Hot Enough to Kill (The 1st Jolene Jackson Mystery) [Kindle Edition]

Paula Boyd (Author)

Book Description

Book 1--The 1st Jolene Jackson Mystery
REVISED EDITION--July 19, 2012

Kickapoo, Texas, is the last place Jolene Jackson wants to be, but with her 72-year-old mother’s boyfriend murdered and Mother Dearest locked up because of it, she’s got little choice but to head south and deal with it.

Bullets are flying, chicken’s frying and there’s a lunatic on the loose in the mesquites with a shotgun who’s Hot Enough to Kill.
An excerpt is included in The University of Texas Press' title, Lone Star Sleuths--An Anthology of Texas Crime Fiction

REVIEWS

"Don't Mess with Texas! You'll laugh your way from Kickapoo to Redwater Falls and back." -- Linda Huntley Wills, Redbook

"This is a wild ride with thrills, chills and laughs galore. Highly Recommended." -- Editor, I *Love* a Mystery

"...makes for fast, fun summer reading." -- Nancy Cook-Senn, Shawnee Escort
"Anyone who enjoys the works of Janet Evanovich or Joan Hess is going to love Ms. Boyd." -- Toby Bromberg, Romantic Times

"...a terrific mystery, sharply drawn, cleverly plotted, dynamically presented, and pure sleuthing entertainment from first page to last." -- Wisconsin Bookwatch

"The mystery genre has witnessed an abundance of female sleuths, but none quite like Jolene Jackson and her mother, Lucille." -- Argus Observer

5 Stars and 5+ Laughs! Has to be film adapted. Would make a delightful audiobook. " ...a hoot and a half of rollicking good mystery! The best dang novel I've read all year!" -- Leann Arndt, The Midwest Book Review

"Carl Hiaasen meets Texasville! ...a must read for your Sherlock funny bone." -- Judi Clark, Mostly Fiction

"... comedic characters you'll just love. ...a humor you can't resist. I can't remember the last time that I read a book as light and refreshing as this." -- Pamela Stone, My Shelf

"This first entry of an apparent series will leave readers loudly laughing at the antics of Jolene and her mother. Hot Enough to Kill is a tongue-in-cheek look at relationships and amatuer sleuthing. Still, the mystery has a character of its own that adds to a wonderful plot. If this tale is any example, Paula Boyd has a long running series that will provide much pleasure to fans." -- Harriet Klausner

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jolene Jackson pulls into her home town of Kickapoo, Texas, during a sweltering heat wave wishing for all the world to be anywhere else. The mayor of Kickapoo has been murdered, and Jolene's duty is to keep her flamboyant septuagenarian mother, Lucille, out of jail and off the suspect list. Caught between salacious gossip at the Dairy Queen and a power-hungry deputy, Jolene soon realizes that the only way to escape Kickapoo with her life--and her sanity--is to sleuth out the murderer in a town full of likely suspects.

The first in a series of Jolene Jackson mysteries, Hot Enough to Kill is a classic whodunit in the spirit of Agatha Christie or even Nancy Drew. Author Paula Boyd populates Kickapoo with larger-than-life characters (this is Texas, after all) and enough surprises to keep you guessing until the very end. Crank up the A/C, pour yourself a glass of iced tea, and enjoy the ride. --Ginger Dzerk

Review

"...will make you laugh out loud and wish for more." -- Linda Huntley Wills, Rockwall Texas Success

"Boyd's characters are eccentric and her situations outrageous. The dialog is terrific and the plot exciting. Highly recommended." -- Sally Powers, I Love a Mystery

"If you love Janet Evanovich or Joan Hess, then you will loooove Texas' own Jolene Jackson." -- Cozies, Capers & Crimes

"Jolene's rich wit as she describes her corner of Texas and its inhabitants is downright hilarious." -- Margaret Baker, Baldwin Ledger

"Paula Boyd has a way with Texas humor, weaving a great mystery that's ingeniously plotted." -- Pam Stone, MyShelf.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 680 KB
• Print Length: 241 pages
• Publisher: Diomo Books; 3rd Edition, Revised edition (December 18, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B006O2G6B0
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,565 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A light Read July 28, 2000

By Pamela Stone

Format:Paperback

In this mystery you will meet a mother/daughter sleuthing team. Forty-six year old Jolene Jackson is a strong female sleuth and her seventy-two year old mother Lucille has a sharp eye and a sharper tongue, Jolene likes to cut to the chase, but Lucille has her own trick up her sleeve - or rather her purse (she likes to hit people with it). This fast paced mystery romps across my favorite landscape of North Central Texas. When the book starts out Jolene is getting into town (Kickapoo, TX) to get her mother Lucille out of jail for supposedly killing her boyfriend the mayor, Big John Bennett. The Dairy Queen is the local hangout and where Lucille was arrested. So when she's let go Lucille returns to the DQ as if nothing happened. Later when Sheriff Jerry Don (Jolene's high school sweetheart) is at Lucille's home asking questions, Lucille gets up from the table where they are seated to get a glass of tea, as she does a bullet comes through the window, goes through Lucille's arm and hits Jerry Don in the chest. Who was the bullet meant for? Lucille or Jerry Don? As Jolene and Officer Leroy discuss the shooting outside Lucille's home someone throws a brick at them, with Leroy getting the worst of it. Jolene starts sleuthing to find out who is trying to harm them and while all this is going on she is trying to figure out if and whether at all she fits into Jerry Don's life. Hot Enough to Kill has some comedic characters you'll just love. The author writes with a humor you can't resist. I can't remember the last time that I read a book as light and refreshing as this. You will love the ending because you are not expecting the surprise! Pam Stone

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars side-splitting humor August 9, 2000

By Mary Welk

Format:Paperback

Kickapoo, Texas. The name alone is enough to start you laughing. Add to that a purse swing widow who's romantic fling with the town's married Mayor is public knowledge due to his untimely murder, the widow's divorced daughter who must return to Kickapoo to bail Mom out of jail, a good looking sheriff who eyes the daughter with unsupressed interest, and a Dairy Queen full of gossipy characters, and you have a riot in the making. Paula Boyd had me in stitches with her tongue-in-cheek descriptions of life in a small town. This is a humorous first novel by a writer of great potential.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Side Splitting Humor --- Page Turning Action! December 28, 1999

By Rene Rieser

Format:Paperback

'Hot Enough to Kill' has it all! Sharp tongued Jolene Jackson and her purse swinging mother are a hilarious duo. But don't let that undermine the fact that this book is filled with all the right twists and turns of a great murder mystery! A must read!

More About the Author

Paula Boyd is the five-time award-winning author of the Jolene Jackson Mystery series, which features the mother-daughter anti-team of Lucille and Jolene. http://paulaboyd.com

Paula grew up in a small town in Texas that some would say was not unlike the fictional Kickapoo, which is just down the road from a bigger town that might, in some small ways, resemble the also fictional Redwater Falls. Paula also, coincidentally, lived in Colorado for about 20 years, but unlike her alter ego Jolene, she now resides in Arkansas.

An excerpt from the first Jolene Jackson Mystery, Hot Enough to Kill, is featured in the University of Texas Press' Lone Star Sleuths: An Anthology of Texas Crime Fiction. The second in the series, Dead Man Falls, won the WILLA Literary Award Winner for Best Original Paperback.

Paula worked as a self-employed corporate consultant for 17 years while developing her writing career, defining her passion and transforming herself. Writing as Paula Boyd, she and her mystery novels have been featured in Redbook, Mountain Living, San Antonio Woman, Romantic Times, Colorado Homes and Living and many others.

Writing as Paula Renaye, author of Living the Life You Love: The No-Nonsense Guide to Total Transformation, her recent print media features include Brain World Magazine; Brisbane Times; Sydney Morning Herald; Chicago Tribune; For You Magazine and Glo. Her blog features cut-to-the-chase transformational articles and tips, and can be found at www.ToughLoveTalk.com.