of the dastardly culprit. Preliminary evidence points towards Miah, who works for Dan's girlfriend, Flat Skunk newspaper publisher Connor Westphal. Back in high school Miah and Dakota were friends, but a falling out has turned them into bitter competitors. Though not quite as serious to the participants and fans as the murder of a champion jumping frog in Calaveras County, a human homicide follows and that brings the law into the investigation. Dan, realizing that Miah is the prime suspect, reevaluates who killed Buford, why, and the link to the other homicide. The Westphal-Smith mysteries are great tales that are worth reading by genre fans. The latest entry, BLIND SIDE, is exciting and brings to life the leaping contest that makes the county so famous. The recurring cast of eccentric characters are warm, real, and witty. Connor is a great heroine who refuses to allow her deafness to stop her from publishing a newspaper. Dan is a hunk with a brain. The story line is humorous with a serious undertone that will leave fans vocally shouting and in ALS sign "Eureka" in response to the news that Penny Warner has written another winner.Harriet Klausner