Skating Over the Line

August 1, 2011
Charbonneau's sequel to 2010's Skating Around the Law offers just the right mix of skullduggery, humor, mystery, and romance. Rebecca Robbins is focused on selling the skating rink she inherited in Indian Falls, Ill., so she can move back to Chicago, but finding a buyer may be the easy part. Dealing with Lionel Franklin, the boyfriend who doesn't want her to leave, and Stan, her absentee father who has just shown up, is hard enough. Rebecca's Elvis impersonator grandfather, Pop, and his senior center friends expect Rebecca to find out who's stealing and blowing up cars because, after all, she solved a recent crime before the cops could. Deputy Sean Holmes hasn't gotten over her meddling in police business then and doesn't appreciate it now. When large men start threatening Rebecca, the crimes take on a more sinister aspect. Readers will enjoy the ride, and they'll really love Elwood, Lionel's retired circus camel.

August 1, 2011

A small-town girl who yearns to go back to Chicago is saddled with a reputation as a crime fighter.

Great news for Rebecca Robbins: There may be a buyer for her roller rink. Despite her loving relationship with her grandfather, an Elvis impersonator, and a hot romance with veterinarian Lionel Franklin, she still dreams of returning to the city. When a friend of her grandfather's has his car stolen, Rebecca is enlisted to find it. But she's thrown off her stride by the arrival of the super-salesman father who had walked out on her and her mother years before. Soon after Rebecca discovers the stolen car afire in a field with a dummy in the driver's seat, her father's car is stolen and burned, and this time the body at the wheel is a real one. Her high-school classmate, now a policeman, is vehemently against Rebecca's investigations. In addition, she has her hands full dealing with her father, a newly hired roller-rink manager who'd rather be making movies, and Lionel, who wants to take their relationship further than Rebecca wants to go. The final insult comes when she and her father are harassed by some angry Spanish-speaking men, providing yet another puzzle for the intrepid sleuth to solve.

Rebecca's second (Skating Around the Law, 2010) features the Midwest's laid-back answer to Stephanie Plum in another funny, spunky romp.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2011

Rebecca's life is on hold while she tries to sell the small-town roller rink she inherited from her mother, just down the street from the senior center where her beloved grandfather, Pop, reigns as an Elvis impersonator. Then someone starts stealing cars, and the seniors turn to Rebecca as their favorite detective, based on her spot-on work last season (Skating Around the Law). To complicate matters, her estranged, ne'er-do-well father returns to town, ready to mooch off her again. All of a sudden, the stolen car case heats up violently. Reluctant to trust Lionel, the handsome veterinarian, or Sean, the local deputy, Rebecca skates into uncharted territory again, with her own safety at risk. VERDICT Light and breezy, Charbonneau's sophomore entry holds up. Her humor mixed with an eccentric cast keeps the mystery rolling at a steady clip. With this title's romantic triangle not unlike Janet Evanovich's trio of Stephanie Plum, Ranger, and Joe Morelli, and relatives reminiscent of those in books by Rita Lakin or Deborah Sharp, you've got another humorous series at the ready. [Library marketing.]

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2011
Rebecca is happy that she finally has a buyer for the roller-skating rink in little Indian Falls, Illinois, that her mother bequeathed her. She is more than ready to return to her life in Chicago. The potential new owners want a manager in place, however, which is a problem, since Rebecca has been unable to find one. She decides to take a chance on a recent college graduate and embarks on training the recruit, dividing her time by also attempting to investigate the disappearance of a senior citizen's car (this at the request of Rebecca's Elvis-impersonator grandfather). Complicating her life still further, she senses she is being stalked, and her father, who abandoned Rebecca and her mother when she was a child, has returned to town. More chaos ensues, including a murder and the disappearance of her father. Rebecca is a spunky, independent heroine, who may not be quite as ready to leave Indian Falls as she thinks. Rebecca and the quirky secondary characters will appeal to Evanovich fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)