Customer Reviews

Out of Time: A Casey Jones Mystery

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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Since recently discovering this series, I have systematically worked my way through almost all of them, and love every single word of them.

Casey Jones is a big gal, which comes in handy in her line of work. Casey's a Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, PI -- unlicensed thanks to a long-ago brush with the law. In this story, Casey is hired by the no-nonsense matriarch of a no-nonsense family to try and save her granddaughter, Gail Honeycutt Taylor, from her impending date with the executioner. Gail is on Death Row for the murder of her police officer husband, and it had never occurred to Casey before to question her guilt. The more she digs into the case, however, the more she becomes convinced that Gail didn't do it. It doesn't help matters that Gail is almost suicidally apathetic and won't lift a finger to help herself. Casey's unorthodox recources and colorful associates make for a devilishly delicious story as she battles cops and bad guys -- and sometimes can't tell the difference -- while Gail's time is rapidly running out.

Casey Jones is a true-blue Southern belle, as is her creator, Katy Munger. She can come join my group of same any time! This book with its quick wit, sparkling dialogue, and stylish plot is not to be missed. In truth, the whole series is divine and I am just dying for the next one.

I enjoyed this book so much, I ran out to buy the rest, but the bookstore was already closed! I was actually looking for something to hold me over until Janet Evanovich's latest book, Seven Up came out, and found K. Munger! Characterization, humor, plotting, all go go go! If any of you readers know of any other authors who write as well email me please. writeschk@houston.rr.com

Katy Munger was recommended to me because I love Janet Evanovich's books. Not as over-the-top as Evanovich, this book had its share of wit but combined it with a tight mystery plot and a horde of fascinating secondary characters. A writing workshop lecturer once told me: every character in your book thinks they're the star of it. Well, every character in this book COULD be the star of their own story because they're so wonderfully crafted and intriguing.

Even if the ending stretched out overlong, I didn't mind because it gave us the conclusions for each character's story, and by that time I'd come to care about what happened to them.

Casey Jones is a fascinating character, a little too much on the yang side at the beginning but who softens up during the course, a woman who makes mistakes but learns from them; smart and sexy, confident and not twenty-one. We care what happens to her. We care about the case she's working on and the people she's working for.

And it's all set right around my house! I was THRILLED to see landmarks of North Carolina's Research Triangle throughout the book, adding layers of our area's peculiar flavor to an already eccentric viewpoint.

So I'm here on Amazon to snarf up some more Casey Jones books. You go, Katy Munger! One question to you and Evanovich: how can your heroines eat so much and not gain weight???

Casey takes on the case of a death row inmate whom she feels is innocent. The underlying tension of Casey's past lingers throughout the series. Casey vs. Bureaucrats-they never had it so bad.

Fans of female PIs, rejoice! Katy Munger's Casey Jones is equal to the very best in the genre: Grafton, Barnes, Paretsky. Out Of Time, the second in the series, is a breezy, fast-paced read with a hard centre. Intriguingly Munger pretty much gives away the identity of the killer about halfway through the book, making the rest of the novel a nail-bitingly suspensful duel between Jones and her prey. Also unusually, she throws in a dozen pages at the end detailing exactly what happened to everyone after the killer's nabbed. Casey Jones herself is the most endearing investigator since Carlotta Carlyle debuted. There's plenty of wit and wisecracks, but Munger always keeps it under control; the plot never descends into farce the way it does in, say, Janet Evanovich's books. And my God, can this woman WRITE! A few words, half a sentence, and she's conjured up a minor character, and made them more memorable than anything Patricia Cornwell's done in the last decade. Buy it, and you'll be, like me, lining up to buy the rest of the Casey Jones series.

This is the first of the Casey Jones book I have read. Casey is a rather brash, in-the-face kind of person whom I would love to have for a friend. She sets her mind on something and goes after it, no matter what the consequences. I found the story well-written and especially liked the ending where Munger brings you up-to-date on all of the main characters. I don't like to read series out of order and wish I had read "Legwork" first; it will definitely be second.

Ms. Munger takes a hard look at us Southern folks and we all come up laughing. This is no moss-covered tale - she's right on the money about city politics. She has interestingly let Casey Jones change a bit from when we met her in Legwork - those kind of changes we all make and that a lesser author seems not to note. I'm a big fan of Ms. Munger's work. Grab this one!

Out of Time is Katy Munger's second entry in the gut-busting and suspenseful Casey Jones mystery series. In the sequel to Legwork, Jones is in search of the answers that might prove the innocence of a young woman on death row. Unfortunately, the woman was convicted several years ago and her execution date is only a few weeks away.

Although Casey quickly becomes convinced of the young woman's innocence, her efforts to find proof to clear her name are challenging. Casey slowly uncovers evidence that leads her to consider several possible suspects for the crime - a conspiracy involving several law enforcement officials. Even more alarming, one of those suspects is Bill Butler and that puts a crimp in Katy's plans for Bill. Unfortunately for Casey, her client is running out of time - and as Casey puts herself straight in the line of fire, so is she.

Set in North Carolina, the Casey Jones series is not only characterized by a feisty heroine and plenty of action, but by a distinctly southern feel. And fortunately for readers, all of these elements are presented with Munger's devastating sense of humor. I mean, how often does a suspense story regularly make mention of Krispy Kreme doughnuts? (Needless to say, those of us who live or have lived in the south can sincerely appreciate Casey's weakness for this delicacy.)

If you haven't read the first Casey Jones mystery, Out of Time is easily read as a stand-alone novel. But I'll bet you a couple of moon pies that you'll be racing out to the bookstore to get a copy of Legwork soon after you've finished this book.

What more can I say. This is a book you must read. It has everything, a good mystery, good humor and great characters. Casey deserves much more attention than she is getting.

Thank you Katy Munger for giving us such a great character as Casey Jones. Casey really comes into her own in this story. I loved it and really look forward to her next adventure.