Book Review | Just Add Trouble (Hetta Coffey #3)

Just Add Trouble is my second venture into the world of Hetta Coffey. Ten years after I first encountered her, in Just Add Salt, which is book two in the series. I’ve now added 1 through 5 to my TBR, but there are now thirteen in the series. All beginning with J. Have I got another eleven years of Alphabet Soup challenge in me, I wonder?

Just Add Trouble (Hetta Coffey #3)

by Jinx Schwartz

Hetta Coffey is a sassy Texan with a snazzy yacht, and she’s not afraid to use it!

A globe-trotting engineer with adventure in her soul, Hetta is determined to solidify her relationship with her long-distance boyfriend, Jenks Jenkins. What better place for a romantic interlude than aboard her yacht in Mexico’s hauntingly beautiful and solitary Sea of Cortez?

But where Hetta goes, trouble follows, and chaos is sure to ensue. After a run-in with a couple of sea serpents that threaten to rock the boat, she nevertheless decides to take on a project in the Mexican port city of Guaymas. After all, Jenks is headed back to Kuwait, so why not cash in on the best of both worlds by picking up a few pesos while living aboard her boat in Mexico?

Once again Hetta’s indomitable spirit, stubborn independence and penchant for deceit will keep the reader in stitches as she launches herself and her best friend, Jan, into a sea of trouble. A pesky parrot, a drunken aunt, and a shadowy figure who is handsome in a “criminal sort of way” lead to murder, mayhem, kidnapping, and run-ins with several federal agencies on both sides of the border. (Goodreads)

My Review

I think it says a lot for the quality of Jinx Schwartz’s writing, that when I start reading Just Add Trouble, I have no difficulty in remembering the madcap Hetta Coffey, and why she’s on a boat on Mexican waters. I was slightly confused that the Prologue was of some other event, but all became more or less clear.

More or less? Yes, this is indeed a mystery, with many clandestine activities and players, so working out who is who, and who’s on Hetta’s side, becomes increasingly difficult to fathom. The story has many twists, some dangerous, some involving handsome men, and some involving stolen vehicles with names I don’t know but probably imply SUV or even more robust four-wheel drive types. It’s not important: they are wheels to get through desert terrain without going through police checks. Oh, and Hell’s Angels.

There are also boats, and as the author has a boat, the details are excellent, and not too horrendous for people who get seasick just looking at them!

All in all it’s an engrossing, enjoyable mystery, involving drugs, indentured locals, and a parrot. The parrot of course steals the show. I’m looking forward to the next in the series!