Casey Jones
Created by Katy Munger

“I never smoke after sex, though I have been known to purr.”
-- ther first line of Money to Burn

"I appreciate a man with principles... but that doesn't mean I go so far as to trust a guy just because he makes my cooter twitch."
-- Casey vows not to let herself be led around by her gonads.

Actually, I was sorta looking forward to checking out this promising series...judging from her 'tude-drenched postings to various newsgroups, author Katy Munger sounds like a hoot, and Casey's debut, 1997's Legwork was nominated for a Shamus for Best First P.I. Novel.

And it turns out to be quite a read. Casey's got a real mouth on her, and she's more than willing to get into someone's face. Officially, though, she's not quite a P.I. In North Carolina a prison record (a little matter of a drug smuggling conviction) precludes a private investigator's license, and evidently Casey has one. However, since her "official" boss Bobby D. (picture Jabba the Hutt with a southern drawl) rarely moves at all, Casey does all the investigating.

And damn! The woman likes sex. She's one big juicy, rip-snortin' woman who's not afraid of making whoopie. Talking about it. Thinking about it. Doing it. No trainee nun here, she's the female equivalent of Shell Scott, updated for the nineties, leaving no pun unturned, not wasting her time on double entendres when a single entendre will do. It's a refreshing change from all these dry, juiceless, slim little sleuths that seem to have popped up all over, wringing their chaste little hands over the lack of potential soul mates, sipping white wine and jogging up and down the coast of California. Casey's dialogue is a hoot, saltier than Lot's wife, and a lot more fun.

And under the pen name of Gallagher Gray, Katy writes about amateur sleuths Theodore S. Hubbert, a sixtyish retired personnel manager, and Aunitie Lil, a former dress designer, well in her eighties. I take it these two are a little more genteel than Casey...

UNDER OATH

• "...Casey Jones is a tough, lusty, bad-ass woman from the wrong side of the tracks. Casey could kick Stephanie Plum’s ass from here to hell and back. Money to Burn throws Casey into a mystery that pits her against Southern Old Money. The result is a well-plotted, engrossing mystery with a ton of heart."
  -- J.D. Rhoades, as part of The Rap Sheet's One Book Project.

NOVELS

• Legwork (1997)...Buy this book
• Out of Time (1998)...Buy this book
• Money to Burn (1999)..Buy this book
• Bad to the Bone (2000)..Buy this book
• Better Off Dead (2001)...Buy this book