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Book Review: Swamp Team 3

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Book: Swamp Team 3

Author: Jana Deleon

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(No Spoilers)

This is the fourth book in the series, and I’m not sure how long the series is planned to go. I’ve seen up to at least nine books.

I will give you fair warning. If you can’t overlook grammar and punctuation issues, this author is not for you. I realized after reading this book so closely to the other just how much I was over looking. Comma splices abound. Consider yourself warned.

I’m starting to think I’m not much of a series person. While the author does a great job of not rehashing the previous books, and this book can stand alone, I felt like it was missing something.

The story still revolves around Fortune Redding hiding out in in Sinful, Louisiana, because she has put a price on her head and a leak in the CIA. She’s been befriended by the Geritol Mafia, senior citizens Gertie and Ida Belle, who are former counter intelligence operatives and leaders of the Sinful Ladies Society. One of Fortune’s new Sinful friends has her home set on fire and is being stalked.

Yes, you get your usual hijinks, although those are starting to become less funny. A wet tee shirt contest? Really? I was also a little leery on the way the author treated the stalker. I’ve done zero research on stalkers, and even so, I found it hard to believe.  Still trying to figure out how Fortune survived as a CIA assassin given some of her antics and choices.

I also needed more to sell me on Fortune and the gang getting involved in solving the arson attempt. For some reason, this felt more disingenuous than in previous books. Why couldn’t Carter solve this? Why are they getting into the middle of a police investigation? In the other books this is more clear. In this one, it feels more like “my friend is involved, so hey, I can’t trust the law”. Carter even points out all the foolishness they went through and risks they took were for nothing when he already knew what a suspect was doing because, you know, that’s the first person he investigated, too. And he can do it lawfully.

The romance moved along a little, but as a reader of romance novels, this is moving so slowly that it might as well be non-existent.  Book four, and we’re still no closer to knowing any of Fortune’s backstory or what’s happening with the CIA. We are seeing some change in the heroine. Seeing her develop real friendships and have real feelings for the people in the town.

For me, I think the best thing is to take a break from the series for a while. These are not deep thought books. They will not withstand too deep of an analysis, and the more of them I read, the more my brain starts processing patterns and can’t simply relax and enjoy the book candy. It starts analyzing and dissecting, and these books can’t stand up to that. That’s okay. It’s not what they’re meant for. They are meant to be funny and an easy read on a rainy Saturday.

Book Review: Swamp Sniper

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Book: Swamp Sniper (Book 3 of the Miss Fortune series)

Author: Jana Deleon

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(No Spoilers)

I’ve been working through this series, and I have to be careful to not devour them too quickly. Not sure how many books there are, but it’s nice that each is a contained story. At this point, you don’t need to have read the first two books to understand what’s going on or to enjoy the third installment.

The author does a nice job of writing a series. You get snippets of what happened in the past, but it’s no more than a few paragraphs sprinkled throughout the book.

This is a series, so the romance is moving at a snail’s pace. As is the back story on Fortune, the story’s protagonist.

This is a mystery novel, but with a lot of humor. Think Janet Evanovich. Starting to raise a brow, though, as this is the third murder investigation in as many weeks for the heroine. Looks like Sinful is getting to be more dangerous, per capita, than New Orleans. Unless, of course, my suspicion is correct about who the leak at the CIA is that put Fortune in sinful…

Fortune has been stashed in the backwater, rural Louisiana town of Sinful while the CIA tries to ferret out the leak that sold her out to some very bad men. While there, she’s befriended by some of the locals, including the Geritol Mafia. The premise of this book is that Fortune’s friend, Ida Belle, is accused of murdering Ted through poisoned cough syrup (moonshine).

Ted had been running against Ida Belle in the mayoral race, but that’s not a reason to kill anyone in Sinful. No motive is ever established as to why she’d want ted dead, but the real issue is the poison used to kill Ted happens to be the gopher killer that resides in Ida Bell’s shed. The story lost a little believability for me that there would be a solid case against Ida Bell as everyone knew the poison was there, and it wasn’t exactly locked up. Lots of people also had access to the cough syrup. But, I suspended disbelief as Gertie and Fortune try to prove Ida Belle’s innocence.

Carter, the deputy sheriff, doesn’t think that Ida Belle is the killer, but Sinful wants an arrest and so does the prosecutor. Of course he doesn’t want Gertie and Fortune investigating, and that adds to the hijinks.

This story is written in the same vein as the first two. It’s a fun, easy read. I appreciate that a lot. While I sometimes doubt how effective of a CIA assassin Fortune actually was, she doesn’t do anything I’d deem too stupid. I also appreciate that the author keeps the female characters strong and mostly competent. I love the cast of characters in this story, and even the secondary characters have a great deal of personality.

A good, easy read to make you smile and that you can finish in an evening.

Book Review: Lethal Bayou Beauty

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Title: Lethal Bayou Beauty

Author: Jana Deleon

Series: A Miss Fortune Mystery

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No spoilers in this review.

This is what a book series should be.

The book stands alone, and there is very little rehashing from the first novel in the series. There’s a tiny bit of forward progression with the main character and her issues with her family, but not a lot. I didn’t expect a lot as this is a series.

The characters we fell in love with in the first book are back in the second, with a few more thrown in. While some of the characters were really archetypes, I didn’t care because they were so much like people I have known in my life. The author really did live in a small Southern town.

Again, this is a series, so while there is a love interest, things are moving along slowly. As I would expect.

The story revolved around our heroine, Fortune, getting embroiled in a small-town murder and singled out as the prime suspect. She knows she didn’t commit the murder, and so does the local deputy, but it’s not enough to stop the local gossips or lynch mobs.

The book has the usual hi-jinks of the Geritol Mafia and is a fun read. You’re not going to get Game of Thrones level intrigue here, and that’s okay. I can read it, enjoy it, and not get nightmares. I will say it has a happy ending, so need to worry on that account.

I love the strength and foibles of the characters, and I love the fact that there are numerous strong female characters in the story.

The characters all  stay true to themselves. There is never a point where I feel like they’re being forced along by the author.

The plot resolves itself well, and it feels natural. No dues ex machina or author god to force things along.

A good story, and a fun way to spend an afternoon.

Book Review: Louisiana Longshot

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Title: Louisiana Longshot

Author: Jana Deleon

Rating: 4/5 Stars

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Fun and very entertaining book. There were several lines that got me to crack a smile on an otherwise miserable and stressful weekend.

Basic plot summary is a CIA agent is hiding out in rural Louisiana because of a leak that has compromised her. She is competent, strong, and likable. Sure, she flubs a few things, but it’s still believable.

Her first day trying to remain inconspicuous, her new dogs digs up some human bones and sets the story on its path.

I love the strong, feminist angle of this story. The women in this small town are not resigning themselves to being housewives, raising babies, etc. They are strong and powerful in their own right, and dubbed the Geritol Mafia for a reason.

I might like it more than most after having lived in New Orleans and traveling out to some of the rural areas of Louisiana.

It’s very Janet Evanovitch in feel, but with much more competent (and for me, likable) characters.

It’s the first in the series, and I’m looking forward to reading more.