Missing Member

This book was nonstop funny! Ms. Power writes quirky characters and colorful dialog, not to mention an absolutely yummy special agent. Interesting insight into the world of politics. BRAVO!!!

Carly Wagner is a Texas congresswoman and has been for five terms. Carly is quite shocked to find congressman Alistair Dunhill in her office with a fatal chest wound [...]. She had been planning to run for a sixth term. Will this derail that plan? She is a suspect because Alistair had been to see her the night before and she has no alibi. She begins asking question in the hopes of finding someone else for the police to center their attention on. Then Mr. Jones shows up. He has been hired to protect her, but he won't tell her who hired him. She is being driven crazy by his good looks. She eventually agrees to work with him than against him in her attempts to find the killer. Can Mr. Jones and all his gizmos protect her? This was my first book by Jo-Ann Power. It won't be my last. Carly is a great protagonist and I look forward to reading many more books in this series. Having lived in D.C., I enjoyed this book set on Capital Hill a lot. The author definitely knows Washington and all the politics involved. She has such a great sense of humor that comes through on every page. I highly recommend this book.

It was by sheer happenstance a copy of this book fell into my hands, and I'm glad it did. If you take a certain guilty pleasure in reading about political scandals, there's definitely something for you in this book. Carly Wagner, member of Congress for the Great State of Texas finds the body of the Minority Whip in her office chair in a manner designed to get the case plenty of time on the 24-hour news cycle. She needs to find out who did it -- and who wants to frame her -- in order to her political career. Along the way, she "acquires" a mysterious bodyguard, Mr. Jones, who appears and disappears the way an action hero is supposed to do, which annoys Carly no end. One of the things I enjoyed about this book is that the parties are somewhat vague. Carly Wagner belongs to the "minority", but there's not a tremendous emphasis on the politics themselves, but on the machinations behind the. At the heart of the mystery is the lust for power -- and the length people will go to achieve it, something that crosses partisan lines. For me, this was a page turner. The story's told in first person present tense, but I didn't find that distracting. In fact, Carly Wagner's "voice" is pleasant, clever, and quite readable. I did find some weakness in the ultimate reveal, but it was not enough to lessen my pleasure. (Yeah, it made sense, but the clues could have laid in a little better.) The next "Me and Mr. Jones Mystery" is going on my buy list.

Jo-Ann Power is the author of sixteen romance and suspense novels. Missing Member is the first in the Mr. and Mr. Jones amateur sleuth mystery series. Texas Congresswoman (a former Miss Texas) Carly Wagner's personality is as big as the Lone Star State itself. She's smart, savvy, sassy, and has a quick wit. And she is not above using her beauty to her advantage. Carly walks into her office early one morning to find minority whip Alistair Dunhill sitting in her chair, holding his, ah, 'member' in his hand. Yup, he's quite dead. And the police think Carly's good for the murder. Smart-talking, quick-thinking Carly knows her career is also dead if she doesn't find the killer. Her political party sees 'big things' in her future and can't allow her to flounder around on her own, so they send in Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones is part James Bond and part Mr. Corleone with toys that will thrill and save a life or two. The delicious Mr. Jones is hell-bent on protecting Carly but she wants nothing to do with him. But if she doesn't allow Mr. Jones to do what he does best, she could lose her career--and her life. This fast-paced mystery is simply delicious and I can't wait for the next book in the series. Carly is what most women would like to be and Mr. Jones, well, Mr. Jones is scrumptious and I want more of him. Armchair Interviews says: Not that many "delicious" men in books--so check this one out!

Congresswoman Carly Wagner of Texas plans to run for a sixth term. Her constituents love the former Miss America runner up and voters like her humor and her ability not to kowtow to the party line. The party is grooming her to run for higher office and plan on making her the key note speaker at the Democratic Convention. She knows how to work the political scene but she never betrays the ethics of Congress or the laws of the land. One morning when she enters her office she finds the body of Minority Whip Alistair Dunhill with a fatal chest wound and his penis in his mouth. The police consider her as a suspect because she saw Alistair in her office the night before and she has no alibi. Eager to turn suspicion away from her, she starts asking questions. Mr. Jones, a bodyguard and private detective hired to protect her, is driving her crazy with his sexy looks, his refusal to tell her who he works for and his ignorance on who hired him to watch over her. When someone breaks into her house and tries to run her off the road, he gives her black ops gadgets that will help in her protection but even with Jones and his gizmos, she still finds herself on the wrong end of a gun. Jo-Ann Power, has written a witty charming and realistic who done it that deserves a place on the mystery best-seller lists. The protagonist is both sophisticated and down home, a combo that shouldn't work but does sort of a younger, prettier (obviously) female Sam Ervin. Mr. Jones is a cipher wrapped in an enigma and surrounded by a veil of secrecy that will have male hearts fluttering. Missing Member is an appropriate title on many levels especially with today's Congress. Harriet Klausner