Flamingo Fatale (A Trailer Park Mystery #1) [Paperback]

Jimmie Ruth Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 27, 2005

After a full day slinging hash at Kountry Kitchen and then surviving the graveyard shift at Budget Mart, the last thing Wanda Nell Culpepper needs is to to find her no-account ex-husband, Bobby Ray, flashing cash and stirring up trouble. Things can't get much worse--until the next day when she finds her missing pink flamingo stuck in his very dead body.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A down-home treat."
- Charlaine Harris --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; Trailer Park Mystery. edition (June 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425203980
• ISBN-13: 978-0425203989
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #765,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun read!, July 7, 2005

By 

Angela Williams (Bassett, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flamingo Fatale (A Trailer Park Mystery #1) (Paperback)

I stumbled across this mystery, and I'm so glad I did! Read Harriet Klausner's review for a summary. I'll just add that I enjoyed the language, the characters' problems were real, and just like good Southerners, they enjoyed their Cokes. If you enjoy humorous Southern mysteries, you'll love Jimmie Ruth Evans' new series...at least I hope this is the beginning of a series!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun read!, October 4, 2005

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flamingo Fatale (A Trailer Park Mystery #1) (Paperback)

Jimmie Ruth Evans, a.k.a. Dean James, writes a fun tale of murder in Flamingo Fatale.

Wanda Nell Culpepper works two jobs to support her children and grandchild. Between shifts she runs home for a shower and finds her no-good ex-husband, Bobby Ray in her trailer. He hands over five hundred dollars to her oldest daughter, no doubt raising Wanda Nell's suspicion, as he has never paid child support nor been able to hold onto any money.

She loudly runs him off before she leaves for her graveyard shift job, stocking shelves in a convenience store. As she returns home hours later, she finds that a flamingo decoration is missing from her yard. She discovers the flamingo in all its pinkness behind her mobile home, pierced through Bobby Ray's neck.

Quickly she becomes the main suspect in Bobby Ray's death. If the deputy in charge of the investigation, Elmer Lee Johnson, a high school friend of the departed, doesn't railroad Wanda Nell into prison, her wealthy, politically connected former mother-in-law will. She has to solve this crime to save her own hide. Her best friend, Mayrene, who wields a curling iron as well as a shotgun, is determined to help her friend.

Wanda Nell is a loving mother who will do anything to take care of her children. She also knows that her children aren't perfect and could be hiding evidence that will help solve the murder.

Between nosey neighbors, casino ruffians, a good ole boy network, and the spite of a bitter old woman, she seeks the truth that will keep her out of prison.

This was entertainment, but I think I knew some of these characters from a trailer park where I used to live. Life is hard, love is strong and humor comes where you find it. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Armchair Interviews says: Good characters in this fun tale of mystery.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars solid regional amateur sleuth, July 5, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Flamingo Fatale (A Trailer Park Mystery #1) (Paperback)

In Tullahoma, Mississippi Wanda Nell Culpepper works two on your feet jobs to keep food on the table for her three children and her grandchild. When she finishes her shift as a waitress at the Kountry Kitchen she comes home to take a nap before working graveyard stocking the shelves at the Budget Mart. This time she comes home to find her deadbeat ex-husband Bobby Ray inside their trailer home; since he never pays child support, Wanda Nell is shocked to see him give five one hundred dollar bills to their daughter for her to use on his grandson. Wanda Nell tosses Bobby Ray out of her home with many of the trailer park residents witnessing the ugly scene.

The next morning Wanda Nell finds Bobby Ray dead just outsde her trailer with the family pink flamingo lawn ornament shoved through his body. Sheriff Department Officer Elmer Lee Johnson, Bobby Ray's friend, leads the investigation. He assumes Wanda Nell killed Bobby Ray; she realizes she better uncover the identity of the killer or between Elmer and her former mother-in-law she could end up in prison.

FLAMINGO FATALE is a solid regional amateur sleuth tale that uses the backdrop of the rural south to provide a fine who-done-it. Wanda Nell feels strongly that she has no choice but to solve the murder of her former spouse because the lead investigator only looks her way. Jimmie Ruth Evans provides a wonderful Mississippi mystery that stars a fabulous protagonist, a delightful eccentric support cast that brings Tullahoma especially the diner and the trailer park alive, and a surprising final peck.

Harriet Klausner