Amateur detective and aspiring journalist Tressa "Calamity" Jayne Turner returns for her fourth novel (after Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun
), in which she goes back to school, hunts for a campus criminal and finds more trouble than a drunk coed with daddy's car. Enrolling in college for the fourth time, Tressa's looking to get a real degree in journalism and just maybe a raise at the Grandville Gazette
. Unfortunately, Tressa isn't a great student, just squeaking by in her Carson College classes until the final project in her investigative journalism class, coupled with a string of unsolved campus crimes, lights a fire under her barely passing bum. Thanks to her cousin Frank and his fiancée, Dixie (Tressa's least favorite person and a hilarious foil), she might have her story: Frank's theory points to someone in his criminal law class. Of course, it's not nearly that simple, and Tressa finds that her investigation may lead to a fate worse than failing. Funny and endearing, with enough side characters and plots to keep the pages turning—Tressa's maid-of-honor duties, conflicting crushes and her live-in grandma's hot new beau—Bacus's book is another crowd-pleaser; fans of Janet Evanovich will see shades of Stephanie Plum in this spunky Iowa sleuth. (Apr.)
