SOUTHERN FATALITY

Retirement is not all it is cracked up to be for a sexy Carolina detective.

Jersey Barnes, a down-market female James Bond and recently retired security expert, is looking forward to lazing in the Wilmington, N.C., sun with her toy boy Bill. When Bill asks Jersey to help out a model friend who thinks her wealthy husband Sam Chesterfield may be cheating, her surveillance reveals that something is seriously wrong at Chesterfield Financial. When Sam’s son Jared is kidnapped, he hires Jersey to help find him. Jersey enlists the help of her old Marine Corps buddy, Ox, a hard bodied hero type. In addition she has the expertise of her former business associates and a computer geek who discovers a virus in the computers at Chesterfield Financial that is primed to steal millions of dollars. Jersey suspects the kidnapping may be a cover for the computer scam since the ransom demands are slow in coming. Two of Chesterfield’s employees are killed and Jersey has to fight off a series of pistol wielding thugs as she interviews Jared’s friends and discovers that Jared is gay and being blackmailed by several people, including his surrogate mother. It takes all of Jersey and Ox’s considerable skills to get out of this one alive.

Ocean (Sweet Home Carolina, 2006, etc.) breaks no new ground, but this mildly amusing tale is perfect for a day at the beach.