Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun

Calamity Jayne #3

by Kathleen Bacus

After being stalked by a psycho dunk-tank clown, Tressa Jayne Turner takes a break from reporting until a reclusive and rather strange best-selling writer arrives in town. Original.

Genres: Mystery, Romance, Cozy Mystery, Humor, Halloween, Fiction, Contemporary Romance

323 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2006

Reviews

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me awhile to get invested in the story.

The writing is smooth and flowy.

But, the two characters introduced at the end both speak about themselves in the third person. A little bit creepy for me.

When I was first introduced to this type of character on Seinfeld, I snickered. But, this may have been out of fear.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Mom sent me this book - which happens to be the third book in the Calamity Jayne series - so I was sort of dropped into the deep end. Although enough back story was dropped that I did not feel I was floundering. It was a fun read and was reminiscent of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. With a quirky heroine, a spunky grandmother, two different men in her life and the tendency to fly by the seat of her pants. I was able to guess the majority of the ending but since it had a couple laugh out loud moments, I am encouraged to try the other books in the series - from the beginning this time.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself torn by this book. There were parts that I really liked, and there were parts that really irritated me. Shelby Lynne really irritated me, but I was happy that she won. Rick moving Gran in with Tressa seemed really petty and made me very upset with him. I like that Manny is still involved in the story and that he is another potential love interest for Tressa; right now I am totally Team Manny Despite the fact that these books constantly irritate me, I do enjoy them and I will be reading the next book in the series.

[Jenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this series! This one is my absolute favorite out of all of them! Humor, mystery, romance...Yes please! Endearing characters, clever, & sassy! I read this one every year, around Halloween:) I highly recommend this fun series!

[Melissa G · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like the series but just did not work for me. I found the character's constant assessment of negative physical attributes to be off putting.

[Kerry]

For a breezy bit of mysterious fun, Kathleen Bacus’ Calamity Jayne and the Haunted Homecoming might do the trick. This is the third in a series of misadventures of the title character, a self-deprecating, unintentional sleuth. Tressa Jayne Turner seeks an interview with a reclusive author who just moved into their little town. She’s joined by a homecoming queen candidate who is an ardent fan of the author, and a reporter from a competing paper attempts to scoop her exclusive. But things aren’t without complications. For one thing, the author refuses to see anyone. When scoping out the property, Tressa J. witnessed the unloading of what could only be a coffin. And a rose-spewing spirit haunts the grounds. Peopled with other quirky characters including some spunky senior citizens and a hunky potential love interest or two, the book is cute and even made me laugh out loud when the ladies attempted to break free from a sticky situation.
I haven’t read the first two books in the series, but this was still not difficult to follow. There are references to earlier actions and introductions of what obviously are previously introduced characters, but again, it is handled well enough to not cause even a casual reader difficulty.

[Karl Hakimian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another enjoyable entry in this series. The characters are continuing to grow and we we get to meet a couple of new people that I hope will be back in later books.

I'm still really enjoying the fact that these are not murder mysteries, small rural towns should not be dealing with a huge body count, so the mysteries are very much appreciated since they deal with things you are actually more likely to run into. There's still enough danger to keep things exciting while not ending up with some sort of rural blood bath.

So far, I'm enjoying each book more than the previous one, so I hope the trend continues.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are pros here in that it seems like the character is growing some depth as the series continues and although I had suspicions early the mystery was fairly well laid out. Now, the cons. Unfortunately the number of punctuation errors and weird formatting breaks were a big negative. These are good stories from an "award winning author" according to the book cover. No one could be bothered to proofread?? Also, why was the title changed?

I am still interested in what happens to the characters so on I go to find the next book in the series.

[Sharon M. Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

By hook or crook, She'll get the interview.

Jayne is after the scoop of a lifetime. But the Secretary and the chauffeur aren't cooperating. The famous writer is in seclusion and not allowing interviews. Or is she? No matter what Jayne and Shelby do to get a glimpse of the author, nothing works. What is the real story? The story has all the exciting points, haunted house, lady in white, smell of roses; but no author!

[Lonny Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought Ms. Bacus really hit her stride with Book 2 in this series. It was genuinely laugh out loud funny in several spots. Tis book does not achieve that level. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good cozy mystery, well worth a read, but I was expecting more. I will continue reading the series, so on to volume 4.

[Sharkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the beginning, Tressa wasn't my favourite character. But the farther along this book went, the more and more I began to like her.

This was a cozy, slice-of-life-kinda cozy mystery that just made me feel lovely and cozy. I enjoyed it, even if the mystery aspect was a bit slow to develop.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun holiday caper

I like the new characters introduced. Especially Shelby Lynn. I was sad about some of the storyline, and frustrated by others.

[Ricki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but I wish there was a little more haunting.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun, crazy ride with Tressa "Calamity" Jayne.

[GERRY Hermans · Rating 3 out of 5]

A recluse famous local author, an unlikely homecoming queen, a haunted house complete with rose petals & Calamity out for a Pulitzer prize. And of course there's her gram & ranger Rick.

[Alicia Richards]

cute shorty..

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Cozy mystery. Not a bad story. I found the writing style rather annoying when the main character actually asks the readers questions when she's "talking".

[James Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun story

The author has created an unusual and unique plot to go with an interesting group of characters making this hard to put down

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Katherine Mihok · Rating 2 out of 5]

i tried, but my god you would think she was 14, come on. First book conflicted about the H. ok
Second book , work through it , ok. But third book and more of the same. Also the obsession with food , just too much. quitting now

[Lindsay (LindsayReads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun for my Nook for super cheap a few years back. I didn’t get around to reading it, which is unfortunately an all too common occurrence, until this year. When looking at Bacus’ website I realized the story had been republished under a new name and with new cover art. I am not a fan of the current cover art because it leaves the novel feeling super low budget. But I do like the new name! Calamity Jayne and the Haunted Homecoming just fits.

I’m glad I finally read Calamity Jayne and the Haunted Homecoming because I absolutely loved the quirky characters. Tressa Jayne and I share a similar smart a#* sense of humor and love for all things snack food. I love the relationship she shares with her hellion of a grandma and the reluctant friendship she develops with the towering Shelby Lynn. The characters are well developed and the storyline is intriguing. Yes, I figured out what was happening with reclusive writer Elizabeth Courtney Howard early on but I’m ok with that when reading a cozy mystery. The characters, humor, and small town setting are what make this book worth the read!

Now the characters might be a miss for you because they are all pretty quirky. I definitely do not recommend Calamity Jayne and the Haunted Homecoming for those wanting a serious read. This is not the book for you. Each character can be a little over the top and most people will quickly tire of Tressa Jayne’s obsession with food. Plus, the alliterating nicknames can get old…Hellion Hannah, Jolting Joe, etc. I even got a little sick of it. My only real complaint is the novel needed one good last edit before being published. There were a number of sentences that were poorly structured and characters repeated themselves multiple times. Shelby Lynn threatening to take her story to the other newspaper every few pages was annoying.

There were a number of grammatical and format errors. Words appeared twice or were sometimes missing all together. The formatting was all off. Of course this was just my copy, so hopefully the glitches have been fixed with the republication. I have a number of self published friends and I’ve heard how frustrating it is to format for ebook. So just know there may be formatting errors.

Calamity Jayne and the Haunted Homecoming made me laugh and that’s what I needed! It is book 3 in the series but you do not have to read the first two to enjoy this one. However, I’ll probably read the rest of the series because I loved the characters so much! Have you read anything by Kathleen Bacus? Share your thoughts!

Lindsay

Check out more reviews at sandbetweenthepages.wordpress.com

[Moondance · Rating 2 out of 5]

A blonde, a brunette and a redhead went out for lunch

I guess that should have been my first clue when the book started with a lame blonde joke. Looking back, it may have been the best part of the book.

Tressa "Calamity Jayne" Turner is recovering from her harrowing experience from the state fair coverd in the previous book. She is still trying to be a serious journalist so that she can quit her multitude of other jobs. Covering the local homecoming court, Tressa meets Shelby Lynne AKA Sasquatch. Shelby has been nominated as a joke by the students of the high school. She has information regarding a reclusive author that could be Tressa's ticket to real journalism.

I think the thing that bothered me the most about this book is that it tried to hard to be Stephanie Plum
lite. Tressa has a wacky grandmother, gets involved in strange situations and has a thing for a law enforcement officer.

Situations that should be laugh out loud funny were just meh. The title really didn't fit the book and I only finished it because of this challenge.

It does have a cute cover that covered everything Autumn: falling leaves, pumpkins, a caramel apple and a black cat. Too bad it didn't live up to expectations.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that Tressa has a more secure part-time position with the local newspaper, she is called on to write a fluff piece on the Homecoming Queen candidates. One of the candidates, Shelby Lynne, is not your usual queen candidate, 6'2" with red hair and freckles. But Shelby has more on her mind than the Homecoming contest. She has word that a home-town girl, who made good as an author who has become a recluse, will be in town and Shelby wants Tressa to get an interview with her and take Shelby along to meet the author she has idolized. And from there, nothing seems to go right.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like there weren't enough oddball characters in the first two stories, Bacus adds even more to the mix. The original odd couple nominated for the homecoming king and queen and the reclusive author and her entourage join the fray.
This is book three for Calamity Jayne, but it isn't the best of the series. It has its moments but falls short of the first two. Having said that it was still fun and I look forward to the next installment of Calamity.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4...

[Margaret]

A fun Halloween read - I thought from the title that it might have a paranormal aspect in the plot but it was a fun, not-taking-itself-too-seriously sort of cozy mystery with a Janet Evanovich-Stephanie Plum style heroine. Tressa is not quite as dysfunctional or inept as Stephanie although she also has a wacky grandmother, career woes and some challenges with her love life. Fun and light easy read.

[Nancy H · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this series, but I think that at times the author uses a heavy hand in repeating things about the character or the situation. I am also confused as to why the title was changed in this and the earlier books in the series. I was looking them up under the titles that were on the books that I read, and I discovered that the titles had been changed so that some websites were using the old titles and some the new.

[Brandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are fun. I was introduced to this series in Killer Fun: Cozy Mystery Charity Collection and this was in A Haunting Homicide: Halloween Cozy Mystery Boxed Set. Now I am reading Calamity Jayne Rides Again #2. I like her style of writing. She is very funny and talks to the reader at times. There is the handsome Ranger and the funny grandparents. Sometimes when I read, I just want them to be laugh out loud funny and these books fit the bill.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3rd in the series
Not as good as the first two. Not nearly enough of Ranger Rick, either. Lots of Grandma Hannah and some of Joe Townsend. I didn't really care for Shelby Lynne, Tressa's latest partner-in-crime. She was just a little off-putting.
Cute book, a number of really good laughs. I'll keep reading the series and hope the next one is better.

[Stephanie Bowen · Rating 2 out of 5]

tressa learns that a famous author has come to town and is living in haunted holloway hall. tressa and her new accomplice, shelby lynne, want an interview and instead both end up in the basement with the author's assistant/ghost writer and the author's body. tressa ends up with the exclusive story for the paper. tressa pretends to be engaged to manny. things progress with rick.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuation of cozy series. This one changes locations and has MJ doing a reality tv show. Laurie, who is a very good cozy writer also writing her Psychic Eye series, needs to expand her vocabulary to words other than "Freaky." It was used so often, it became annoying. Otherwise, another good story from Victoria Laurie.