Customer Reviews

Better Off Dead: A Casey Jones Mystery

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Casey deserves much more attention and praise than Kinsey Milhone. She's smarter, funnier, sexier, more human, and just plain better-written. I've recommended Casey to all my mystery-reading friends, and they've all become converts to the cause. Ms. Munger, please -- where's the next Casey??

Smart, randy, funny and big-hearted, Casey Jones is my favorite P.I. Munger's writing is a joy to read, like listening to a friend tell a story... she tackles difficult issues without mawkishness. Her humorous tone packs a real wallop. Casey is fun to read, but makes you think.

This is the 5th book in the series.Casey goes undercover in this one and has fun doing it. In this one, you want to join the fight in finding the person, who hurt Helen. And Casey gets a lot of help in this one with the wonderful, hilarious and resourceful regular characters from the previous CJ books, and with a couple of extra new ones characters too. Superb book!!

A serial rapist/murder is preying on Duke University coeds and PI Casey Jones is called upon to flush out the sadistic brute responsible for the dastardly deeds. Armed with an illegal handgun (she has an unfortunate felony in her background), an outlandish disguise, a strong sense of purpose, a fat hound dog, and a houseful (literally) of offbeat and delightful characters, Casey places herself in harm's way before finally bringing the cowardly perpetrator to justice.

This book is an appealing example of what Ms. Munger calls Tart Noir and a delightful romp of a mystery story. Just when you think you have safely climbed down from the edge of your chair at the climax of the story, Ms. Munger tantalizes you with just one more tidbit of a mystery.

If you like quirky characters, some fast paced action, a few sudden plot twists or turns, a nicely plotted story, and good tongue in cheek humor, I think you will like this book.

I have read and loved all of the Casey Jones series by Katy Munger. They just get better all the time. If you have not read these books, start at the beginning and read them in order. Casey is a wonderful character, truly original and the books are hard to put down. Wonderful, lighthearted and funny!!

I expect a great book when I see Katy Munger is the author, but I'm always surprised at just how good the books are. The Casey Jones series is a first-day-rush-to-the-book-store and grab the next book in the series for an evening's entertainment, and you might as well block off the entire evening, because you won't be able to put this puppy down. :) I thought Legwork was fantastic, but each book in this series is better than the last. Better Off Dead is a carefully plotted, thrilling mystery populated by colorful characters, and the star, Casey Jones, is my idol. The only bad thing about Better Off Dead was I finished it so quickly; however, I do plan on making up for that by reading it again soon.

If you enjoy great writing, a suspenseful plot and several good laughs per book, then this book is for you.

I liked this one even better than Bad to the Bone. Casey goes back to school, undercover, to save a terrified crime victim from her attacker. Casey is tough but she seems to have a big heart. I love the supporting cast, Bobby D., Marcus, and Casey's way of looking at things.

Casey Jones is a big, rollicking, smartmouth with a wicked sense of humor, and a jaundiced view of the world. Her view of the world applies particularly to personal human relationships. She's a lot like her creator. And she's a lot of fun to hang around. Her adventures are modern, important and well-worth reading about. Unfortunately, too often for this reviewer (and this may be purely personal taste) Casey has to rely on others to get her out of some really bad scrapes.

Still, we read these adventures, and look forward to more, because watching Casey choose to take on certain cases, deal with her friends and colleagues, maneuver through thickets of evil and dangerous people, not to mention her often convoluted love life,is just a whole lot of fun.

Casey Jones is an under-the-table private investigator. Because of an unfortunate past she's unable to obtain a private investigator's license in North Carolina where she hangs out. And she certainly isn't permitted to carry a weapon. But she has an accommodating partner, Bobby D., for whom Casey seems to do most of the work.

This case concerns a professor at Duke University named Helen McInnes who was the victim of a particularly violent crime, including attempted murder. Although she never saw her attacker, she has accused a fellow academic of the crime. Her attacker is acquitted and the combination of the crime and the acquittal have so traumatized the woman, she has developed agoraphobia and cannot even venture onto her own front porch. And now, she's being besieged by evil and vicious mail and telephone attacks, apparently from the same man.

Casey, of course, agrees to look into the case and the more she learns, the more inflamed becomes her ire. Into the case come her police contact, Marcus, her boyfriend Burly, her partner Bobby D, and his current girlfriend, Fanny, as well as some new characters. As befits noirish P.I. novels, this one is very plot driven. Nevertheless, Munger does an admirable job of bringing these many characters and their foibles to vibrant life.

As one has learned to expect from Munger's writing, the pace is fast, the dialogue sings and the mordant humor is well-placed. This is a very well written novel, has been well and carefully edited and deserves a place on the bookshelves of anyone who is a fan of the hard-boiled P.I. novel.

........and hold it until the last page. Casey Jones may seem a little more rawboned then other female heroines, but she has the humor of a Stephanie Plum (albeit a little dryer) and men seem to see through her tough as nails aura and lust after the sexy persona that seeps through her "don't mess with me" attitude.

She moves into the home of Helen Pugh, the victim of a horrible rape that has been so traumatized she can't make herself leave the home she has shares with an eccentric mother. Casey vows that the man who ruined Helen's life will not get off scott free for the second time. Thus opens up a chilling flood of incidents that are brought to fore of women that have met with the same horrific crime as Helen, but did not survive the attacks. Casey sets herself up in a gutsy charade in hopes of bringing an end to the monster that has robbed her client of living a normal life. In the process, Casey's sleuthing almost brings an end to her own life.

This intense, suspense filled book was impossible to put down and was even more impossible (for me) to guess the outcome. Some mysteries tend to get thin and become anti-climatic near the end. This one was was a 'kicker' until the very last page. Thought I had it figured out. I was wrong. I didn't realize when I bought this book that it was part of a series. Thankfully it didn't harm the plot of the story or give less of a clue into the troop of characters by not reading the first in the series. What a great find this book was!

This was the first of the Casey Jones books that I read. I had to go back and read all the others!! She's funny and in-your-face. I can't wait till the next book comes out!!