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"Tired of female P.I.s who simper around and do dumb things and spend half their time bitching about bad relationships? Then read Legwork from Avon Books and meet CASEY JONES..." That little tidbit of BSP on rec.arts.mystery from years ago caught my eye. Mostly because I'd already fallen under the spell of the author's 'tude-drenched posts on various newsgroups and discussion lists. This Katy Munger chick sounded like a hoot. And at the time Casey's debut, Legwork (1997), had just been nominated for a Shamus for Best First P.I. Novel. I decided to investigate. It turns out Legwork was quite a read. That Casey, she's got a real mouth on her, and she's one big, bad bottled blonde more than willing to get into someone's face. Okay, officially, she's not even a P.I. -- at least officially. Seems that in North Carolina, a prison record precludes a private investigator's license (seems there was a drug smuggling conviction somewhere in Casey'spast) . But, since her "official" boss Bobby D. (picture Jabba the Hutt with a southern drawl) rarely moves at all, Casey does all the investigating. When she's not pursuing other interests, that is. 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 much-needed 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 blast, saltier than Lot's wife, and a lot more fun; bringing a refreshing, Mae West-like frankness to the P.I. party. 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
NOVELS
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