tBo Bradley, a San Diego social worker employed as an investigator for the Children’s Protective Services Department, is assigned a case regarding a Mayan child who has been poisoned while being cared for by a Latino couple while his mother pursues her singing career. The child is called Acito, Little Turtle. The poison is very rare, must be carefully cultivated and stored, and is usually fatal. tRelying on her acute instincts, brought about by her manic/depressive condition, Bo travels not only to find the person who poisoned Acito but also to figure out why, to find his mother, and to find a home for him. tWhile learning about the Mayan culture, Bo finds out that among the Mayan, deformities were considered gifts by the ancient Maya. “A cleft palate or club foot, an extra finger or crossed eyes–any departure from the physical norm was evidence of the god’s favor.... Often a baby’s head was wrapped to flatten its forehead so the child would become godlike.”tTURTLE BABY has many twists and turns and maintained my interest. The writing is crisp, the characters believable and likable, and the answer to the poisoning question totally unexpected. My only criticism is that some of the situations are a bit too contrived: The person just happened to be in the right remote location at the exactly correct moment.tThis is the third of the series and all of them are good reads.
This is my second in the series by Padgett and liked this even more than the first. The author is a clever writer -- using mental illness (manic depressive social worker) and cultural diversity (native American/Mayan culture) as an on going theme. She manages to show both with humor while expanding politically correct positions. The mystery in this one is quite good -- there are many deaths around young Mayan child, Acito, and the story exposes the extent one goes to survive/advance along the difficult Mexico boarder towns. I'm not a big mystery series reader, so will take a break but might come back to the third in the series featuring Bo Bradley.
