Boxed set of first five Calamity Jayne Mystery novels by Kathleen Bacus featuring the Midwest’s answer to Bridget Jones: aspiring ace cub reporter and amateur sleuth, Tressa Jayne Turner, including:
CALAMITY JAYNE When Tressa breaks down on a dark, deserted road and discovers a body in the trunk instead of a spare tire, she returns to find the stiff gone and she's driven off in the wrong car. Tressa is determined to prove there's more to this cockeyed cowgirl than meets the eye and she’s just been handed the perfect opportunity to get "Ranger Rick" and a skeptical citizenry to finally take her seriously. How? By solving a murder no one else believes happened...No one, that is, except the killer.
CALAMITY JAYNE RIDES AGAIN Tressa’s off to the State Fair to work at her Uncle Frank’s ice cream concession stand. But when a soft-serve saboteur appears at the same time her cousin, Frankie, goes missing, it's another fine, sticky mess she's gotten herself into. With a string of malicious pranks, to scary, psycho dunk-tank clowns, two geriatric Jessica Fletcher wannabes, a dishy state trooper, and a sister who may have her eye on a certain ranger-type, and it's mayhem on the midway time.
GHOULS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN Tressa thinks she on to a scoop when eccentric and reclusive bestselling writer, Elizabeth Courtney Howard comes to Grandville to finish her latest book. So, what's stopping Tressa from scoring this journalistic coup? Only the fact that the skeletons to uncover in this little exposé are all in a closet in Haunted Holloway Hall--a house only Norman Bates could love.
CALAMITY JAYNE GOES TO COLLEGE Ace cub reporter Tressa Jayne Turner is back in college and nothing’s going to stop Tressa from making the grade. Well, except for a wrinkled roommate rekindling an old flame, maid of honor madness run amok, a botched betrothal that’s more than just schoolyard gossip and a campus criminal out to teach the student body a lesson—one one crime at a time. Failure is so not an option.
CALAMITY JAYNE HEADS WEST Tressa Jayne Turner’s off to Arizona to see her gammy hitched. Her cousin’s keeping secrets, Ranger Rick Townsend is sending signals—more of the smokin’ than smoke variety—and it seems Tressa’s not the only person with an attachment to “Kookamunga”, the fertility figurine she picked up at a roadside stand. Throw in a washed-up actress out to kick-start her career, a suspect spiritual advisor, locals with a cause, and a ten-year-old who’s a chip off a certain ranger’s blockhead and it’ll be a vision quest to make Thelma and Louise’s southwestern spree seem like amateur night at the OK Corral. May the best spirit guide win.
ANCHORS AWEIGH Tressa Jayne is off on a post-wedding cruise. Good food. Warm beaches. Romantic sunsets. Nothing can take the wind out of Tressa’s sails this time. Nothing that is except this particular Love Boat has Iceberg ahead! written all over it. Why? It’s a lo-cal “biggest loser” cruise, Tressa’s bad-boy faux fiancé and his marriage-minded aunt Mo are stowaways, and Tressa’s barely got her sea les before a dastardly murder plot bobs to the surface and Tressa Jayne knows just how Capt. Jack Sparrow feels when the rum is gone. Yo ho ho and a bottle of V-8!
I really enjoyed this mystery series and look forward to reading more of Jayne's adventures. The best thing is the last book of this series left all the small loose ends tied up so you didn't have this feeling that you were never going to get answers or any kind of satisfaction. But there is plenty of room for further mischief from this character too.
My only complaint is the ebook version had many typos. I'm fairly forgiving on this point, but even for my easy going nature I found it a bit obnoxious at times. I truly hope the author goes through and fixes them otherwise I'm a little hesitant to recommend the books despite the fact that I found myself laughing out loud several times and I'm not someone who does that easily.
Calamity Jayne Book 1 Mysteries. Very good book. Could not put it down, had to see what was going to happen next. Know what you call five blondes at the bottom of the ocean? An air pocket. I would know that voice anywhere. You know why Indians didn't scalp brunettes. The hair from a buffalo butt was more manageable. Annoyed that this particular customer always seemed to know when I was working the drive-through. You still workin' here, Calamity "Gotta be a record". Thats right your uncle owns the place. Rick Townsend works for the state Division of Natural Resoures, enforcing fish and game laws. I also work at a discount chain store in the electronics department. On the way home from work that night, I had a flat tire. Went to the trunk to change the tire and what I found was a body and some money. While she was getting help the body and the money vanished. No one would believe her about the body.
I found this to be a really fun book to read. Calamity is such a hoot. Always getting into trouble at every turn. It reminds me of people I know in real life. She has a hard time dealing with how people see her, so she try’s to change that fact. Along the way, she find’s her-self in deeper water. She does not give up, it makes her even more determined to get to the bottom of it. * If you like fun mystery’s that will make you laugh and stay on the edge of your set, this is the one I would recommend to you.
I started out likening this story, but about the time I reached page 300, I'd had enough. Tressa, AKA Calamity Jayne, is portrayed as bring so ditzy, it starts to feel fake and unnatural. I can count on one hand the number of books I have not finished and this is one of them. I would not recommend.
These books are laugh out loud funny. The sad thing is, with all the mishaps the heroine gets into (and for anyone who thinks I'm giving something away, her name should give you a clue!), I can totally identify with her. Short and blonde with a penchant for ending up in ridiculous situations. What's not to love?
I had the box set lent to me for 2 weeks. I needed to finish to see if Calamity Jayne got her man. These books were a mix of several other series that I have read. It will be interesting to see if Calamity Jayne gets another book.
A cute light book. I read all of them at once. I think it would have been better for me to take a break between books. I enjoyed the first one and the last one the most.