Time’s Up by Janey Mack

Reviewed by Kristin

Move over Stephanie Plum, there’s a fresh new character in town and she’s got a ticket to write.

Maisie McGrane is from a large Irish family full of Chicago cops.  All her life she has planned to join their ranks, but suddenly she learns that she has failed the psych exam for having an overwhelming need to be liked, and thus will be summarily dismissed from the police academy.  Maisie’s first thought is that this can’t be happening.  All the McGranes are either cops or lawyers.  So what’s next for Maisie?

Appeal the academy’s decision?

Apply to law school?

Become a meter maid?

Soon, Maisie has put on the neon green vest and hit the streets.  Training with Traffic Enforcement Agent Letitia Jackson, Maisie encounters the disgruntled public who are just as likely to throw rotten milkshakes on her head as to beg for mercy when she is about to place an AutoCITE ticket on their windshield.  Being a meter maid is not for the thin-skinned.  No matter what that psych exam said, Maisie is determined to succeed.  Dealing with high level Chicago political intrigue, Maisie manages to navigate her way through the streets of the city in a 3-wheeled “Interceptor” cart issuing tickets and putting the boot on vehicles with multiple violations.

Full of strong and sometimes zany characters, this promising new series has more than a few similarities to Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books.  First off, Maisie has taken on a new job for which she is not exactly suited.  Her family is tight knit and definitely in Maisie’s business, like it or not.  Sidekick/supervisor Letitia is overflowing with personality and surely would be stopping at Cluck-in-a-Bucket if only she were in Trenton instead of Chicago.  A bit of a love triangle is set up in this first book of the series as well, although Maisie seems to favor the mysterious bad/good guy Hank Bannon rather than the family approved cop Lee Sharpe.

This first installment in the series has begun with a bang and seems to promise even more depth and development in future publications.  Next in the series are Choked Up and Shoot ‘em Up.  I recommend Time’s Up enthusiastically, and look forward to getting to know Maisie, her family, her co-workers, and her love interest(s) as the series continues.

Death by Tiara by Laura Levine

Reviewed by Jeanne

Death by Tiara finds the ever-employment challenged Jaine embarking on a new job.  This time she’s writing song lyrics for a contestant in the Miss Teen Queen America pageant.  To be more accurate, she’s  writing the song for the contestant’s mother who is determined that her daughter should pull off the win and seeks to ensure the same by pulling out all the stops.  Daughter Taylor is less than enthused, but quickly forms a bond with Jaine—mostly a bond based on Jaine supplying Taylor with chocolate. 

It soon becomes apparent that the pageant isn’t quite as glamorous as TV would have us believe.  The hotel is a dump, Candace the pageant director would be quite at home as a drill sergeant, and there isn’t anyone deserving of the Miss Congeniality title, to put it mildly.

Things really become nasty after Candace’s assistant ends up dead, beaten to death with—you guessed it—a tiara. 

On a brighter note, Jaine’s relationship with new boyfriend Scott is progressing nicely.  At least until he decides she should meet his parents.  Let’s just say that it does not go well.

No Jaine Austen tale would be complete without dueling (and funny!) emails from her parents, each giving one side of the Great Golf Cart saga, and the appearance of  Prozac, Jaine’s feline diva who makes the beauty contestants look like rank amateurs in comparison.

We have reviewed some earlier titles in this series (Killing Cupid, Pampered to Death).   I enjoyed this one more, either because I was in a mood for funny or because I just knew more of what to expect.  These are fast, funny reads with a feisty heroine.  What makes this series stand out a bit more for me is Jaine’s confidence in herself.  Oh, she may complain about putting on few pounds or not being stylish, but when push comes to shove, Jaine isn’t afraid to stand up for herself.  

If you’re in the market for a madcap, over the top mystery, this is a series to try.  Have a box of chocolates to hand but be careful—it’s easy to get choked when you’re laughing.

(Note: I'm one of those who reads the Author Notes, Prefaces, etc.  and saw that she thanked her agent, Evan Marshall.  I found this interesting since I'd just read one of Marshall's own books, Toasting Tina. I may have imagined it, but it seemed to me there was a similar sense of humor in the books, though Levine's is more exaggerated.)

The Outsmarting of Criminals by Steven Rigolosi

Reviewed by Jeanne

Miss Felicity Prim enjoys her job working for dear Doctor Poe and enjoys life in New York City right up until the day she is mugged.  She decides that the proper thing to do, after self-defense courses, is to move to a smaller town and embark on a new profession.  She has one in mind:  Criminal Outsmarter.  She’s read any number of detective stories and is fully knowledgeable of the expected accouterments: faithful animal companion, steady sidekick who can serve as comic relief, local constables who are pleased at having a civilian helper, etc.  

She finds a charming little house in Greenfield, Connecticut which should be the perfect setting for her new profession. She plans to start out small, with a missing person or perhaps a lost object and work her way up to more advanced crime solving, but her plans have to be changed when she discovers a dead body in a hidden basement of her new home. 

The Outsmarting of Criminals  by Steven Rigolosi is a delightful book which pokes gentle fun at the cozy genre without ever becoming too precious or without putting down the genre or its readers.  Greenfield is populated by a number of characters, not the least of which is Miss Prim herself—a fact of which she remains blissfully unaware. There’s the bookseller who arranges her books by categories such as “Books by Authors Who Phone It In” or “Books Nobody Ever Reads” and the monosyllabic town cook, Maude.  Maude is, of course, a man.  Miss Prim’s sister, Celia, is considered the femme fatale of the family, and is currently adding to her charm by learning indexing—although she thinks perhaps that indexing is more of an inspired art than a science.  However, she is certain that the ability to index is a most desirable attribute to a mate.  She has a long list of conquests, and believes Maude has joined the list.   Other characters defy simple descriptions.  They just have to be experienced.

For me, much of the fun was in how devoted Miss Prim is to the cozy conventions.  She knows exactly how things usually turn out.  For example, at one point she hears a strange noise and night and has to decide whether or not to investigate. On the one hand, she does feel the need to know what caused the noise; but she has no desire to be one of those none too bright heroines who ends up running from danger while clad only in a nightgown.  

Add Doctor Poe’s unexpected declaration of undying devotion, a family mystery discovered in dear Papa’s journals, a dog being taught reverse Pavlovian principle, and you have a very funny, very witty, cozy mystery.  I admit to laughing out loud at several points.  Rigolosi sends up the genre but does so with deep appreciation, not ridicule.  This is the start of a series and I for one will be in line to read the next installment.

Ghost Gone Wild by Carolyn Hart

Reviewed by Kristin

Bailey Ruth is back, once again serving on Earth as an emissary from Heaven.  Bailey Ruth is a helpful ghost, that is—a helpful emissary, who has been known to lend a hand when individuals on Earth need a little help.  (We really shouldn’t use the word “ghost” because Wiggins, the head of the heavenly Department of Good Intentions, certainly wouldn’t approve.)  Bailey Ruth is impulsive and has a tendency to bend the heavenly rules for earthly visitation.  After all, how can she help people when she is supposed to work behind the scenes and avoid public notice as much as possible?

In this outing, Bailey Ruth is whisked away suddenly before she has a chance to obtain directions from Wiggins.  Dropped on the edge of her old hometown—Adelaide, Oklahoma—Bailey Ruth arrives at a young man’s house immediately before someone sticks a rifle through the curtains and takes a shot.  Fortunately, Bailey Ruth is on the job and saves Nick Magruder from serious injury.  Unfortunately, reassuring him requires materializing in a visible form, something that is strongly discouraged in the heavenly precepts.  As she swirls her physical form into being, she discovers that she cannot vanish again at will.

Something strange is afoot!  Bailey Ruth realizes that perhaps her mission was not authorized by Wiggins; as she struggles to discover what she is supposed to be doing, she wonders how on Earth will she ever get back to Heaven?

I find Bailey Ruth rather delightful as she focuses on her appearance, changing her outfits with a mere thought.  Carolyn Hart writes the character in such a way that makes the reader feel how happy Bailey Ruth is in her heavenly environs, and how much she enjoyed her life on earth with Bobby Mac.  After they both arrived in Heaven together when their boat sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, Bailey Ruth discovered the wonders of an eternity full of happiness and love.  Forever appearing to be age twenty-seven with curly red hair and green eyes, Bailey Ruth has an infectious spring in her step and a smile on her lips.

This is definitely a cozy mystery series, although I have read that Hart prefers to call the books “traditional mysteries”.  There is very little violence or blood, just a kind soul who wants to help people in trouble.  A bit of history is given at the beginning of every book so you can just jump in and read any of the books in the series, but the books in order are:  Ghost at Work; Merry, Merry Ghost; Ghost in Trouble; Ghost Gone Wild; and coming in October 2014: Ghost Wanted.

Bobbie Faye' Very (Very Very Very) Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey

Reviewed by Kristin

Sparked by the question “Which authors are laugh-out-loud funny like Janet Evanovich?” I started making a list of light, funny authors who are more fun than a barrel of monkeys.  (Who ever had fun with a barrel of monkeys?  Seems like they would be screeching and biting and it would be just too darn crowded in a barrel.  PETA would be there….oh never mind, I digress.)  Toni McGee Causey immediately appeared on several lists of recommendations for authors similar to Evanovich.  Wanting to know exactly what I might be recommending to patrons, I checked out the first book featuring Bobbie Faye Sumrall, and prepared to be amused.

Bobbie Faye’s world is one in which Bobbie Faye herself is the perfect storm, just a small town girl with a predilection for disaster.  The title page contains a map of the Louisiana State Insurance Archive of Bobbie Faye Sumrall Disasters.  With locations labelled “Fire at High School (Science Lab)” and “Drawbridge Jammed for Nine Weeks” and “Destruction of Governer’s Motorcade (No Fatalities)”,  Bobbie Faye is known far and wide for her extremely bad luck and  the chaos that follows her.  The hyperbole is a little over the top, but still funny.  Southern Louisiana is rich with pirate lore, and Bobbie Faye is the crowned Contraband Days Festival queen, as were her mother, grandmother, and many more grandmothers before her.

Bobbie Faye is also rather fascinating to the opposite sex.  Ex-boyfriend Cameron Moreau, who also happens to be a state police detective, bemoans the trouble Bobbie Faye encounters, and looks out for her even through the major disaster that this very, very, very, very bad day is turning out to be.  As Bobbie Faye enlists the help of a not-so-innocent bystander, Trevor Cormier, sparks fly.

Bobbie Faye’s day begins with water flooding her trailer.  Her brother Roy was supposed to fix the washing machine, but he was a little too busy hiding out from his married girlfriend’s husband.  Bobbie Faye is desperate to turn off the water, bail out her trailer, and be ready for the social worker home visit later that day, so that she can continue having custody of her five-year-old niece Stacey.  Could it be that straightforward to take care of this last little problem?  Of course not.  Roy is in even more trouble than Bobbie Faye, with a gun pointed at his head and the bad guys wanting something that only Bobbie Faye can provide.

Adult language alert:  On page two, niece Stacey solemnly tells Bobbie Faye “Mamma says you shouldn’t cuss so much.”  Well, Bobbie Faye doesn’t listen to Stacey or Mamma, although she does try to tone it down in front of the kid.  If you like this first outing, Bobbie Fay’s outrageous adventures continue with Bobbie Faye’s (kinda, sorta, not-exactly) Family Jewels, Charmed and Dangerous, Girls Just Wanna Have Guns, When a Man Loves a Weapon, Bobbie Fay’s Hot Mess of a Wedding (novella) and Failure to Communicate (short story).

Just one more thought:  Bobbie Faye and a barrel of monkeys?  Now that would be trouble.

Want a few other recommendations for laugh-out-loud funny books?  Try Sarah Strohmeyer, Sophie Littlefield, Jennifer Crusie, Meg Cabot, Mary Kay Andrews, Michael Lee West, Fannie Flagg, Charlotte Hughes, Gemma Halliday, Sophie Kinsella and Anne George.  You may find more details on these authors on a Bristol Public Library bibliography, located at the reference desk, coming soon.