How about a Southern mystery with a dash of sass? Jean Harrington introduces Honey Ingersoll, a young woman with street smarts, in the first Listed and Lethal mystery, Murder on Pea Pike.

Honey has her dream job as office manager and sales agent for Eureka Falls’ largest realtor, Ridley’s Real Estate. The twenty-four-year-old has had a rough life, dealing, first with her Daddy’s temper, then her ex-boyfriend’s abuse, and then the drunken fits of a former employer. But, she has dreams about Sam Ridley, her boss. And, if she can make a few big sales, she’ll impress him as much as she’s impressed a few other men in town. Unfortunately, at one rural Arkansas site, she makes the sale, but also finds the body of a woman she just saw at the office. Then Sheriff Matt Rameros tells Honey she’s “a person of interest”.

Honey takes that badly. She knows she’s in trouble when Matt tells her that because he has a thing for her. This was worse than anything else she’d been through. “This was being dumped on big time, and I’d be damned if I’d just sit and take it.” Honey asks some questions, does some meddling. And, then she finds a second body. She may lose her job over it, but Honey is convinced the murders have something to do with real estate and politics.

Honey Ingersoll is a fresh voice in the mystery world. She’s candid about her past, “a girl like me, with no family to speak of, no formal schooling and no money.” But, her past has made her strong, and she doesn’t want to see a friend bullied by an abusive ex-husband. She’s a character who turns to the police for help, and also when she has a suggestion. And, she suddenly realizes she has “no training, no detecting skills, no right to meddle”. Honey is an engaging, forthright amateur sleuth.

If you like your mysteries with a Southern flavor and a dash of sass, try Murder on Pea Pike.


Jean Harrington’s website is www.jeanharrington.com

Murder on Pea Pike by Jean Harrington. Camel Press. 2017. ISBN 9781603816472 (paperback), 248p.

*****
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.