“I thank all that is holy that you two didn’t go into law enforcement.” That is the sentiment of a detective in the Jane Jeffry Mystery series of Jill Churchill.

Not as “cosy” as some other Cosy Mysteries, there being dead bodies popping up, nevertheless these tales of two women poking into police business as amateur sleuths are full of laugh-out-loud moments. Even the titles are funny; for example, War and Peas, A Farewell to Yarns, From Here to Paternity, A Quiche Before Dying, Silence of the Hams, and the first in the series, Grime and Punishment.

The lead character, Jane, a widow, and her best friend and neighbour, Shelley, are suburban housewives with all the usual problems of raising children, especially teenagers, and dealing with in-laws. But they keep finding murder victims in odd places, like Shelley’s guest room or on a ski slope. And being curious (nosy), they try to figure out whodunit by prying into who hated whom and why.

Along the way, they perform their domestic duties of cleaning, cooking for picky eaters, feeding pets, changing spark plugs, and dealing with all the day-to-day necessities and little emergencies that crop up in the life of a “typical American woman.”

Highly recommended for those days you really need a laugh.

Do you recognize the classic titles spoofed by Jill Churchill?