Monday, July 15, 2013

Steamed

Author:  Holly Jacobs
Genre:  Mystery

5 Stars
 
Quincy Mac owns a house cleaning service in L.A.  Taking the shift of a sick employee, she is cleaning the home of a Hollywood writer.  She finds his award, a Mortie, covered in 'brown goo,' cleans it, along with everything else, including muddy footprints on the carpet.  Then she proceeds to clean the bedroom...and comes across the body of a deceased client.  Quincy has just accidentally cleaned a murder scene.
 
I have never read a Holly Jacobs book before, but if this is any indication of other mysteries she may write, she has gained a new fan.  This book, while definitely a mystery, is hilarious.  Quincy Mac is a mother of three teenaged boys (16, 17, and 18), all of whom have gone to spend the summer with their father, a Hollywood producer.  It seems their dad is fond of younger - much younger - women, and keeps marrying (and divorcing) them.  But, as Quincy puts it, he's a good dad, which is all she cares about.  So, of course, this leaves her alone for three months thinking it will be pretty quiet without her sons.
 
Little does she know what she is about to step into.  The brown goo was blood, and she has just cleaned the murder weapon.
 
After calling the police, she imagines herself - and her inner thoughts are the funniest part - in prison (with a new tattoo), for a murder she didn't commit.  So of course, Quincy must try and find the murderer before she is wrongfully convicted.  Even funnier is the fact that she is trying to solve the murder from information she has garnered from television shows.
 
Never mind that the police don't really believe she was involved; never mind that the detective assigned to the case is smoking hot.  And in Cal Parker, Ms. Jacobs has definitely created a smoking hot detective who is completely frustrated with Quincy yet completely attracted by her.  The interplay between these two is entirely fun to witness.
 
Add the fact that her business partner, who is about to be married, was at one time involved with the dead man, that she had an uncle who was wrongfully convicted (which accounts for her believing she is about to get the death penalty - if she can figure out whether California has one), that everyone in her family are doctors and she considers herself the 'black sheep,' and you have a delightful comedic mystery.
 
I am anxiously awaiting the return of quirky Quincy in her next adventure, and of course, the developments with her sexy detective.
 
 


1 comment:

  1. JoAnne,

    I just wanted to stop in and say thank you so much for the lovely comments about Quincy! I still love writing romances, but I'll confess, there was something totally fun about killing off someone and then Quincy try to figure out who it was in her rather offbeat way!

    Google sent me your review and you've totally made my night!

    Holy

    ReplyDelete

A Spicy Side of Homicide (An Ivy Creek Mystery Book 14)

Author:      Ruth Baker Genre:       Mystery Digital Book  ASIN #:     B0CPVY5PKY Clean Tales Publishing 138 Pages $2.99 Amazon May 31, 2024...