Book ~ "Barking!" (2002) Liz Evans

From Amazon ~ Stuart Roberts is a mild-mannered, shy accountant suffering from nightmares in which he remembers committing a violent murder and he wants to know if they really happened. Grace doesn't want to take the case on the grounds that murders tend to mean there's someone who is prepared to kill around and she'd rather pass, thanks very much. However, these are killings with a difference—they took place nearly 30 years before Stuart was born. During his dreams, Stuart becomes "Joe," and has vivid recollections of life as a hop farmer's son, a world Stuart swears he knows absolutely nothing about. Despite her scepticism, Grace has never been able to resist the lure of an unlimited expense account, so she takes the job. And then discovers that her client isn't quite what he appears to be.

I've read five of Evans' books with Grace Smith as the heroine and really enjoyed them. They were mysteries that were funny.

I found this one not funny at all and rather boring. There is some genealogy in it since she is trying to track "Joe" that I found interesting but that was about it.

The reason why it all happened and thus the ending were silly and I wasn't buying them.

I'm glad I never read this book first because I wouldn't have read any of her others.

Book ~ "Sick as a Parrot" - Liz Evans (2005)

From Amazon.com ~ Adopted at birth, Hanna Conti attempts to trace her family. She turns up a mother who, twenty years earlier, was convicted of murder. Convinced that her mother is innocent, Hannah hires PI Grace Smith to prove it. Grace uncovers the story of the very messy murder of Trudy Hepburn, a teacher at St. Martin’s Comprehensive — but there are a lot of people who’d rather she stopped digging. On Grace’s side, is an ex–cop with a shady past (and present) and Betterman177, a mysterious emailer who sends tantalizing clues about what was happening at St. Martin’s two decades ago. To add to these complications, Grace has been conned into birdsitting a psychotic parrot, and Terry Rosco, the most chauvinistic cop in Seatoun, is trying to move into Grace’s spare room. And, oh yes—someone keeps trying to kill her.

The best yet in the series!

Book ~ "Don't Mess with Mrs In-Between" - Liz Evans (2002)

From Amazon.com ~ What kind of person decides to leave a considerable fortune to total strangers? PI Grace Smith is about to find out when Barbra Delaney retains her services to trace a group of people she photographed at the grocery store. One or more of them may become her beneficiaries. Barbra thinks her grown son may be trying to do her in. In no time, Grace encounters a dead body, a smuggling ring, a gorgeous man in drag and enough tangled family relationships to make celibacy seem viable. In addition, she must contend with an eccentric cast of locals whose agendas are, more often than not, at odds with her own. Once Grace is on the scene things certainly liven up. Whether suffering from food poisoning or the effects of twenty-mile bike rides when her car breaks down, she's always on the case, even if she doesn't have a clue where it will lead.

Usual funny writing style with an interesting ending.

Book ~ "JFK Is Missing!" - Liz Evans (2002)

From Amazon.com ~ Grace’s client, Henry Summerstone, has been blind for years. He has no idea of the name of the girl he’s trying to trace, what she looks like, where she lives and works. In fact, he’s not even sure that she’s missing. But he’s concerned about the whereabouts of the young jogger who talks to him on his solitary early morning walks, and he’s offering cash – an offer Grace finds hard to turn down. Before long, she’s got a lead on the girl – several leads as it turns out – though each time she gets close, Miss X slips away. Grace, however, is a girl who knows how to persevere and persevere she does, becoming entangled with squatters, invisible pigs, a twelve-year-old estate agent and the man of her dreams – who unfortunately seems to be the man of his wife’s dreams too ...

Another in the series of PI Grace Smith. As with the other two I've read, I enjoyed it. Evan's writing is funny and quick.

Book ~ "Who Killed Marilyn Monroe" - Liz Evans (2002)

From Amazon.com ~ The Marilyn Monroe in question is a beach donkey and Grace Smith – too broke to be selective when it's a question of work – is called in by the donkey's owner, Drysdale, to investigate this bizarre crime. While doing so she finds herself inexorably drawn into the mystery surrounding the murder of a young woman, Tina, whose aunt lived in the house backing on to Drysdale's land. As the plot unfolds, it becomes clear that the murders of Marilyn and Tina are connected and that Grace has stumbled on a whole lot more than she bargained for.

I enjoyed Cue the Easter Bunny so wanted to read the rest in the series. As with the first one, it's was enjoyable ... a mystery with humorous writing.

Book ~ "Cue the Easter Bunny" - Liz Evans (2005)

From Amazon.com ~ During a dry job spell, PI Grace Smith dons a bunny costume to promote tourism until she's hired to investigate death threats sent to the depressed, drugged-out husband of sexy soap star Clemency Courtney — who just happens to have a pet bunny. Another sudden job finds her joining her off-and-on PI boyfriend, Dane O'Hara, in a search for long-lost Heidi Walkinshaw, whose suspected abductor, a convicted sexual predator, was killed years earlier by Dane's brother.

I'd never heard of this author when I saw this book at the library. I'm glad I checked it out because I really enjoyed it. It's a murder mystery (which I enjoy) and the writing was funny. She reminds me a lot of one of my favorite authors, Janet Evanovich, and her Stephanie Plum series. I'm looking forward to reading her other books in this series.