Announcing my new comedy murder mystery entitled HOLY CRAP, coming soon. I’m a St. Augustine, Florida author with a wild imagination. I’ve written four comedy murder mysteries with the main characters Dr. Jason Longfellow, PI and his nurse wife Chelsea, a married couple with an unhinged relationship. Jason turns out to be an inept amateur private eye, but his nurse wife Chelsea is the real deal. She does most of the investigating, while struggling to keep her hubby alive. These books are not a series and can be read in any order. Each story is a standalone. HOLY CRAP
Allow me to explain. I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for many years and retired in 2015. Since then, I have been writing murder mysteries. I started with the Guardian Angel Series, two serious mysteries in which the FBI pursue a serial killer/terrorist and a cult leader. Those turned out to be successful books. They got good reviews, and I sold quite a few copies. HOLY CRAP
Writing about such evil bad guys depressed me. So, I switched to comedy murder mysteries. Beats the heck out of antidepressant drugs. Since that time, I’ve been having a blast. Laughter really is the best medicine, and with very few serious side effects, unless you crack a rib. Oh, and each of the books includes a unique murder weapon, often involving a drug theme (can’t help it, once a pharmacologist…). The bad guys in these books are VERY creative. HOLY CRAP
The main characters are a married couple, Dr. Jason Longfellow and his nurse wife Chelsea. Jason takes the lead in the first book, Pleasuria: Take as Directed (Koehler Books). He starts out as a drug reviewer for the FDA with a Ph.D. in pharmacology who gets bored and wants something more out of life. He decides to get a private eye license online and investigate cases on the weekends. Chelsea is not happy, since they have three children, and Jason can’t make any money as a PI. He’s not very good at it. HOLY CRAP
In Pleasuria: Take as Directed, the killer discovers a drug side effect that will knock your socks off, and then kill you. What do these victims all have in common? Jason has difficulty focusing on the case and a knack for getting into trouble. There is no filter between his brain and his mouth. In the end, Chelsea has to help him catch the killer. HOLY CRAP
In the second book, Murder by Road Trip, Jason and family take a cross-country road trip in an RV. The trip begins with a toothache, Jason keeps getting friskier and friskier with his wife for some unknown reason, and someone is trying to steal his teeth, and kill him. Chelsea is kept busy with Jason’s increased libido, and keeping him alive. She also plays a critical role in catching the killer. I co-wrote this book with my daughter Jacqueline. The settings are based on the stops we made during an actual 30-day cross-country trip we took together in 2016. HOLY CRAP
In The Realtor’s Curse, our intrepid PI couple take a vacation in St. Augustine, Florida, where they try to buy a beach condo. They discover that buying a condo in Florida is murder. The realtors are raging, and each condo comes with a corpse. Chelsea does most of the investigating while trying to keep Florida from killing her hubby. This book won 1stplace for both Mystery and Humor in the Firebird Book Awards. HOLY CRAP
In A Fishy Tale, the Longfellow family moves from the hustle, bustle, and dangers of the city to a peaceful country lake, where they and their children will be safe. The unbelievably huge bass, dead fishermen, and killer squirrels spoil their plans. Chelsea has given up on Jason and opens her own PI firm, Chelsea Longfellow, PI and Associate. She’s doing most of the work anyhow. They take on the case of the fishermen murders. Jason’s main problem, his wife keeps demoting him. He’s now Junior Associate PI. This book won 1st place for Humor in the Firebird Book Awards. HOLY CRAP
Coming soon, my latest comedy murder mystery entitled HOLY CRAP. This one sticks to the theme of Chelsea trying to move the family to someplace safe. This time it’s from the hazardous mountain lake to the safety of a small city/town named Intoxication Junction. Safety is an elusive thing. They settle in, enroll their daughters in a private Christian school, and set up their PI firm. Everything seems fine. Then Chelsea stumbles onto a local crime boss. And the downtown killer appears. Things begin to unravel quickly. No worries, our dysfunctional PI duo are on the case. Oh, and did I mention the women’s high school basketball team full of super-athletes, or their mascot the friendly gorilla? When you finish this book, you’ll be inclined to say, “Holy Crap”, but that’s not the reason for the title. HOLY CRAP
I’m really looking forward to releasing HOLY CRAP. Once a month I sell my books at the Ximenez-Fatio House in downtown St. Augustine during the First Friday Art Walk. It’s a great experience. I love talking to people about my books, and it’s especially fun when someone who has read one comes back for more. I had one very nice woman tell me a couple of months ago that she had read all four of my books, they were hilarious, and I have “one wicked good sense of humor.” That made me feel good, since my main purpose for writing these books is to give people a fun read and make them laugh. Have I mentioned that laughter is the best medicine? And I do know a thing or two about medicine. HOLY CRAP
If you like to laugh, and enjoy a creative murder mystery, go to https://johnjjessop.com for links to buy my books. Some of the ebooks are only 99 cents. I will also keep you posted when a release date is set for HOLY CRAP.
Meanwhile, if you want to be happy, do not watch the news, discuss politics, think about the upcoming election, or go to the grocery store (eggs $6.00/dozen? Bread $4.00/loaf? Cold cuts $12/pound? Butter $7.00/pound?). You need to take out a loan just to buy groceries. As a retired Doctor of Pharmacology, I recommend a good comedy murder mystery to treat depression. But then I might be biased in that regard. HOLY CRAP