Jessica James Mysteries Series by Kelly Oliver

Librarian note: An older cover for this edition can be found here: 24-Feb-2017.Former Montana cowgirl Jessica James is sleeping on a desk in the attic at the Philosophy Department at Northwestern University in the Chicago suburbs. She blames her advisor, Professor Wolfgang “Wolf” Schumtzig, “Preeminent Philosopher and World Class Dick-Head.” When he’s found dead in his office, her real education begins... moreLibrarian note: An older cover for this edition can be found here: 24-Feb-2017.Former Montana cowgirl Jessica James is sleeping on a desk in the attic at the Philosophy Department at Northwestern University in the Chicago suburbs. She blames her advisor, Professor Wolfgang “Wolf” Schumtzig, “Preeminent Philosopher and World Class Dick-Head.” When he’s found dead in his office, her real education begins. Trying to determine the connection between the murder and date-rape drugs popular on campus, Jessica ends up drugged at a frat party, but not before her fellow feminist avengers gives the frat boys a taste of their own medicine. Her best friend’s father, Dmitry Durchenko, is trying to live a normal life as a janitor at Northwestern’s Philosophy Department. Twenty years ago, he escaped Russia with his life and part of his mafia boss father’s fortune. When the fortune, including a famous Kandinsky, goes missing, he realizes everything changes, but nothing disappears. Obsessed with the painting and the clues it holds to his childhood, Dmitry will stop at nothing to get it back. Before it’s too late, and one of them becomes the next victim, Jessica and Dmitry have to wrangle mobsters, lasso frat boys, and rope in a murderer who’s read too much Existentialism. Together, the brooding Russian and the cowgirl philosopher learn that sometimes virtue is just the flip side of vice. less

Jessica’s adventures continue in Book Two, COYOTE, when she returns to Montana for summer work in Glacier Park. After her cousin dies in an accident at the lumber mill, Jessica is pulled into a fight against corruption and greed ignited by the fracking frenzy on the Montana plains. Her roommate, Kimi RedFox is determined to stop powerful Knight Industries from fracking on the Blackfoot Reservation... moreJessica’s adventures continue in Book Two, COYOTE, when she returns to Montana for summer work in Glacier Park. After her cousin dies in an accident at the lumber mill, Jessica is pulled into a fight against corruption and greed ignited by the fracking frenzy on the Montana plains. Her roommate, Kimi RedFox is determined to stop powerful Knight Industries from fracking on the Blackfoot Reservation. Jessica and Kimi team up to expose sex trafficking, prostitution rings, and murder schemes involving the biggest frackers in the country. less

GENES TO DIE FOR—AND SOMEONE DOES… When Jessica James wakes up half naked behind a dumpster in downtown Chicago, she thinks at first the hot intern feeding her Fiery Mule Slammers slipped her a Mickey. But after a pattern of similar incidents around Northwestern Research Hospital, Jessica realizes she wasn't raped, she was robbed. Robbed of something as valuable as life itself... moreGENES TO DIE FOR—AND SOMEONE DOES… When Jessica James wakes up half naked behind a dumpster in downtown Chicago, she thinks at first the hot intern feeding her Fiery Mule Slammers slipped her a Mickey. But after a pattern of similar incidents around Northwestern Research Hospital, Jessica realizes she wasn't raped, she was robbed. Robbed of something as valuable as life itself. Hunting for the predator drugging and dumping Ivy League co-eds, Jessica discovers secrets about her own identity that force her to rethink her past. The solution to the mystery lies in the cowgirl philosopher's boot-cut genes. The "dumpster girls" are all top of their class, attractive college girls, who are drugged and dropped unconscious behind dumpsters. The police are baffled. But the perp doesn’t stop there—one of his victims turns up dead. Armed with her quick wit and cowgirl grit, Jessica takes it on herself to solve the bewildering medical mystery and save herself and her friends… before they become the next grisly victims. At Jesse’s beck and call is her longtime confidante Jack Grove, an easy-going stoner and brilliant third-year medical student in abnormal psychiatry, who has a secret crush on her. But while Jack is trying to understand the criminal mind, his classmate and rival, Max White, is trying to eliminate it through genetic engineering. Competing for Jessica's attention, Jack and Max become the primary suspects. Meanwhile, Max has a secret of his own: he’s aiding a prominent Chicago woman in her fertility woes. And just for good measure, there’s a blackmailer afoot. Grittier than its predecessors, and far more haunting, Kelly Oliver’s third page-turning Jessica James adventure blends a smartly-funny and delightfully complex murder mystery with a touch of medical thriller, in which Jessica and Jack battle biological crimes at the hands of a unique—and menacing—thief. less