MURDER TALKS TURKEY

A cheating husband, a bumbling bank robber, a series of murders—what more could a fledgling private eye want?

Gertie Johnson, head of the Trouble Buster Investigative Company, and her partner Cora Mae (Murder Grins and Bears It, 2007) are about to make a deposit in the local credit union when a robber wearing orange high tops appears, only to be shot dead by an accomplice outside as the police arrive on the scene. Gertie’s son Blaze, the local sheriff, won’t be investigating because he’s on leave recovering from meningitis, a disease that has left him mentally unstable. When his deputy Dickey Snell finds the robber’s bag full of Monopoly money, he figures it for an inside job. Gertie, Cora Mae and their sidekick Kitty jump into the investigation but end up on the run when the accomplice is found shot in the head by Gertie’s Glock outside a dance hall, where the gals are trolling for clues. Gertie finds out who her true friends are when she has to hide out while trying to determine what the orange-shod thugs, the cheating husband, a reporter, a teller and the suddenly wealthy credit union manager have to do with murder and missing money.

Baker’s second animal-themed adventure of three madcap ladies’ exploits in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula will make you chuckle and keep you guessing.