When Dode Schneider, rattle-brained farmer, insists an abandoned mansion is haunted by ghosts with big butts, Pawpaw County Sheriff Boots Gibson happily off-loads the crazy complaint to Ruby Jane Waskom and Veenie Goens, amateur sleuths in training with the Shady Hoosier Detective Agency. Ruby Jane and Veenie, lifelong gal pals, aren’t afraid of the haunted mansion, built by a con artist banker … banker who rowed out of town on the flood waters of 1919, taking the town’s gold with him. The crime-cracking duo set out in their smoke-belching 1960 Impala to uncover the truth behind the century-old haunting legend only to find surprise evidence of long ago murder and mayhem. Along the way, Veenie and Ruby Jane chase down a missing drunk wiener dog, earn a lifetime supply of mystery meat sandwiches from Pokey’s Tavern, recover a stolen Harley, and uncover the startling truth about a long cursed buried treasure. The investigation, which involves con artists, bank robbers and hillbilly hoodlums, doesn’t go smoothly, but Ruby Jane and Veenie, fueled by senior grit, engage in crime-cracking hijinks that will leave the reader rolling in laughter in this classic southern crime comedy novel, winner of Best Indie Humor Book 2019, the Indie Reader and a IPPY Award as Best Cozy Mystery 2019.
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law-enforcement, laugh-out-loud, cozy-mystery, crooks, verbal-humor, situational-humor, seniors
There’s a perfectly good plot here, but the best thing is the absolutely hilarious humor! And the characters, of course. The two seniors have perfectly fine minds, but one is pretty much blind as a bat and the other is more stubborn than a mule. Together they investigate some mighty odd goings on in their small township, keep running afoul of their friend who is the local law, and even get mixed up with a Fed who used to live there. Stay away from beverages while reading this great book! It’s just what I needed when I would come home from working second shift in the ER!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Hot Pants Press, LLC via NetGalley.
I laughed my tush off at RJ and Veenie’s antics! OMG they are hilarious! I read the excerpt for the next book and about died when it ended! I can’t wait to read more!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This book is one that has you laughing out loud. While a mystery, Ruby Jane (RJ) and Veenie find themselves involved in some crazy antics. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in the book and have decided to buy all of the books in the series. I’m looking forward to more adventures with the senior lady personal investigators! You’ll be in for a wild and crazy ride.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hot Pants Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This one took me a bit to get into, I think because I had to get used to the lingo and style of the writing and dialogue. Once I adapted, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The cast of quirky characters are fun to read about. I really liked both RJ and Veenie as the senior sleuths.
The author took an interesting route with this cozy in the sense there was mystery, but not a murder. In my opinion it worked well and proved there doesn’t always need to be a murder to solve if you have an interesting story and entertaining characters. And while a lot of the book’s events were over the top, they weren’t so out there that you could almost picture them actually happening.
Humorous, light-hearted, great for a fun read when you don’t want anything too deep or serious. Thanks to Booksprout for the book, I chose to post my opinion. (4.5 Stars)
Knobby Waters, Indiana, a hillbilly town where anything can happen and does. Join Ruby Jane and Veenie, Senior Private Investigators as they chase down a drunk blind dog, find a skeleton, and solve the mystery of the dancing ghosts in the orchard, among other things. I guarantee, if you have a sense of humor, you will have plenty of laughs throughout this book. I especially liked the Veenie’s escapades involving her teeth. I found a new author that I will be following and I am sure reading more of her books.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a humorous cozy mystery about two senior sleuths that have been lifelong friends. It is a pretty fast-paced book, I read the book in one day. The friends-Ruby Jane (R.J.) and Veenie- are a hilarious two-some with very different personalities. Veenie, the quirkier of the two ladies, gets herself in a few situations will have you laughing out loud. One scene that really got me laughing was when they are going to investigate the mansion for the ghosts. Another scene I found funny is when the ladies are looking for the missing dachshund Puddles. I have a senior dachshund of my own so I really related how the elderly fur baby is described. There is a lot of deception being spun on all around the ladies this keeps them guessing what is going on. This deceptions also keeps the readers engaged and guessing whodunit too. I recommend this book to cozy mystery lovers and fans of senior protagonists.
I voluntarily agreed to read a copy of this book supplied by NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced.
Ghost Busting Mystery (Shady Hoosier Detective Agency, #1) by Daisy Pettles is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. Oh my gosh this book is hilarious! It has the most unique characters and world building and it is all zany! A very Hoosier town where the main characters are not any smarter than the crooks! I giggled and snorted my way through this book! I was crying and I laughed so hard. My cheeks ached from smiling! It was a pleasant surprise! A couple of crazy senior (60’s and 70’s) women are PIs. They live in a small, very rural area in Indiana. One of the elderly men who isn’t right in the head since he was run over by the ice plow, is seeing ghosts or aliens in the abandoned mansion. Then the story gets wild! It is a laugh a minute! Lots of mysteries mixed with more mysteries! I am definitely going to follow this author’s work!
This first Shady Hoosier Detective Agency book had me laughing out loud and waiting for more. If this is book 1, I know there must be at least one more coming… right?
How nice to find MATURE women with wit and smarts! Since I am one, I know that RJ and Veenie are, too! I enjoyed these two and their antics.
Wherever they’re going in that old Chevy, I want to ride along.
When this case comes in to the local police, they don’t want to touch it, so they slide it over to the Shady Hoosier Detective Agency, where Veenie & RJ are working to try to make ends meet. That’s when things get rolling.
The author, Daisy Pettles, has an original style that is quirky and engaging. All of the characters are full of life. Ghost Busting Mystery is small town mystery with the heart of Garrison Keillor and the crime cracking wit of Janet Evanovich.
Almost makes me want a mystery meat sandwich! (I said almost….)
Ghost Busting Mystery is a rare laugh-out-loud combination of murder, wit, and mirth. Honestly, a delight. This fast-paced mystery is told in a homespun style with dialogue that literally crackles. The protagonists are two elderly women in rural Indiana trying to make ends meet by taking a shared job as detectives in training at a small detective agency. Having lived through the late 60s and 70s I loved their references to America’s past: a purple Gremlin car makes an appearance along with notes on making out at the drive-in. Had me literally rolling on the bed in laughter and reading parts out loud to my partner.
This is a new comedy – mystery series set in a small town in Southern Indiana. I read Book 2 — Baby Daddy Mystery — first on Netgalley and just LOVED it to death. Easy to read, funny as all get-out, original. Good solid mystery too involving a lot of small town characters, a haunted house, and lost civil war gold. There are typos but lordie the storytelling and humor make up for that. This is one of my favorite new authors and series in the comedy-mystery-southern-farce niche. Try it. I bet you laugh — a lot! I did.