Swapping Paint

Stockcar Racing Mystery #1

by Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene

Glad Wyczhewski lives for three things: NASCAR, cold beer, and his passionate wife, Ruby. Tailing the race circuit in an RV, the newlyweds stop in Concord, North Carolina–just down the road from Ruby's hometown–for the Coca-Cola 600. But the excitement of race week stalls when a driver, Ricky Sanders, is found murdered. And to everyone's shock, the prime suspect is another rookie driver, Ruby's brother Bobby! A forty-two-year-old ex-cop from Chicago, Glad would rather party on the infield than get mixed up in a murder investigation. But there's no way he can hold back Ruby–as stubborn as she is beautiful–from trying to clear Bobby's name. High on adrenaline and exhaust fumes, Glad kicks his detective instincts into overdrive before Ruby's good intentions put them on a collision course with the killer.

Genres: Mystery, Racing

288 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

aka Elyssa Henry and Joye Ames, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant

Joyce Lavene and Jim Lavene are a wife and husband team who have written and published more than 70 books since 1999. They live in North Carolina with their family and enjoy cooking, photography and ghost hunting.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to try a Jim and Joyce Lavene's mystery series, and I figured this would be as good as any. I am not a fan of racing, but I did enjoy this book, and I will be reading others in the series.

[Betty Loven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic. Made me want to read more mysteries.

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glad Wycznewski lives for three things: NASCAR, cold beer and his passionate wife Ruby. Glad is a retired cop from Chicago and Ruby has left her job as a beautician so that they can follow the racing circuit in their RV. The newlyweds, married last year at the racetrack in Somona, have just arrived in North Carolina for the Coca-Cola 600. The track is just down the road from Ruby's hometown.They are excited because Ruby's brother, Bobby, a rookie driver, may be one of the lucky 43 racing in the 600.

The race week excitement hits the wall when another rookie driver is found dead and Bobby becomes the number one suspect. Glad wants to stay out of the locals way but Ruby has other ideas. She is determined to track down the real killer. They throw caution to the wind and shift their investigation into overdrive so they can put the murderer behind bars before the checkered flag waves.

Dollycas's Thoughts

I am a huge NASCAR fan and this series had been on my wish list for way too long. There was no Cup race last Sunday so I spent my time reading this book instead of watching a race. I loved this book and it is going on my keeper shelf.

Glad and Ruby make an awesome team. Ruby is sassy, stubborn and her mouth has no filter. These traits can all mean trouble when investigating a murder. Thankfully Glad is smart with wonderful detective skills and very patient. They are perfectly suited for each other even if they are a generation apart in age. They clearly adore each other and their dialogue is funny and natural.

Other than the main characters I would have to say Ruby's dad, Zeke, was my favorite character in this story. Zeke's only love besides his family is fast cars. He has worked for almost every race car driver in the business. That was until he broke his back 5 years ago. He is now confined to a wheelchair and doesn't even go to the races anymore. Like me he is worried about how people will treat him in his disabled state. I hope he realizes like I did that the those that care about you, won't care about the chair, and those that treat you differently weren't your friends in the first place. I really identified with this character.

Jim and Joyce Lavene are wonderful writers. This is just one of their mystery series. I have enjoyed everything I have read that they have written and plan to read them all. I hope you will join me! Their current mystery series' are the Missing Pieces Mysteries and the Renaissance Faire Mysteries. Both series have new installments coming soon.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Barbara Holland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never cared about NASCAR until I moved to North Carolina, but now I've become a fan. This is the first book in a series. I like the way it captures the feel of the place and the characters. It has a lot of humor.

[Julia Hickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read something about NASCAR, even though I am not a huge NASCAR fan.

[Christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Combines two of my favorite things, mysteries and NASCAR.