Packing Mrs. Phipps: A Jo Jacuzzo Mystery [Paperback]

Anne Seale (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

Jo Jacuzzo is a bit down on her luck when she accepts a job offer that will take her from Buffalo, N.Y., to Tampa, Fla., to pack the belongings of the aged Mrs. Phipps and drive her back to Buffalo. But fetching heiress Charity Redmunn diverts her far from her original plans. After revealing that she is driving across country with a load of stolen art to pay the ransom of her brother, Paul, Charity is murdered, Jo is in the hospital in police custody and Paul is showing up to tell her that "she won't get away with it." After escaping from the police and discovering the surprising contents of Charity's will, Jo begins to unravel the mystery, but the killer has one last, horrible ace up his sleeve.

Anne Seale is a writer, musician and comedian. She lives in Apache Junction, Arizona.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A satchel full of scary fun! Anne Seale's Packing Mrs. Phipps, is moving, funny, frightening, and thought-provoking. Her young heroine Jo Jacuzzo is just smart enough, just reckless enough, and just cynical enough to unravel a dangerously twisted mystery while keeping her own skin more or less intact."--Elizabeth Sims, author of Holy Helland Damn Straight -- Review

From the Inside Flap

Butchy, charismatic Jo Jacuzzo is a bit down on her luck when she accepts a job that will take her from Buffalo, N.Y., to Tampa, Fla., to pack the belongings of the aged Mrs. Phipps and drive her back to Buffalo. She makes it as far as Georgia before a blown engine, a ravishing woman, and a giant motor home divert her far from her original plans and carry her into the thick of danger. Question number 1: Why is the heiress Charity Redmunn driving a motor home at all? Question number 2: Who is behind the wheel of the ominous RV that pops up in every campground and truck stop Jo and Charity stop in? Question number 3: How could an innocent cross-country drive get Jo neck-deep in a lethal pool of murder, mayhem, and romance? Packing Mrs. Phipps takes the reader on a fast-paced ride--with equal doses of humor and suspense--from New York to New Mexico to Florida, as Jo unravels the deadly mystery. But even after she does, the killer has one last, horrible ace up his sleeve.

A creator of lesbian songs and stories, Anne Seale has performed on many gay stages, including the Lesbian National Conference, where she sang tunes from her tape Sex for Breakfast. Her stories have appeared in many anthologies and journals, including Set in Stone, Dykes with Baggage, Wilma Loves Betty, and Harrington Lesbian Fiction Quarterly. She divides her time between Arizona and New York.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Alyson Books (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555838375
• ISBN-13: 978-1555838379
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #804,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charming Dyke makes wonderful Reluctant Detective, June 13, 2004

By 

M. J. Lowe "www.mjlowe.info" (Denver, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Packing Mrs. Phipps: A Jo Jacuzzo Mystery (Paperback)

This first novel from Anne Seale introduces readers to a new lesbian mystery series. Jo Jacuzzo, a 27-year-old, shy, intelligent (if not the most educated), softhearted butch finds herself thrown into a series of unexpected, complicated, and even life-threatening events. Jo's first person narrative is often amusing and her view of the world has a sweet, almost childlike innocence that is charming without being saccharine. While touchingly neurotic and somewhat naive, Jo is also loyal and a bit stubborn with a definite moral core.

Until the last few weeks, Jo has worked as a homecare-nursing aide. However, an accusation and complaint from the family of one of her clients has resulted in unemployment for Jo. Although she still lives with her mother and her mother's partner, Rose, Jo has been paying her part of the household expenses for years and her unemployment is a hardship for all. Soon her mother pushes Jo to accept a temporary job. That "errand" is to go to Tampa, Florida, and help pack up the snowbird mother of a friend for her summer return to Buffalo.

Of this mother-daughter talk, Jo comments, "I knew I was in for a deep discussion. [Mom]'d said, "So, Jo" when explaining what Kotex was for and before telling me that Daddy had left us, among other depressing things. (Having Daddy leave was depressing only because we didn't leave him first.)" p9

The road trip begins safely enough. Jo stops to visit her Uncle Dom in Cincinnati to help him with some chores. She gets the low-down on him from the neighborhood kids including, "The best bit, however, was that he pushed an evangelist off his porch last year and had to do community service. That's my family, heathenish to a fault." p15

When Jo's beloved Toyota truck has a break down in rural Georgia, she finds herself accepting a detour to Arizona to help the beautiful if enigmatic heiress, Charity Redmun, drive a motor home across country. The complications from here on are exponential.

Packing Mrs. Phipps is a very funny novel and Jo's observations are wonderfully droll at times. For example, this exchange with a woman who befriends Jo: "I guess people name their kids Faith and Hope, so why not [Charity]? Sonny and Cher even named their daughter Chastity. How'd you like to go though life with a name like that? What guy would want to have sex with a girl called Chastity?" [Jo's response] "I'm guessing that doesn't bother her too much." p184

The mystery's plot has several unexpected twists, not the least of which is Jo deciding to go undercover to try to find a killer, and dressing as a high femme named "Sheridan" to infiltrate a right-wing militia group near the Mexican Border. Few things are quite as they appear to be in this suspenseful little tale. There are one or two incongruencies uncaught in the editing process -- like the change of a meeting time from afternoon to morning within three pages and without the implied change of that time. -- Nevertheless, Jo Jacuzzo is one of most charming reluctant detectives since Sarah Dreher's Stoner McTavish series. This entertaining and promising first novel will have this reader looking for Jo's future adventures.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seale makes a dashing debut., April 7, 2004

By 

Jan Goldfield (Slidell, LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Packing Mrs. Phipps: A Jo Jacuzzo Mystery (Paperback)

Taking us traveling with heroine Jo Jacuzzo, Seale's novel is quirky and absolutely rivieting. The reader wonders how Jacuzzo will get out of her present scrape and where will she find herself next. Answers quickly follow questions except one. When can we travel with Jacuzzo again?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a fun book., August 7, 2004

By 

R. King "T. King" (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Packing Mrs. Phipps: A Jo Jacuzzo Mystery (Paperback)

What a fun book. I could hardly put it down for wanting to know what pickle Jo was going to get herself into next. I can hardly wait for the next book to come out so I can see what Jo will do next. The only disappointment to this book is realizing you reached the end and then you want to read it again. It is well written and it takes you right into the character. What a talented writer with a gift for twists and humor. LOVE IT!!!