Candy Apple Red by Nancy Bush
Jane Kelly left her old boyfriend in Southern California and is now living the good life in Lake Chinook Oregon, if you consider barely eeking out a living by tending bar and serving processes good. Then her PI hobby takes a turn for the better when she lands a real case paying real money. But the case turns serious when a dead body turns up and now it looks like Jane’s ex-boyfriend is the killer. Now can Jane find the body before she decided to get back with her ex- or will Jane end up the killer’s next victim.
A complex plot combined with the right amount of humor and wacky characters are a great way to catch my interest. You definitely should give this one a try.
Details: Kensington, September 2006
Excellence Rating: Very Good
Tressa “Calamity” Jayne Turner is back again, but this time she’s after the story of a lifetime. A reclusive writer arrives at the haunted mansion just outside of town. No one has seen or spoken to the author in years. If she could just land the interview, Tressa was certain she’d be able to get a full-time job on the newspaper. The only thing stopping her was a blackmailing homecoming queen candidate who also wants to meet the writer, a grandmother with a collection of fertility gods who moves into Tressa’s home, her grandmother’s boyfriend who supposedly was paid $50 bucks to take the writer to her high school prom, a rival reporter who thinks he has the inside track to the story and that sexy park ranger who always manages to show up just in time to spoil her plans or save her life. But as Tressa digs into the mystery behind the writer, the more likely it is that she’ll end up laying in the graveyard near the haunted house. 
Imagine one day, your husband of nearly 20 years decides to trade you in on a newer model. Next, your divorce lawyer finds out that your husband mismanaged your assets so badly that you were on the verge of losing the house anyway. Finally, you learn that all of your friends have abandoned you. What do you do? First, you join forces with the other outcasts in the neighborhood, a brand new trophy wife who hasn’t a clue how to navigate life in the suburbs, and the much-married lady who’s dating the your son’s baseball coach. There you realize each member of the threesome has the knowledge to help the others. Now can these three women help each other to overcome the challenges of being single in suburbia? 
Tressa Jayne Turner, aka, Calamity Jayne, is back, this time dishing ice cream for her uncle at the Iowa State fair. But when a series of suspicious accidents targeted at his ice cream stands, Tressa finds herself in the middle of a mystery. Fortunately, Ranger Rick is on the scene and just in case things go wrong (an absolute certainty with Calamity Jayne), Rick’s grandfather and Tressa’s grandmother are around to provide backup. Rogers and Hammerstein never envisioned a state fair quite like this one. :) 
What do you do if your life is one long blond moment? If your name is Tressa Jayne Turner aka Calamity Jayne, you end up on a deserted road with a dead body in the trunk of your car of course. When you show the authorities the car and they find the trunk empty, they simply won’t believe you – not even the hot Rick Townsend, aka Ranger Rick – so you’ll just have to find the body yourself. But Tressa ends up digging herself deeper into the mystery and dragging Ranger Rick along with her. But dragging a hunk along has lots of advantages, especially as it relates to Tressa’s love life.