J.J. Cook is the pseudonym for husband/wife writing team Joyce and Jim Lavene (hence the J.J.) who write paranormal mysteries set in the south.

In this first book of a new cozy series, Chicago firefighter Stella Griffin has been injured on the job and during her 3-month medical leave has taken on the job as temporary fire chief for Sweet Pepper, Tennessee. Sweet Pepper wants to re-establish their fire brigade and look to the temporary chief to get them trained and certified. A friend in town, Tory Lambert, believes the death of her first husband several years earlier is suspicious and wants to speak to Stella about it, but before they can talk, Tory is found dead in her burning home. Both are suspicious events but the police chief is eager to sweep things under the rug. In the meantime, a ghost seems to be haunting Stella's cabin.

An easy, quiet, enjoyable mystery about small town characters you'll come to like. And the mystery was good too! Each book ends with a cliffhanger.

This book is set in Tennessee right near the Smoky Mountains. Great setting for a mystery series. Stella Griffin is a firefighter from Chicago who has taken an assignment in Sweet Pepper, Tennessee to help set up a volunteer fire department. All is not sweetness and light there though. She discovers old unexplained deaths, a new fresh death of a friend of hers and a live-in ghost at the fire station. Chief Stella puts herself at great risk to uncover the mysteries that seem to abound in Sweet Pepper. I like Stella and her live-in ghost, but I'm not sure I'll continue to read this series. Some of the other characters aren't so likeable or as well-drawn. ( )

That Old Flame Of Mine is the first book in A Sweet Pepper Mystery series by J. J. Cook(Joyce and Jim Lavene)

For me, this was a wonderful story. A well plotted mystery, interesting characters, some you will love and some you may not like so much, and a ghost that you have to enjoy. I can't leave out Hero, the fire station's Dalmatian puppy.

Stella Griffin is on medical leave from the Chicago Fire Department and has decided to head to Sweet Pepper, TN to organize and train their volunteer fire department. Shortly after arriving Tory Lambert gives Stella a file she has put together over the years on her husbands alleged accidental death by fire. A lot of residents feel that Ben Carlson, the owner of the pepper plant, forced the finding so that the Sweet Pepper Festival could go on without the residents and visitors worrying about a killer being around. Then Stella learns that Ben Carson is her grandfather, that she never knew she had.

The next day a call comes in that Tory's house in on fire. While the fire fighters are attacking the fire, Stella and John start searching for Tory. They find her in a closet, dead. Stella sees things that point to murder and not death related to the fire while investigating the fire scene.

One evening as she is riding her Harley home one night she crashes it and doesn't know if she was hit or hit someone. She wakes up in s strange home and is being cared for by a private nurse. She soon learns that the home is her grandfather's. The grandfather that she didn't know she had. The grandfather is none other than Ben Carson.

With all of this going on, Stella also has the ghost of Eric Gamlyn to deal with. Eric was the previous fire chief and died in a silo fire, losing his life to save another fire fighter. Stella is learning to deal with having a ghost around, but then it is nice to have the lights on when you come home and have the door magically open for you.

With a little help from Eric, Stella and John, start looking for clues to help solve Tory's mysterious death and that of her ex-husband. John has a problem with Carson being Stella's grandfather, but are able to put those feelings aside and are able to work together to solve the mystery.

I think this is going to be a fun series and am looking forward to the next. ( )

Excellent first in a series. I loved the setting as well as the main characters and the mystery stumped me completely.

Stella Griffin is temporarily the new chief of a new volunteer fire department in Sweet Pepper, Tennessee. She is recovering from a shoulder injury and a broken heart, both suffered in Chicago. While she is busy training all the new volunteers and trying to get the department up and running, she is also living in the cabin of the previous fire chief, who died about 40 years ago. Word is that the cabin is haunted, by Eric Gamlyn, the former chief.

When one of the towns leading citizens is found dead in a fire, Stella is convinced it isn't an accident and is soon embroiled in a power struggle with the Police Chief but she has control over what happens at a fire site and it is soon ruled murder.

Lots of twists and turns in this one, and it is a fast-paced story. Looking forward to reading the next in the series. ( )

Excellent first in a new series! Great setting, great characters and lots of complex relationships. The setting of Sweet Pepper, Tennessee, where they grow jalepeno's is a bit of fun - cooking contests with hot peppers and some recipes included in the back, had me interested on another level. The family angle will offer quite a bit of future story building. I might have a crush on the ghost. I have no use for the 'live' love interest though...

There are two mysteries at the root of this book: a current one and a cold case one that was ruled accidental. Both had lots of clues and lots of possibilities. I guessed the killer, but not until page 270-something.

Overall a great start and I'm really looking forward to reading the next book. ( )