If the bright pink cover stating 'in the fabulous tradition of Janet Evanovich' and the title itself doesn't give it away then maybe the names of the major characters, Bubbles Yablonsky and Steve Stiletto, give a clue that this book doesn't take itself too seriously.

BUBBLES IN TROUBLE is the second in the series featuring Pennsylvanian hairdresser and aspiring reporter, Bubbles Yablonsky. In the opening scene, reminiscent of the introduction to Four Weddings and a Funeral, minus the swearing, Bubbles awakes to find herself hungover and in danger of being late for her friend's wedding for which she is the matron of honour. However when she arrives at the venue for Janice and Mickey's wedding, she finds she's still there before Janice and something is seriously wrong.

Janice was to be driven to her wedding by her uncle Elwood and when there's no reply to the phone call to his home in the exclusive development of Final Frontier, Bubbles and her mum LuLu are sent to investigate. Making it through the gated security system, they don't find Janice but they do find a very dead Elwood. On the upside, Bubbles' mum makes a conquest of Elwood's neighbour Fastcar, a former racing driver.

Janice is immediately suspected of murdering her uncle but Bubbles and Mickey know she's innocent. When Bubbles finds out that Janice is Amish and that she left a message on Mickey' answer phone to say she was returning to her roots, she sets off for Janice's hometown of Whoopee, Pennsylvania to warn her. At the same time Bubbles takes a reporting assignment to investigate the story behind some Amish youngsters who stole a car but are being held by the police for longer than usual. To get the background information, Bubbles has to go undercover and pose as an Amish woman. The Amish, think of the film Witness, wear simple full-length clothes, no shoes and have no electric. For Bubbles with her big blonde hair, short and skimpy clothes and make up down to her toe-nails, this is a quite a challenge.

Bubbles is aided by her mum, Fastcar and her mum's eccentric friend Genevieve who are staying locally for Pickle Fest and of course her Mel Gibson lookalike and sometime beau, photographer Steve Stiletto, who has also been drawn to the area but on an separate story.

This is a fast paced, fun read with most of the humour arising from the inevitable culture clash between Bubbles and the Amish way of life. Bubbles means well, but often her help makes situations worse. The Amish lifestyle is portrayed sympathetically and there are some serious comments about the way strip malls are taking over the land.

To continue the movie theme, one of the more memorable parts of the book is where Bubbles re-enacts a famous scene from the Railway Children only this time with a more intimate article of clothing. If slapstick humour is not to your taste, fortunately there is a pretty decent mystery plot with Bubbles solving who killed Elwood and also getting a career-making story. Add in a dollop of romance and some beauty tips and you have a lightweight but enjoyable read. My only complaint is that Bubbles has to be rescued by Steve on several occasions rather than being able to get out of a situation herself.