Coming end of April, HOLY CRAP, a murder mystery. During the writing of my Dr. Jason Longfellow, PI and nurse wife Chelsea comedy murder mystery series, the books have taken on a life of their own. Apparently, this dysfunctional PI couple is struggling to find a safe place to raise their three daughters. Allow me to explain. HOLY CRAP
In the first book, Pleasuria: Take as Directed (Koehler Books), Dr. Jason Longfellow works at the FDA, reviewing data from companies applying for marketing approval for their new drugs. Jason gets bored and decides to add some excitement to his life. He gets a PI license online and starts investigating cases on the weekends. His nurse wife, Chelsea, is not happy because he’s a very successful doctor, but he really sucks as a PI. He can’t make any money at it, but he insists on pursuing PI work full time because it’s exciting. Since they have three daughters to support, Chelsea has no choice but to help with his investigations. She turns out to be the real deal. HOLY CRAP
Jason’s first case involves his carpooler, and a drug side effect that will knock your socks off and then kill you. This dysfunctional PI duo starts out living in the extremely congested and frenetic area of Northern Virginia, where there’s a serial killer on the loose. They realize it’s not a very safe place to raise their three daughters. Logic dictates they move elsewhere. HOLY CRAP
In Murder by Road Trip, a biotech company in San Diego, California invites Jason to an in-person interview for a very lucrative new job. Jason is not thrilled because he now considers himself a full-time PI. But Chelsea likes the idea of a huge salary. And after all, they do need to move to somewhere safer than Northern Virginia. So, the entire Longfellow family takes a cross-country road trip in an RV to deliver Jason to this job interview. HOLY CRAP
The trip begins with a toothache. The amateur PI team must solve several crimes along the way, including the case of the RV park diamond thief and the Wisconsin cheese thief. For some unknown reason, Jason keeps getting friskier and friskier with his wife, which is pleasantly disturbing to her. And most bizarre, someone keeps trying to steal Jason’s teeth. Needless to say, the biotech firm and San Diego do not turn out to be particularly safe. A fellow needs his teeth. HOLY CRAP
In The Realtor’s Curse, still in search of a safe place to live, Jason and Chelsea head for St. Augustine Florida to check out beachfront property. Surely Florida, the Sunshine State, would be a friendly and safe place to live and raise children. Chelsea could always get work as a nurse, and perhaps Jason would have better luck as a PI there; divorce cases, wealthy widows being conned out of their money, lost pets eaten by alligators. HOLY CRAP
They encounter their first murder case on I-95 on their drive to the Sunshine State. Once they arrive in Florida, a young female realtor attacks Jason with an electric mixer in the kitchen while showing them a condo. The realtors are really angry for some reason. Most of the condos the PI duo look at come with a corpse, or two. There’s even murder on the beach. Finally, the PI duo must catch a serial killer during a hurricane. After all, it is Florida. So again, not a particularly safe place to live and raise children. HOLY CRAP
In A Fishy Tale, Chelsea inherits a fortune, and they decide to move to a peaceful mountain lake, an idyllic place, clearly safe to raise their children. They don’t need to work anymore. But to avoid boredom Chelsea decides to set up a PI firm, Chelsea Longfellow, PI, and Associate. Her money, her company. Jason is sad but still gets to be a PI. HOLY CRAP
PI work starts out slow, but then fishermen start disappearing from the lake. Rumors of unbelievably huge bass circulate, although fishermen are notorious for exaggeration. Then a young woman hires Chelsea Longfellow, PI, and Associate to find her husband, an executive at a local drug company who has disappeared. The dysfunctional PI duo must solve the case of the disappearing fishermen and catch the killer, be it man or beast. How can this be? A peaceful mountain lake, and even the squirrels and the deer turn out to be dangerous. And now another serial killer. So much for raising the family on a mountain lake. HOLY CRAP
Which brings us to HOLY CRAP, COMING END OF APRIL (official launch MAY 2 at the Ximenez-Fatio House in St. Augustine, Florida). In this one, Chelsea decides to move the family to the safety of a small city nestled in the Blueridge Mountains. They buy a beautiful home in a peaceful suburb on the side of a mountain overlooking the city of Intoxication Junction. She sets up their PI office in the mother-in-law suite of their new home, so she’ll be there for the children. She even enrolls their daughters in a private Christian School. What could possibly go wrong? HOLY CRAP
A woman hires Chelsea’s firm to find the murderer of her husband, an accountant at the school. The headmaster and suspected local crime boss, Stan Serpentino, threatens Chelsea’s oldest daughter. Chelsea stuffs him headfirst into his trash can. A local drug company provides a cure for alcoholism and a super anabolic steroid to school families. The girls’ basketball team resembles Russian female Olympic weightlifters. With several possibilities for the downtown killer, Jason suspects an escaped gorilla. Jason stakes out a local bar and gets thrown out for bad behavior with the strippers. Will mama bear Chelsea catch the killer? Will she strangle her husband? Why would anyone name a book HOLY CRAP? You’ll have to read the book to find out. If you don’t laugh out loud, you should probably check your pulse. HOLY CRAP
HOLY CRAP will be available on Amazon in late April, with the official launch being May 2. You can find out more about all my books and links to buy them on my author website at https://johnjjessop.com. Laughter really is the best medicine, and you don’t even need a doctor’s prescription for these books.
Please note that the Dr. Jason Longfellow, PI series includes standalone books, no need to read them in a certain order. The main characters are the same, but the stories are independent of each other.
Also, if you read one of my books, PLEASE leave me a review on Amazon. These are extremely helpful to book sales. Thank you so much!