Jane Kelly

Jane Kelly is through following men. She left Southern California for the murky quaintness of Lake Chinook, Oregon, apparently so she could trade her bartending skills for much more glamorous work as a process server. And the boyfriend, of course, is long gone. But things have been looking a little brighter lately. Her hobby doing PI work is kind of fun, especially when she lands a real case-that pays real money. But the case is about Bobby Reynolds, best friend of Tim Murphy, the only guy she's never gotten over. Everyone except Tim believed Bobby murdered his young family-isn't that why he vanished? Now Tim's coming home and Jane's on her way to talk to Bobby's father. Looks like Jane'll be trailing men after all-this time with a tape recorder and a camera. To top it off, she's being trailed by a homely pug named Binky, left to her by a distant relative. With a job she's learning as she goes along and her ex back in town, Jane's life just went from stress-free to completely stressed-out. And then there's the dead body . . .

Some days are just weird city. Take today. Jane Kelly, thirty-something ex-bartender, current process server, and owner of The Binkster, a pug, is dutifully putting in slave-labor hours working for Dwayne Durbin, local "information specialist" (i.e., private investigator), and on the road to becoming a P.I. herself. Next thing she knows she's socializing with the Purcells, a rich, eccentric rich family with a penchant for going crazy and/or dying in spectacularly mysterious ways. From what Jane can tell, the Purcells all want Orchid Purcell's money. And when Orchid turns up in a pool of blood, the free-for-all has just begun. Then when Jane finds a second body, it seems weird city is about to get even weirder . . . and a lot more deadly . . .

For process server-turned-private investigator, Jane Kelly, weddings are murder. Usually that's a metaphor, but for newly minted P.I. Jane Kelly, it's fast becoming an all-too-accurate nightmare. Roland Hatchmere, plastic surgery magnate, has been found murdered just before his daughter's society wedding. The weapon is a wedding gift: a heavy, silver serving tray. The prime suspect is Roland's ex-wife number two: Violet "Ultraviolet" Purcell. Everywhere Jane and her lovable, misfit pug, Binky, look, there's a suspect odder than the last, including two grown, very troubled kids, an ex-wife strung out on Botox, and a current wife who's a cross between Donna Reed and a sex kitten-all of them eager to blame Roland's death on Violet. The deeper Jane digs, the less she wants to know. Every truth leads her deeper into danger, and soon, Jane wonders if her first official case might also be her last . . . and if the client she's been asked to clear just might be the coldest black widow of all . . .