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!