Kathleen Bacus Calamity Jane Rides Again

Calamity Jane Rides Again

Kathleen Bacus

Love Spell, Jul 2006, $6.99

ISBN: 0505526697

Local author and store clerk Tressa Jayne Turner is concerned with all the things going wrong at her family's ice cream booth at the Iowa State Fair. First her cousin who was to dish out ice cream has gone missing. Second the food concession has come under assault from a horde of invading cockroaches and angry patrons ready to switch loyalty to the soft competitor.

Tressa knows someone is sabotaging her Uncle Frank's concession stand, but who and why is not readily available nor why her cousin seems to have vanished. Determined as ever, Tressa assumes the ice cream sales business has turned cutthroat so she begins sleuthing looking critically at her Uncle's rivals. Meanwhile her nemesis "Ranger Rick Townsend seems more interested this time with her sister than interfering (her thoughts) than helping (his thoughts) as they did in her recent escapade (see CALAMITY JANE). Of course state trooper P.D. Dawkins tells Tressa to not make any inquiries, but what's a girl to do when she finds the cop a hunk, her cousin, and the business melting away; simple investigate Calamity Jane style.

This is a fun lighthearted mystery starring an amiable heroine who finds ways to dive head first into trouble and make problems that much worse as she adds chaos to a chaotic situation. The story line is fast-paced as Tressa comes to the rescue of Uncle Frank, who pleads with his calamitous niece to not get involved as he ahs enough problems. The relationship with Ranger Rick takes another spin as the twenty-three year old Jayne seems to have a new love interest and so does he. Fans of humorous romps will enjoy CALAMITY JANE RIDES AGAIN.

Harriet Klausner