Dirty Little Murder

Plain Jane Mystery #2

by Traci Tyne Hilton

Jane Adler, a college student and housekeeper, dreams of being a missionary, but the road there is littered with corpses.

Jane found the most recent body floating in the hot tub at her newest client's house. The dead guy was a notorious flirt and carouser. Had his romantic shenanigans gotten him killed?

Cleaning up a murder was bad enough, but Jane’s love life was a mess too. Usually absence makes the heart grow fonder, but her boyfriend Isaac’s overseas teaching job seems to be driving them apart.

On top of it all, she’s been hand selected by her church as a candidate for one of their few fully funded missionary support positions. But can she solve a murder, keep her boyfriend, and follow her dream all at the same time?

Genres: Christian Fiction, Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 7, 2013

About the author

Traci Tyne Hilton is the author of The Plain Jane Mysteries, The Mitzy Neuhaus Mysteries and the Tillgiven Romantic Mysteries. When not writing she has been known to knit socks, play the spoons, and teach Sunday School, though these days she is most often seen in her role as taxi-driver to busy children.

She has been indie publishing since 2010, and though she's had offers from small and large presses, she hasn't gone hybrid yet. She was the Mystery/Suspense Category winner for the 2012 Christian Writers of the West Phoenix Rattler Contest, a finalist for Speculative Fiction in the same contest, and has a Drammy from the Portland Civic Theatre Guild. She blogs at TheWriteConversation.blogspot.com.

Traci is an active member of the ACFW, who was lucky enough to teach a continuing ed class on indie publishing at the 2015 conference in Dallas. She also serves on the board of her local chapter.

Traci attended Fackelbararnas Bibelskola in Holsby Brunn, Sweden, and earned a degree in History from Portland State University. She lives in the rainiest part of the Pacific Northwest with her husband the mandolin playing funeral director, two busy teens, and their dogs, Dr. Watson and Archie Goodwin. (Her family just admonished her not to forget the cat!)

You can join the Good Clean Book club at http://www.tracihilton.com and be the first to find out when her next book releases.

Reviews

[Ellen Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love the Plain Jane Mysteries I have read. This is book two and I enjoyed it just as much as the first one. Jane is totally likable and believable as a person. Unlike some Christian books, she doesn’t come off as perfect and struggles with many of the same things your average person does. The mysteries are fun and light hearted and I can never figure out who did it until the very end. There is no worry of bad language or inappropriate situations in them ever.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Possible spoiler alert.........




Overall the book was good. Only 2 issues I had with it. One I thought the author was going to tie in the hit and run with the main story line. There was a comment on how the main character was cleaning an already clean garage but there was dirt under the car. As far as I could tell that didn't mean anything. Also my kindle show like 86 percent left so I thought at least the hit and run would be solved but didn't. It ended to abruptly. The rest of the space was taken up with a preview of another book. With that said if the author writes another sequel I will read it. I love the Christian theme.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jane is back for the second book in the Plain Jane Mysteries. While working at a difficult client's house, she finds a dead body in the hot tub. Jane wants to find the killer, so she continues working at the house to discover who it is.

A clean, Christian cozy mystery. This book found Jane struggling with her work life, her romantic life, and her chosen path of becoming a missionary, all while trying to solve a murder mystery.

The mystery was the most interesting part of the book. Jane wanted to snoop around her client's house to look for clues. Since she was connected to the house, she felt she was a suspect, though she clearly wasn't one. It was somewhat humorous and silly.

Jane was relatable, but also kind of annoying. The romantic aspect was not very realistic. Jane was dating a guy who left the country to pursue his career, and she felt unwanted while he was gone. Meanwhile, a guy from her past reappeared in her life and showed interest in her. Personally, I wasn't a fan of guy that was out of the country, and trying to redeem him in the end fell flat.

The missionary work involved Jane working with two other women from her church. One of the other women was super annoying, but I guess that's relatable too. Jane's main goal in life is to serve in the mission field overseas, and she's challenged a little on that plan in this story.

[Angela Lambkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose to give "Dirty Little Murder" five stars for such a great and tantalizingly mystery as this was! I really enjoyed this type of book of yours,Traci! I liked the way that you had went about solving it and making the reader feel as though they were right there with practically almost all the time during this events that went on! I recommend this book for those who enjoy such a book with a clean reading experience and was hard to just set down even when one has to because of having to do our daily
everyday jobs and tasks,yes? Great jobTraci Tyne! I am glad that in this particular time and situation I was able to buy it myself with my winnings on an Amazon.com Gift card! By Angela

[Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 of 7

[Walter Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, clean mystery with Christian characters.

A good story with an unexpected ending. Though I suspect some readers will see it coming. A Christian element that adds to the story rather than just an occasional mention of church so it can be labeled Christian.

This is one of the better Christian mysteries I've read. A good stand alone book, but I think reading the series in order helps the reader get to know the characters and will add to the enjoyment.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love cozy mysteries, I'm a Christian and I love my Heavenly Father but this book was horribly obnoxious and just plain over the top with Christian references. I read the first in this series and gave it a 3/5 but after this absolutely horrible read, I honestly cannot put myself through another experience like that ever again and so, I will NOT be continuing on in this series.

[Bibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dirty Little Murder

I've read this series before and thoroughly enjoyed it. The author has a new book out so I thought I'd read through the series again. It's quirky, fun, and totally worth a second read.

[Helen Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. There's relationships growing and going in new directions and the murder is intriguing and the clues were there but I didn't pick them up so I was surprised by the ending.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story!

I really enjoyed this clean read—great story and inter-play between the characters! Looking forward to the next in the series!!

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dirty little mystery

Dirty Little Mystery is the second in the Plain Jane Mystery series by Traci Tyne Hilton. Jane Adler cleans houses to earn money to attend missionary school. Her heart's desire is to become a missionary...Or a detective. Which is it? Jane has an opportunity to determine the direction of her life when she arrives at her job site and finds her boss's philandering husband dead in the hot tub. It is determined that he was murdered when an autopsy reveals a heretofore missing half million dollar ring stuffed down his throat....definitely not a drowning accident. There are many clues or oddities that Jane discovers as she continues her cleaning job in order to help the trophy wife and the ex wife and the grown children get through the funeral. Each family member is considered as a possible killer but Jane is able to beat the police to solving the case. Not a heavy think piece of reading, but a delightful light read. I would recommend reading this one soon after the first because details are carried over from Book one that you will wonder about if you haven't read the first book.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised how much time transpired between the end of the first novel and the start of this one. Jane has been cleaning for 3 years now and boyfriend is away on his first missionary journey. Things are looking up, except her latest client has lost her diamond ring, and Jane is soon blamed for its disappearance and may be liable for half a million dollars if Caramel has anything to say about it. It's under this strain that Jane finds Caramel's husband, Douglas, former mayor and current philanderer, dead in his own hot tub. As she was the only one home at the time, and key evidence she described has disappeared, she quickly concludes she is a suspect. Eager to clear her name, she enlists the aid of her cousin and a vapid member of her missions team to help investigate on her own.

I enjoyed the second novel in this series; however, I found the resolution a bit rushed and "out there" this time around. Otherwise the characters were drawn credibly well, right down to the mission team's ineffectual disagreements regarding their project. I'm looking forward to tackling more of the series.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

" Dirty Little Murder" by Traci Tyne Hilton, the second book in (the Plain Jane Mysteries Series) gets five stars from me.

In this book, Jane is cleaning a new house for a maid that is on vacation and finds the owner dead in a hot tub. Jane is still attending school in hopes of being a missionary someday. In this story, there is more danger and more romance. This novel has lots of flirting but still a clean book. This novel keeps you guessing even more on who the murder really is and Jane does her best to figure out the clues!

Again I say this book and this series is worth your time. They are a nice way to spend an afternoon!

[Ashley Kelley]

The first book set up the characters well, but if I'm being completely honest I spent most of this book annoyed with the main character and there wasn't enough redeeming qualities for the end, which was good and, though predictable, demonstrative of character growth. This may just be because I was never an indecisive 22year old though. However, I will say that the plot was well constructed and I did enjoy the conceptual framework. Overall it was worth the few hours I invested for an entertaining read!

[Deb Brammer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, my second I've read in this series. This is a light-hearted book that has Jane solving a mystery at the same time she's trying to figure out what God wants for her life. This would be especially good for young adults and singles in their 20's. Jane was like-able without being perfect. Generally it's a nice Christian fiction, though the way her church chooses missionaries is completely foreign to my experience. On the down side, her one reference to breasts is unnecessary and will be a turn-off the Christian men.All in all, however, it's a fun, unpredictable read.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much!! Better than the first. I loved the growth and the plot. I even love how she actually solved the mystery this time and I love how she told Isaac she would not move closer to him without marriage. Tear, tear. She's growing up :) I can't wait for the next book. I'm only sorry I don't have it in my hands yet.

[Delphine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving this series

If I could have made a ten star rating I would have. This book is exciting, I felt as if I was right there with Jane. She certainly has the nose for detective, criminal justice work. And that truly could be her mission. How exciting. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. I love it

[Michelle Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good clean fun. Pun not intended.

Fun read. Good message about how sometimes God asks you to change lanes. So many young Christians start out for foreign missions only to find God steering them into a different path. I know from personal experience that you may start out to teach English in China but end up in an exciting stateside ministry.

[Steven Schaefer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second in a series, I found this book a little lacking in the end. The characters were as good as those in the first book, but I guess I missed the clues along the way. I found the ending a bit abrupt and not wrapped up as well as the first in the series. Still, I look forward to more in this series.

[Christie Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one more than the first book in the series. The mystery held my interest, even though it did not have me on the edge of my seat. Decent character development. Jane was pretty isolated in this book; she really could have used someone to talk to- would have made some parts less boring. Overall, I liked it.

[Barbara O'Neal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dirty little murder

this is a good book. I like all the plain Jane books. good characters and lots of action. didn't figure out the end until it happen. I like a book. that keeps me guessing

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book a simple fast read murder mystery. The "Christianese" in the language bugs me a bit but at least I know the book won't become too graphic. I will be reading the rest of the series.

[McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great rollercoaster ride of a read!

Exciting read right away, storyline had me hooked for hours. Then like a brick wall it turned boring, half way through the story. The action did pick back up, kept me turning those pages to the end.

[Beth Kaminske · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective Jane

These might just be sweet little Christian mysteries, but I have to say I don't have them all figured out before I even get half way through the book. Which is what happens with most mystery books, I read. I like the characters and how they interact.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book. Very clean and great story line. Kept me guessing until the very end. Lots of intrigue and investigation going on...by a cleaning maid!!! Highly recommend this one. I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.

[Jess Mountifield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this. perfect sequel

[Jenny Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very similar to the first book. A bit unbelievable having another murder on the job, but an entertaining, and clean story never the less.

[Beth Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

I really enjoyed reading this book and will definitely read another one in the series next. They are Christian based but don't shove religion down your throat.

[Valerie Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book absolutely. These books are written with everyday problems along with mystery entwined. This book would appeal to the mystery lovers and romantics.

[Sierra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Some reviews I read had said they didn't like the second book. I however, loved it. I couldn't seem to put it down!