Tressa Jayne Turner, also known as Calamity Jayne, has a
reputation as an accident waiting to happen. Working and
barely making a living in a small town hasn't stopped her
from getting employment; just keeping it for more than a few
months before some mishap occurs and has her looking for the
next 'Help Wanted' sign.
When a dead body, a local defense attorney, Peyton Palmer,
turns up inside the trunk of her car, it's disturbing, but
par for the course after a day like she's had. Unexplainable
things happen around her. But even Tressa surpasses her all
time best disasters when the body is lost. How does a dead
man get out of her trunk and walk away.
Nobody believes her tale of the sighting and its mysterious
disappearance. Tressa may not know what direction she wants
to take in her life, but she knows it isn't making jokes
about finding dead bodies. If Iowa Department of Natural
Resources Officer Rick Townsend stopped chasing every
available skirt that waved his way, maybe they'd become
suspicious that Palmer was no where to be found, dead or alive.
Angry at the authorities for treating her statement as if
from a non-credible witness and as if this is just another
Calamity catastrophe, Tressa investigates the crime on her
own. Hired again by the local newspaper, after a previous
unfortunate event, she starts trailing the suspects, and
causing general mayhem in her wake. She finds that being a
crime investigator can lead to a dangerous preoccupation by
unsavorily men.
Finding somebody who believes her is slim pickings.
Certainly not Ranger Rick, her brother's best friend and
before time to remember, he has been a pain in the neck with
his continual blonde hair women jokes.
Only one other person believes a crime has been committed.
That might not be a good thing. He is Ranger Rick's
grandfather, Old man Townsend. Should she stop her sidekick
from joining her? Can she? Does she want to? It would mean
giving up the confections the spry grandmothers have been
dumping on him.
How deep does she have to dig before they'll take her
seriously? Hand them the dead body and the evidence to
convict the killer? It becomes a matter of life and death to
Tressa Jayne Turner, and she'd like to solve the crime
before she's the next victim.
This story is well written and it reads like K.C. Bacus had
a good time putting her character into her abundant
misadventures. However, I didn't like her character. Tressa
sees herself as a misunderstood young woman, ill at ease,
and insecure. I found her behavior an example of today's
rebellious teenager who thinks the world owes her things. If
they can't get it honestly they'll take it illegally, but
they never see it as wrong until they get caught. They are
always sorry, but they never learn from it either. I saw
little character growth in that direction.
Tressa Jayne Turner has had it up to here with the
never ending string of dumb-blonde jokes and her longtime
nickname that's harder to get rid of than lint from a belly
button. Crowned "Calamity Jayne" by Iowa Department of
Natural Resources officer Rick Townsend. Tressa's out to
gain a little hometown respect--or die trying. Unfortunately
for Tressa, that may be the case. She's just been handed the
perfect opportunity to get "Ranger Rick," the doubting Don
Juan of the DNR, and a skeptical citizenry to finally take
her seriously. How? By solving a murder no one else believes
happened... No one, that is, except the killer.
Yup, Calamity Jayne is in it up to her hot pink snakeskin
cowgirl boots and matching rhinestone belt--and it's a
matter of life and death, respect and reputation, love,
happiness and the whole shebang. Tressa would tell you her
momma never raised no dummies, but the jury's still out on
that one. And as she learned in her work at the Dairee
Freeze: Sometimes life hands you a big, sloppy ice cream
cone. You just have to know how to lick it.
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