Technically, this is the third in a series about retired FBI agent Benny James, but it is the first I have read and it does very well as a stand alone read.  Benny James retired to the small town of Tilley, Georgia. He expected to live out his remaining years living on his boat relaxing and enjoying the town and its people.  Unfortunately, Tilley has a completely incompetent Chef of Police who faints at the sight of blood and sleeps with every woman he can find, so when a murder occurs the rest of the department needs some real help.  

This was a great mystery with unique aspects to the murders.  Bodies showing up in coolers with strange paintings above them was a new one for me.  But the best part of Jason Deas book is the characters. He has created a town of terrifically great characters:  Red, who is “special” and grows amazing tomatoes; Big E, who is greedy and corrupt; Rene from Italy who runs one of the restaurants and lives on a sailboat; Vernon, the police detective that has learned so much from Benny; and the list goes on.  You can bet that I will read more of these fun mysteries!