Former Montana cowgirl Jessica James is sleeping on a desk in the attic at the Philosophy Department at Northwestern University in the Chicago suburbs. She blames her advisor, Professor Wolfgang “Wolf” Schumtzig, “Preeminent Philosopher and World Class Dick-Head.” When he’s found dead in his office, her real education begins. Trying to determine the connection between the murder and date-rape … drugs popular on campus, Jessica ends up drugged at a frat party, but not before her fellow feminist avengers gives the frat boys a taste of their own medicine. Her best friend’s father, Dmitry Durchenko, is trying to live a normal life as a janitor at Northwestern’s Philosophy Department. Twenty years ago, he escaped Russia with his life and part of his mafia boss father’s fortune. When the fortune, including a famous Kandinsky, goes missing, he realizes everything changes, but nothing disappears. Obsessed with the painting and the clues it holds to his childhood, Dmitry will stop at nothing to get it back. Before it’s too late, and one of them becomes the next victim, Jessica and Dmitry have to wrangle mobsters, lasso frat boys, and rope in a murderer who’s read too much Existentialism. Together, the brooding Russian and the cowgirl philosopher learn that sometimes virtue is just the flip side of vice.
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Three very unlikely friends get involved with some really bad guys–including college frat guys. Why? Because Jessica is trying very hard to get her grad degree and her professor is sabotaging her right left and upside down! Lolita is the daughter of a Russian immigrant father who is an artist–and brought some really expensive art works to America with him. He works as a janitor in the school the girls go to. The third girl is kind of a nutty health freak-but really lovable.
When Lolita decides something should be done about those frat boys and date rape drugs—-hold onto your hat!! Jessica always seems to be the one who gets beat up or drugged-but have no fear-people always come to her rescue-a bit late maybe–but she is nothing but resilient!
Will they ever be able to retrieve Jessica’s thesis and the expensive paintings? I read this in one sitting. It is fast paced to say the least. And the twists that occur–well you have to read them to believe it!
This was a really great puzzlingly convoluted bunch of characters ending up touching each other somewhere along the story. I believe friendships were forged, blinders were remove and the main characters grew a lot from their encounters with each other. Great read, fast and twisty!
As if grad school isn’t tough enough, Jessica James is having a killer year. Secretly living in the attic of her advisor’s office, she and two drinking pals break into her advisor’s office at night to discover she’s not the only one who hates the Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Baldrick Wolfgang Schumtzig. Soon she and her living-on-the-fringe pals are investigating “Wolf’s” death, while dodging handsy frat boys, gamblers, and the police.
Philosophy is apparently populated with cut-throat academics.
Fabulous, memorable characters and snappy dialogue make this a terrific start to the Jessica James Mystery Series. I’m hooked. Jessica James joins the ranks of strong women sleuths like the clutzy, funny Stephanie Plum and the edgy Lisbeth Salander.
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First, never a spoiler in my reviews. A fun mystery with interesting characters and an unusual premise. This is my first book by this author, and I enjoyed it enough to read some others. You need to know that although for the most part, it is humorous and quirky, there are some heavier scenes that aren’t for the faint of heart or for someone looking for a light and humorous cozy. There are mystery and murder as you’d expect and although it starts out a touch slow, the pace quickly picks up and makes it a true page-turner. The misadventures are sure to entertain. A solid whodunit is in these pages and my true rating is 4.5 stars! I received a complimentary copy of this book and this is my honest and unsolicited review.
Jessica James is a broke university student, living in the attic of the philosophy department. She and her philosophy professor are at odds about her pending thesis, and when 2 of her friends talk her into breaking into his office, she’s all for it.
The three of them are having a ball … until they discover the professor’s body in the bathtub.
When police start their investigation, they find all kinds of evidence pointing to Jessica and her friends being the killer. When the cops don’t look at anyone else, Jessica starts her own investigation to clear her name.
There is so much going on … art forgery, date rape drugs. Russian mafia… Jessica certainly has her hands full …. and why does her thesis play a part in all this? Who wanted the professor dead … did he know something he shouldn’t?
It started out with a bang, and then it slowed down a bit, and then it exploded with a steady pacing of suspense and page turning action.
Jessica is feisty, humorous, and determined. Her friends are comical, and I really enjoy how they relate to each other.
Many thanks to the author for the digital copy of this first book in this mystery series. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
Against the Mob
Balancing a light touch and a cast of scatterbrained intellectuals we have the Russian mob and such deep subjects as intellectual theft and date rape drugs. In the era of cellphones, it is hard to believe women are still considered outliers in some university fields, but sexual politics and attitudes (and Russian art) are at the core of this murder mystery. You can’t help but love Lolita!
Meet Jessica James. Hopeful grad-student, but life just keeps throwing her lemons and tons of…accidents. She’s living in the Philosophy Department at Northwestern University in the Chicago, and let’s just say…it’s not a great place to be living. If she gets caught, she’s in a world of trouble. Well, her night takes a bit of a bad turn. Her friends come by to have some fun, do a little of this and when a security guard comes to check things out…well…things get crazy. In the bathroom, lying in the bathtub is the very person that Jessica was just wishing was dead. Her advisor, Professor Wolfgang “Wolf” Schumtzig. Things just went south for Jessica fast and to add to things…she finds her thesis on his desk and apparently he was planning on sinking her dream of finishing grad school. Then there is Dmitry Durchenko. All he wants is to live a normal life as a janitor but there is just one small problem. These mobsters want some paintings that were stolen and he’s the supposed link. They’ll do whatever it takes to get them back, and the Professor just might be caught up in all of this. Get ready! Because Jessica and her friends are on the case and it won’t be long before it all comes together and the truth is revealed.
Wolf: A Jessica James Mystery by Kelly Oliver is a fun, well-paced mystery novel. Jessica James honestly sounds like she might be cursed with all of the accidents that she has, but honestly, that’s not the case. She probably just has a bad streak of bad luck that follows her around. I mean…a high heel slipping out from under her and getting doused with hot coffee AND tea?! She has some fun and interesting friends though. But they are all in on helping her figure out what all is going on and getting in a few laughs in the process.
I truly enjoyed this story and I have few to zero issues with the storyline. I have to admit that I was a bit puzzled about Jessica thinking that the police might consider her a suspect because of the note the Professor writes in her thesis. I honestly chalk it up to a knee-jerk reaction, because the Professor has dated his rejection for several months from the present day.
I am rating this book 5 out of 5 stars. I enjoy a good mystery novel and this book with the murder of the Professor, the paintings that the mobsters are after, and the antics of the characters come together to give this book a fun feel while giving the reader a mystery to solve. The author does a good job of keeping me guessing as to who did it, too. For me, that is a huge plus because if I can figure it out too quickly I feel cheated. Haha! But this book, in my opinion, is a win.
I received a free copy of this book from the author. It was not at all what I expected but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I was first drawn to this book when I came across an advertisement stating it was like if James Patterson and Janet Evanovich (two of my favorite authors) had a love child. Then the name of the main character caught my attention because her name is Jessica James and mine is Jessica Jaymz so I just knew I had to give this book a chance. I really hoped I would love it. When I first started reading my first impression of the characters was not great and I worried it might be too immature. I continued reading and before long I was seeing a whole different side to the characters and was quickly sucked in to the story. The murderer was not at all surprising but I loved watching it all come together. I enjoyed the side stories as well and just getting to know the characters. My worries from the beginning quickly faded away and I actually felt really connected to them. Lolita is such a badass protector, especially when it comes to her friends and family. She is not one to be intimidated by anyone or anything. Nick was interesting because he had a mysterious vibe to him that made me love him but I was also very suspicious of him in certain ways wondering if he was going to be trouble. The main group of friends were a good example of true friendship. They were so different from each other but the love was obvious. They did a great job supporting each other and working together to help each other get through things or get out of certain bad situations even if it meant putting themselves at risk. I look forward to continuing the series.
Two of my favorite quotes from the book
• “The good man wants just two things,” said Jack, “danger and play.”“And woman’s the most dangerous plaything.” Jessica finished the quote. “I’m about to show you just how dangerous.”
• “If determination has a name, it’s Jessica James!”
A little confusing in the beginning but came together.
A new series that I enjoyed reading it is a murder mystery that kept me turning pages. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
As much as I wanted to learn who killed Wolf and why I did not finish this book. At 84% I decided that the young characters in this read were just too foolish, crude, selfish and self seeking. I could not justify the time spent with these characters to discover the mystery behind the professors demise. I do not recommend this novel. It was lacking in moral character, integrity and the ability to inspire. Perhaps my standards for literature are very different than those of modern day readers or perhaps I am just too old for this nonsense.
Slow and repetitive. Simply not interesting or me.
I did not really like this one. The characters were s little confusing and scattered.