Former Chicago cop Glad Wycznewski and his wife, Ruby, are
die-hard race fans. They met at the Talladega Super
Speedway and married on the track of the Infineon Raceway.
They've finally won a drawing allowing them to park their
2000 Holiday Rambler Navigator motor home on the infield of
Lowe's Motor Speedway for the week leading up to the Coca
Cola 600. This is especially important for Ruby because her
brother Bobby, a rookie driver, is hoping to qualify for
the race.
Things go awry when driver Ricky Saunders is discovered
murdered in his race car. Ricky, Ruby's former fiancé, was
last seen with Bobby, who becomes the chief suspect. Ruby
knows her brother is innocent and sets out to investigate
the murder, despite Glad's wishes to the contrary. When it
looks as if the cops are focusing all of their attention on
Bobby, and when he realizes Ruby is going to investigate
with or without his help, Glad reluctantly follows Ruby
into the underside of racing. What they discover puts them
in more danger that they ever thought possible.
SWAPPING PAINT by Joyce and Jim Lavene is an
entertaining, well-developed mystery. Glad and Ruby are a
modern-day Nick and Nora. Set in the South, readers are
treated to a taste of Southern hospitality in Ruby's
family. Racing fans are sure to appreciate all of the
references to the sport, which for the most part went right
over my head (though even I know who Dale Junior and Jeff
are!). There are many colorful characters in SWAPPING
PAINT, as I imagine there are in the racing world. The
first in the Stock Car Racing Mysteries, this series
promises to be a winner!
Glad Wyczhewski lives for three things: NASCAR, cold beer,
and his passionate wife, Ruby. Tailing the race circuit in
an RV, the newlyweds stop in Concord, North Carolina just
down the road from Ruby's hometown for the CocaCola 600.
But the excitement of race week stalls when a driver, Ricky
Sanders, is found murdered. And to everyone's shock, the
prime suspect is another rookie driver, Ruby's brother
Bobby!
A forty two year old ex-cop from Chicago, Glad would rather
party on the infield than get mixed up in a murder
investigation. But there's no way he can hold back Ruby's
stubborn as she is beautiful from trying to clear Bobby's
name. High on adrenaline and exhaust fumes, Glad kicks his
detective instincts into overdrive before Ruby's good
intentions put them on a collision course with the killer.