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.