Blanche White in "Blanche Cleans Up" by Barbara Neely

As another character says, "And what a pair of names for one such as yourself, eh?"; Blanche White is a black woman who has a business that brings her in contact with lots of other people, perfect for stumbling across mysteries and solving them. She sounds like the kind of person I'd like to hang out with in real life, except for that tendency to find dead bodies that all sleuths seem to have. An excellent read, and worth tracking down in the nearest used bookstore.



Other AoC that I recall reading:

Madhur Jaffrey, Tastes of India
Maya Angelou, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Steven Barnes, all of his books
Cherríe Moraga/Gloria Anzaldúa, This Bridge Called My Back
Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope
The Autobiography of Malcolm X, as told to Alex Haley
Alex Haley, Roots
Malcolm Gladwell, Blink
Audre Lorde, Zami, A New Spelling of My Name
Mark Mathabane, Kaffir Boy