One day while looking for her golf ball in the brush, Kate comes across a severed arm inside a Wal-mart bag. A huge fan of Law & Order, Kate decides that Sheriff Sumter Wiggins needs her help, along with the rest of the Bunco Babes, in figuring out where the rest of the body is, and who separated the two. 

Kate presents the Sheriff with a list of woman who have gone missing recently, including her neighbor Rosalie Brubaker (whose husband admits to fighting with before Rosalie took off to visit their children), a waitress at their favorite diner and another friend who recently married an almost stranger and set off in a motor home for her honeymoon. 

As Kate carries out what she sees as her civic duty, armed with a copy of Forensics for Dummies, she gets to meet, if not annoy, many of the locals including the sheriff, and make some new friends.

 Whack ‘N’ Roll is a quick read with an engaging heroine who is smart and eager to learn and help her friends and neighbors. When Rosalie’s husband Earl is suspected of her murder, Kate is the first one at his side, to prove his innocence, even though she was the first one rummaging through his garbage looking for clues to the whereabouts of Rosalie.  Kate and her friends are a good team and look out for and support each other, and many seem to have a stand-in when not available.

Because Kate appears so intelligent and interested, it’s not hard to understand why she cannot contain herself and gets involved in the police investigation. The mystery is well-plotted and there are enough red herrings to keep readers from figuring out “who-did-it” too early on. This is a fine start to a series featuring some very enjoyable Southern sixty-somethings.                                                    

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry