TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

One of the best things "A Bad Day's Work" has going for it is something you rarely find in a murder mystery -- namely, humor.

No heavy stuff in this one. And even though it involves a murder, there's no real violence once the victim gets loaded into the coroner's van.

What makes this book a winner is the honest-to-goodness funniness offered by first-time author Nora McFarland. Hers is a refreshing kind of humor and it's the key element that drives this fast-paced story about a feisty young TV photographer who solves the crime.

Most of the funny stuff comes by way of Lilly Hawkins, the irrepressible and unpredictable main character who's in danger of being fired as a "shooter," or news photographer, at a fictional television station in Bakersfield. Yes, Bakersfield.

McFarland, who now lives in Macon, Ga., knows our town, and judging from her book, you'd swear she was a native. Not so. She was born in Portland, Ore., but has lived much of her life in California and is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz.

"I'm not from Bakersfield, and only lived there three years, but loved it and often talk with my husband about moving back," McFarland said in an e-mail. "I hope that love comes through in my writing. I had so much fun using my favorite places as locations. My biggest regret is that I didn't get to have Lilly eat at Milt's. That was always my favorite place to get a tuna melt.

The story begins when Lilly is called out in the middle of a cold, fog-shrouded night to cover a murder. The victim's body has been found in an orchard on Weedpatch Highway somewhere between Arvin and Lamont. It involves a greedy landowner, hijackers, dirty cops, troubled family relations -- Lilly's and those of other families -- an off-and-on romance with a news anchor, and a skirmish with a couple of seedy characters from the wrong side of town bent on kidnapping her.

The things that make Lilly so likeable are also what make her so vulnerable. She's cocky, persistent, slightly irreverent, and never gives up without a fight. There were times when I felt like telling to hold back a little, she seemed that real to me.

Which brings us to another contradiction. Even though Lilly is a petite 5-foot-4, she wears size 10 work boots on the job and is a heck of a kicker.

McFarland actually was a TV photographer for at KGET-TV, Channel 17. At the time she was the only female shooter in town.

That experience, along with the fact her husband Jeff Ofgang was an executive producer at KBAK-TV, Channel 29, at the same time she was at Channel 17, gives her characters, and the story itself, a certain authenticity.

Despite Lilly's unconventional behavior, there's a believable quality about the inner workings of a newsroom -- the pressure of deadlines, the horror of finding your videotape's been erased, worries about ratings and scooping the competition, and dealing with the demands of the colorful characters who inhabit newsrooms.

I got acquainted with McFarland when she was customer relations manager at Barnes & Noble on California, which is where she worked after leaving her TV job. She went out of her way to be supportive to local authors, myself included.

McFarland will be at the book store on Saturday to sign copies of her book, the first in a series featuring Lilly Hawkins. The author has a three-book contract with Touchstone, a division of Simon & Schuster.

The second one, due to be released in 2011, has Lilly covering a wildfire in the mountains near Sequoia National Forest that involves the discovery of a body in a nearby lake. McFarland said she originally wanted to set the story in Lake Isabella but felt it necessary to create a fictional location to make the story work.

Or as Lilly might say, as she does in a scene in "A Bad Day's Work": "I'm sure we can work this out without involving the authorities."