Jane Kelly 01 - Candy Apple Red

Jane Kelly is through with following men anywhere. Last time she did, she left Southern California for the dubious charms of Lake Chinook, Oregon, where she's traded in bartending for the much more glamorous trade of process serving. (Well, she can tell herself it's glamorous, anyway.) And the boyfriend, of course, is long gone. She's not making any lifetime commitments, but when Portland divorce attorney Marta Cornell calls with a P.I. job, the money involved sounds like the answer to her dwindling bank account - until she learns Tess Bradbury wants her to investigate the disappearance of Bobby Reynolds. Four years ago, without warning, Bobby murdered his young family and promptly vanished. No one disputed that he'd slaughtered his own flesh and blood except Tim Murphy, his best friend - and Jane's ex, the one guy she's never quite gotten over. The murders had driven a wedge between him and Jane, and finally drove him right out of town. Now he's on his way back, to attend a Lake Chinook Historical Society benefit that Cotton Reynolds, Bobby's father, is hosting. It looks like Jane's going to be following men around again - this time with a tape recorder and a camera.From Publishers WeeklyFunny sex scenes, good drinks and a likable dog lift Bush's first Jane Kelly mystery. Tired of her job as a process server, 30-year-old Jane, who followed boyfriend Tim Murphy from Los Angeles to rural Lake Chinook, Ore., only to be dumped by him, agrees to work for Dwayne Durbin, a successful "information specialist" (or private investigator), who's "cute in that kind of slow-talkin' cowboy way." Jane's first case happens to concern Tim's best friend from high school, Bobby Reynolds, who killed his whole family and disappeared four years earlier, though Tim always believed Bobby was innocent. Bobby's mother, Tess, hires Jane to see if her ex-husband, Cotton, and his trophy wife have seen Bobby. Complications arise when Tim returns for a benefit at Cotton's island compound to which Jane is also invited—and Bobby's body surfaces in the lake. Romance readers will especially enjoy the heartsick heroine's search for true love. (Oct.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"Funny sex scenes, good drinks and a likable dog lift Bush's first Jane Kelly mystery." - Publishers Weekly"