Jeopardy in July by Barbara Venkataraman

Jeopardy in July is the fifth book in Barbara Venkataraman’s Jamie Quinn Mystery series.

Jamie Quinn is fed up of being a family lawyer! Yes, she is! Divorce proceedings, angry clients, who gets to keep the dog after the divorce, my oh my!

Kip is still in Australia saving Wombats. Jamie is at the ALF – Assisted Living Facility. She’s supposed to meet a client – both in their eighties and have decided to go separate ways! Clarence Petersen (the client) hasn’t arrived yet so Jamie starts to chat with an old man named Herb. Meanwhile, a patient is being taken to the hospital in a stretcher. A couple of minutes later, Jamie learns that the patient was her client, or rather, her ex-client as he passed away.

Jamie meets Jessie and Marley in the ALF. There are here for pet therapy. (Marley is a chocolate labradoodle and Jessie looks after abandoned dogs.) Jamie soon learns that Clarence Petersen owned an antique store – the one that she and her mum used to visit when she was young. At Petersen’s funeral, the wife threatens her husband’s killer. Jessie’s uncle is at the ALF too and he’s sad that his best friend Petersen was probably murdered. Jessie promises him that she and Jessie will look into it! Oh boy! There you go! Jamie’s back on a case!

Duke and Jamie form quite a pair, something like Castle and Nikki, perhaps? Just a warning before I continue with the review. Do not read this book in public places because you would laugh out loud and people might think you have gone bonkers. 😀 Jamie is absolutely hilarious. Living la Vida loca… oops, I meant Living in La Vida Boca (The ALF) might have been a haven for senior citizens but when one of them is murdered, Hell Hath No Fury!

Mr Paws aka pain in the ass is his usual wanky self. Kip too seems to be enjoying his time in Australia. Jamie desperately wants him by her side. Meanwhile, her dad’s visa is still on hold. Boohoo! Apart from the murder, Jamie has another mystery to solve. One of her clients comes to her about a fake painting.  Duke is sent undercover to find out more about the painting.

My favourite FBI agent JP is back! Yay! Grace and Nick are dating – say whaaaat??? – so Jamie has to put up with Nick’s antics. By the way, what do you get when you play a country song backwards? You get your house back, your wife back, your dog back and your truck back.

I really enjoyed the story. I have been following this series and I really hope Barbara releases the next book before I say tomorrow. Please, Barb. 😀 And the next a day after…. and so on and so forth and what have you.

By the way, what was that with Marcus J Wise? The guy serves Jamie a notice! Well, I really got to wait until the next book to find out more about it. But I can tell you this – he was  ALF (Alien Life Form) for sure – appeared out of nowhere and disappeared I don’t know where…

The ending is, as is the case in any Jamie Quinn mystery, superb. The surprise and all, I did not see it coming! Phew, Jamie!