Ultraviolet (Jane Kelly Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Nancy Bush (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jane Kelly Mysteries | Publication Date: October 1, 2007

For process server-turned-private investigator, Jane Kelly, weddings are murder. Usually that's a metaphor, but for newly minted P.I. Jane Kelly, it's fast becoming an all-too-accurate nightmare. Roland Hatchmere, plastic surgery magnate, has been found murdered just before his daughter's society wedding. The weapon is a wedding gift: a heavy, silver serving tray. The prime suspect is Roland's ex-wife No. 2: Violet "Ultraviolet" Purcell, she of the eccentric-bordering-on-insane Purcell clan. Violet insists that she's completely innocent. After all, Roland was her absolute favourite ex-husband. And she was nowhere near him at the time of the murder. Well, okay, technically she did meet him for a little pre-nup, bedroom tete-a-tete just before. And they did have a huge fight. And she did hit him with the tray. But just once. Honest.So could Jane just hurry up and prove her innocence? Sure. That should be easy. Let's just file this one under "12 Kinds of Crazy." But when Jane's boss, the temporarily sidelined Dwayne, is convinced Violet's telling the truth, well, there's nothing for Jane to do but take her lovable, misfit pug, Binky, and sniff out a few clues.The deeper Jane digs, the less she wants to know. Every truth leads her deeper into danger, and soon, Jane wonders if her first official case might also be her last...and if the client she's been asked to clear just might be the coldest black widow of all...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Jane Kelly, Oregon's spunkiest PI-in-training, and her pug pal, Binky, sniff for clues in their rollicking third case (after 2006's Electric Blue). The newest Dwayne Durbin Investigations client, Violet Purcell, is ultra gorgeous, ultra rich and ultra desperate: her prints are all over the silver tray that whacked her favorite ex-husband, Roland Hatchmere, on the morning of his daughter's wedding. Other suspects include Roland's estranged wife, Melinda, a manic Junior Leaguer; his first wife, Renee, a plastic surgery addict; and several members of the sleazy Columbia Millionaires' Club. Dwayne must depend on Jane to do the legwork while he's stuck at home, recovering from injuries and passing the time by spying on neighbors from his window. Soon he starts wondering what those Lake Chinook teens are really doing during their nocturnal parties at a house under construction, and sends Jane undercover to find out, adding another layer of mystery to the tangled plot. Jane's cool, reader-friendly attitude makes this funny new series a winner. (Oct.)
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0758209096
• ISBN-13: 978-0758209092
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,321,628 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

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such a fun cozy to read, November 15, 2007

By 

Dawn Dowdle "Mystery Lovers Corner reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ultraviolet (Jane Kelly Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Jane Kelly is an apprentice PI working with her friend Dwayne Durban in his PI firm. Since he has broken his leg, she is not only a process server but working a big case.

Roland Hatchmere was a plastic surgery magnate and was murdered right before his daughter's society wedding. He was hit in the head with a heavy silver try, one of the wedding gifts. His second ex-wife, Violet becomes a prime suspect, but she denies having killed him. Dwayne believes her. Jane isn't so sure, especially since Roland's two other wives and his children all say she did it. Every time she thinks she has Violet figured out, someone changes her opinion of her with more information. Can she uncover the truth about Roland's murder?

While Dwayne's lain up, he's taken to looking through his binoculars to watch the houses across the water. He doesn't like what he sees when a bunch of teens regularly meet in a house under construction. He asks Jane to check things out. She soon finds herself in the middle of a situation she doesn't like. Can she set things up to put away the bad guys without putting herself in danger?

This is the third book in the series, but it is the first one I've read. I will be reading more! I love Jane Kelly. She's such a fun protagonist. There aren't a lot of PI books that I like, but Jane is such a breath of fresh air. She's funny and quirky in all the right ways. I kept picking the book up to read another chapter, even when I didn't really have time to read. I hope there will be many more books in this series! I highly recommend this book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars original, unique, and funny, October 6, 2007

By 

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

This review is from: Ultraviolet (Jane Kelly Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Dwayne Durban is head of his own private investigative firm; he has taken Jane Kelly on as his apprentice so she not only is a process server but she gets to work cases. Right now Jane is working all the cases because Dwayne is immobilized with a broken leg and he has taken up voyeurism spying with his binoculars at the neighbors across the street. Dwayne thinks one of the girls is in trouble and he wants Jane to investigate the tens who uses an empty home as a hang out.

While she is doing that she comes to the conclusion that something illegal is going on revolving around the high school star football player Keegan and she intends to find out what it is and if he is breaking the law bring him down. She is also working on the case of Violet Purcell who believes the police think she killed ex-husband, Roland Hatchmere. She wants Jane, who isn't so sure she is innocent, to prove that someone else killed her ex-husband. Since Dwayne believes she is innocent, Jane works double time because everyone involved with Roland, his two ex- wives, his children and all his friends think she is guilty. In the pursuit of proving Violet innocent, she breaks up a call girl ring and takes on a killer who nobody will ever believe murdered two men and is now going after Jane.

There are plenty of private investigator mysteries being written but Jane Kelly is original, unique, and funny. Her efforts not to fall in love with her boss and partner or buy the cottage she can afford are truly hilarious. Her relationship with the Binkster, her pug, is adorable and shows her caring vulnerable side of her self she tries to keep hidden. With homage to Rear Window, Nancy Bush creates delightful villains readers love to hate and her heroine is somebody most people will admire.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Purcell family is back, October 29, 2007

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ultraviolet (Jane Kelly Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Violet Purcell has an interesting past including three husbands and some past employment at an Escort Service where she met at least two of her husbands on "dates." She now finds herself accused of murdering ex-husband, Roland, by bludgeoning him with a silver tray (her wedding gift) on the day his daughter was supposed to get married. Roland has a past himself, including patronage at the Escort Service, and a past addiction to cocaine.

PI Jane Kelly has been hired by Violet to clear her name. Jane has had some past involvement with the Purcell family (see "Electric Blue"). Jane's background is covered in more detail in the past novels in the series. Dwayne is laid up at home with injuries, and has been doing some Rear Window type spying with binoculars on the residents across the lake. He involves Jane in a second case concerning teenagers who have turned a house under construction into a party house.

Everyone is not as they seem. People withhold information, some won't speak to Jane, and some are hard to contact. Some past relationships are gradually pieced together, and she learns a little about Dwayne's background (his niece showed up in a previous novel). The usual list of suspects develops, and there is a surprising revelation at the end.

Jane ends up a little battered, and people develop some new relationships, wanted or unwanted. Also, it never seems to stop raining (I remember the year I spent in Oregon, when it rained every day in December). There are smatterings of wit and wisdom scattered in along the way, and just what are smithereens?