Rating: 
Summary: This one is hard to top...
Review: After finishing a great book or series, sometimes it's just hard to beat one as great as Katy Munger's Casey Jones! I'll have to look hard to find someone with her talent and the loveable yet quirky characters I'm come to love.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny but Flawed
Review: Although I certainly enjoyed reading Money to Burn, Katy Munger is not ready to become one of the greats of mystery fiction. On the book's positive side, Munger does deliver a very funny book with a fairly convincing and innovative plot. Since the book deals with the tobacco industry, which is an easy target these days, I was surprised that Munger avoided a cliched industry corruption tale. As always in this series, humor was at the forefront of the narrative. The disappointing aspect of this book comes with Munger's too frequent use of trite stereotypes. While it may be true that stereotypes become stereotypes because they are so often true, characterizations which are too dependent upon these stereotypes come off flat and underdeveloped. Although Munger does not use stereotypes to criticize, she does use them to avoid finding a character's inner motivations. Too many of her characters act and react because of some societally projected motivation. Munger needs to explore her characters more closely to produce a book with more real people. A great mystery novel delivers insight into the human condition just like any other great book. This cannot be accomplished with such underdeveloped characters. I have also been disappointed that Casey Jones's character has not grown through the series. I know no more about her now that I did after reading the first book in the series. For example, in this book, Casey has a very difficult and potentially life-altering decision to make. Instead of allowing the readers to follow Casey's self-exploration, she just suddenly makes up her mind. We, the readers, do not know why. Munger's sense of place is also somewhat flat. After reading a series, I like to feel that I have "been" wherever the book is set, and even though I live quite near this book's actual setting, the place does not seem at all real. With the exception of the Southern stereotypes, this series could happen anywhere. (North Carolina is important in this particular book because of the tobacco industry's role in the book.) Overall, however, I found this an enjoyable book to read, and I do recommend it. I don't think a book should be avoided because it isn't what it never tried to be. It is lightweight fun. Munger just shows so much potential that I would like to see her make this an even better series. Its engrossing plot and likable Casey Jones provide good escapist reading. If you can enjoy a book just because its fun, you should like this one. If you're looking for great depths, read elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Tough and Delightful
Review: Casey Jones is tough and smart. Astute, even. And genuinely funny. She is a creature of lusty appetites, incredible fashion sense and emergency hair-coloring measures. Her past is shady, her credentials suspect. Lust and mayhem rule. As is true of all pop fiction, this one lays bare its milieu. Take to heart Casey's insight: "When I was done packing it in, I felt like someone had poured cement down my gullet --the true test of a good southern meal."
Rating:
Summary: This Tart No Lemon
Review: Casey Jones is tough and smart. Astute, even. And genuinely funny. She is a creature of lusty appetites, incredible fashion sense and emergency hair-coloring measures. Her past is shady, her credentials suspect. Lust and mayhem rule. As is true of all pop fiction, this one lays bare its milieu. Take to heart Casey's insight: "When I was done packing it in, I felt like someone had poured cement down my gullet --the true test of a good southern meal."
Rating:
Summary: Probably the best thing since sliced bread
Review: Having devoured the first Casey Jones mystery, I had to buy the rest and each one was better than the last. If you are a fan of the likes of Janet Evanovitch, you will love Katy Mungers heroine.
Rating:
Summary: Tough and Delightful
Review: I don't think there is any other tough girl P.I. out there as tough and funny as Casey. It took me a while to warm to her tone of voice, but once I clicked with it,I couldn't put the book down. Great southern atmosphere and characters.
Rating:
Summary: BETTER than other funny writers for one reason: PLOT!
Review: I don't want to start a debate about who's better, Munger or Evanovich, especially because from the quote Evanovich gives her it looks like they might be friends. But I find Munger to be very different from Evanovich to the point where you can't really compare the two. I think Evanovich writes to women who like romance and amusing humor and who don't care that much about a plot. Munger writes to men and women and while she is very, very funny, her plots are always excellent. She does not sacrifice the conventions of the PI genre to be cutesy, in fact, she pulls them off better than almost anyone else I've read. Her characters are well-rounded, motivations plausible, the tone perfect. Plus she is one the few writers who can write about the south in a real way, she doesn't ignore the redneck element but she doesn't make it sound like that's all there is either. Some people read her because she is funny in a scathing, sometimes scary way (literature majors will recognize some major puncturing of ego going on). Some people seem to read her because they like Casey getting it on with guys or think she's a good role model. Others read her for the mysteries and the twists and turns she throws in. I read her for all of these reasons and I hope she keeps on balancing the elements. We don't need another Evanovich. We need more Munger!
Rating:
Summary: This book is halarious!
Review: I have never read a book like this one before. From a woman's point of view Casey Jones' tells it like it is! Casey Jones is more believable than some of my girlfriends are on matters of womanhood. This book has action, lust, greed, sex, lots of food, and great one-liners. Definitely a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Money To Burn
Review: I loved this one. I ran across it from a friend and got the other two last summer. I had no idea what a Krispy Kreme doughnut was and now I make 2 hour drives to Vegas to get two dozen... If you do this also, just bring home and put in micro for 6 seconds and then, go to heaven...pick up the book and eat. Casey is sassy, entertaining, and real. I love mysteries and this was one of my favorite. It is an easy read and great for a weekend quick pick me up. Good job, Katy. Keep em coming.
Rating:
Summary: Money To Burn
Review: I loved this one. I ran across it from a friend and got the other two last summer. I had no idea what a Krispy Kreme doughnut was and now I make 2 hour drives to Vegas to get two dozen... If you do this also, just bring home and put in micro for 6 seconds and then, go to heaven...pick up the book and eat. Casey is sassy, entertaining, and real. I love mysteries and this was one of my favorite. It is an easy read and great for a weekend quick pick me up. Good job, Katy. Keep em coming.
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