Candy Apple Red (Jane Kelly Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Nancy Bush (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jane Kelly Mysteries | Publication Date: August 23, 2011

Jane Kelly is through with following men anywhere. Last time she did, she left Southern California for the dubious charms of Lake Chinook, Oregon, where she's traded in bartending for the much more glamorous trade of process serving. (Well, she can tell herself it's glamorous, anyway.) And the boyfriend, of course, is long gone. She's not making any lifetime commitments, but when Portland divorce attorney Marta Cornell calls with a P.I. job, the money involved sounds like the answer to her dwindling bank account - until she learns Tess Bradbury wants her to investigate the disappearance of Bobby Reynolds. Four years ago, without warning, Bobby murdered his young family and promptly vanished. No one disputed that he'd slaughtered his own flesh and blood except Tim Murphy, his best friend - and Jane's ex, the one guy she's never quite gotten over. The murders had driven a wedge between him and Jane, and finally drove him right out of town. Now he's on his way back, to attend a Lake Chinook Historical Society benefit that Cotton Reynolds, Bobby's father, is hosting. It looks like Jane's going to be following men around again - this time with a tape recorder and a camera.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Funny sex scenes, good drinks and a likable dog lift Bush's first Jane Kelly mystery. Tired of her job as a process server, 30-year-old Jane, who followed boyfriend Tim Murphy from Los Angeles to rural Lake Chinook, Ore., only to be dumped by him, agrees to work for Dwayne Durbin, a successful "information specialist" (or private investigator), who's "cute in that kind of slow-talkin' cowboy way." Jane's first case happens to concern Tim's best friend from high school, Bobby Reynolds, who killed his whole family and disappeared four years earlier, though Tim always believed Bobby was innocent. Bobby's mother, Tess, hires Jane to see if her ex-husband, Cotton, and his trophy wife have seen Bobby. Complications arise when Tim returns for a benefit at Cotton's island compound to which Jane is also invited—and Bobby's body surfaces in the lake. Romance readers will especially enjoy the heartsick heroine's search for true love. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Move over Stephanie Plum, Jane Kelly has arrived."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Kensington; 1ST edition (August 23, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758209053
• ISBN-13: 978-0758209054
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,453,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

NYT and USA TODAY bestselling author Nancy Bush has been writing for (gulp!) over thirty years. Her solo thriller, HUSH, and WICKED LIES, co-written with her sister, bestselling author, Lisa Jackson, debuted in 2011, and one of her most beloved series, The Danner Quartet, is now available in e-book form: LADY SUNDOWN, MIRACLE JONES, JESSE'S RENEGADE and SCANDAL'S DARLING. Nancy is currently working on companion thrillers NOWHERE TO RUN and NOWHERE TO HIDE to be published in late 2012.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More Description than Mystery, September 4, 2006

By 

Wantz Upon A Time Reviews (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Candy Apple Red (Jane Kelly Mysteries) (Paperback)

If you're looking for a very light read with minimal tension, almost no action, and more description than dialogue, then this book is just for you.

Nancy Bush's first book is written in the first person from the point of view of Jane Kelley, a sometimes process server/private eye who seems to spend more time obsessing about her empty refrigerator and how to cadge a free drink than actually doing any investigating.

She is hired by Tess, the ex-wife of Lake Chinook's richest man, Cotton Reynolds, to find out what happened to their son, Bobby - who allegedly killed his wife and children, then disappeared. Add in Bobby's best friend, Murphy, who just happens to be Jane's ex, and you have the formula for a good murder mystery. Unfortunately, the set-up doesn't follow through. When the body finally shows up, it is obvious - at least to this reader - who the killer is. But the author continues with another hundred pages before revealing the answer, and even then, it's a bit of a letdown.

Bush spends so much time on description of the broken-down cottage, empty larder, and lakeside bar that the mystery is lost in the details. There is a lot of promise here, but it hasn't quite reached the top of the murder mystery pack as of yet.

Reviewed by Vicky Burkholder
9/4/2006

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Read!!!, October 16, 2005

By 

Kristi Ahlers (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Candy Apple Red (Jane Kelly Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This was an amusing and entertaining read that will offer a little something for everyone. Humor, mystery, and a dash of romance.

Jane Kelly is single, in her early thirties, and living in a small town where fashion and what have you are not the important thing. She followed a boyfriend to this small town, and than he left, taking her broken heart with him. It's small, quiet, and...dead bodies are being found! To add to Jane's full plate her mom keeps saying she's moving there as well! On top of that she's been asked to interview a person who's son mysteriously disappeared after murdering his own family. Did he kill his family, and if so why? If he didn't than where was he, and who did kill them? Oh, and Murphy is back. So now Jane has taken on the job despite her inner voice saying not to, and Dwayne her boss is becoming a little more yummy as time goes on...not that she'll admit this even to herself. And she's knee deep into a mystery that begs to be solved.

Well, questions are leading to more questions, and answers are not what they seem. Jane has her work cut out for her but some how she'll manage to land on her feet and solve the mystery of what on earth happened to Bobby.

This was a very entertaining read. Characters are plentiful and colorful. I loved "Binkster" and although this story is in first person, it did not detract from the tale. Ms. Bush has created a fun character with Jane and I look forward to visiting with Jane again in the future.

Official Reviewer for Romance Designs

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sherlock Holmes would have called this, December 27, 2006

By 

Fred Camfield (Vicksburg, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Candy Apple Red (Jane Kelly Mysteries) (Paperback)

the curious case of the dog that barked in the night. Four years earlier, Bobby Reynolds wife and three children were murdered in cold blood. Bobby was charged with the crime but he disappeared. His father, the wealthy Cotton Reynolds, lives on a private island in Lake Chinook. A number of things happen. Cotton's ex-wife hires Jane Kelly to investigate and see what she can find because she thinks Cotton may be in contact with their son Bobby, and there is a question about Cotton's will. A teenager who was trespassing on the island is injured and has a memory loss about what happened. Then Bobby's body is found in the lake.

A number of characters enter into the plot including Jane's ex-boyfriend who had been Bobby's best friend, Cotton's new trophy wife, Cotton's ex-paramour from between his marriages, Cotton's step-son from his first marriage, real estate agents who want the island, various spear carriers, and several dogs including one that Jane seems to inherit.

As Jane becomes involved, the plot thickens. There are a number of surprises, and various twists, and Jane is injured along the way. My main complaint is the number of digressions including a side plot about a teenager chasing after the jailbait niece of Jane's boss. Too many digressions can make a story drag. I would also note that the cover of the paperback edition is unrelated to story, i.e., Jane does not carry a gun and does not wear spike heels. The title is the color of the convertible that her ex-boyfriend used to drive.

Overall, it is a very good first effort by the author, and introduces a new female PI. A sequel has been published.