Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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This time it’s personal (for the characters) in the latest from my most favoritest series

Fortune Funhouse by Jana DeLeon

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Fortune Funhouse is the 19th book in the Miss Fortune series by Jana DeLeon. Fortune Redding is a former CIA operative, now living in the bayou town of Sinful, Louisiana. Her best friends are two Vietnam veterans named Gertie and Ida Belle. Together, they are Swamp Team Three, and they investigate crimes ranging from murder to exploding stills. Fortune is dating Deputy Carter of the Sinful Police. Gertie is looking for a hot date when she isn’t knitting, feeding her pet alligator named Godzilla, or accidentally blowing things up. Ida Belle has just married her long-time sweetheart, Walter, and wishes Gertie would calm down so she can go fishing.

Bomber Bruce was a former Navy pilot who had some prop planes and a skydiving school near Sinful. The last time we’d tried skydiving with him, Gertie had defrocked a nun, assaulted a cemetery, and generally upset most of the Catholics in Sinful. I made a mental note that when Bomber Bruce was involved—even peripherally—someone ended up with no clothes.

At the beginning of Fortune Funhouse, Fortune, Gertie, and Ida Belle are enjoying the carnival when they find a dead man in the funhouse. To make matters worse, Carter’s mom, Emmaline, is found unconscious next to the dead man. The State Police have taken over the case and put someone completely incompetent in charge, so Swamp Team Three investigate.

This book was so much fun and it had some nice character development. It starts out with Gertie doing one of her stunts that ends up on YouTube, which is always a good beginning. With Carter off the case, the team are unable to steal the information they need from the local police, and have to rely more on the local crime bosses, Big and Little Hebert. As Fortune becomes closer to the Heberts, she starts to wonder about their personal lives. I’m hoping this is set-up for us learning more about Big and Little, because they are fascinating characters. We also learn quite a bit more about Carter’s father, who died long before the series began, which adds depth to Cart and Emmaline’s characters. It was nice to have the story focus on Carter, not only because it was interesting to see him out of play but also because it raises the stakes for the reader. And, perhaps most important of all, Godzilla makes an appearance.

Two new books in my favorite series

Bullets and Beads by Jana DeLeon

Gators and Garters by Jana DeLeon

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In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I absolutely love the Miss Fortune series by Jana DeLeon. It’s even crazier and sillier than the Stephanie Plum series. 

In the first book, Louisiana Longshot, CIA agent Fortune Redding is sent undercover to the small town of Sinful, Louisiana. Fortune killed the brother of a very powerful terrorist, who has now taken out a hit on her. Her boss has discovered that the terrorist has a man on the inside at the CIA, so he hides Fortune in the bayou until he can root out the mole. It’s a classic fish out of water story, but with spies, rednecks, moonshine, and alligators. 

To quickly summarize books 1-16: By the time Fortune and the CIA take down the terrorist and the mole, she’s grown to love Sinful and her life there. Particularly, her two best friends, Ida Belle and Gertie. The two seem like such nice old ladies, but what most people don’t know is that they were spies in the Vietnam War. Ida Belle is a sharp shooter and Gertie’s handbag contains an arsenal. Both are members of the Sinful Ladies Society, which manufactures an herbal cough syrup that’s actually just moonshine. Fortune is in a relationship with Deputy Carter LeBlanc, who is also former special ops. 

Bullets and Beads is the seventeenth book in the series. Deputy Carter LeBlanc forbids Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie from investigating a murder that happened at Sinful’s Mardi Gras parade. Obviously, they’re going to ignore him and find out who did it. But their investigation takes them to New Orleans, where Mardi Gras is in full swing. During the parade, Fortune thinks she sees her long dead father in the crowd. Then groups of men start following the trio and trying to kill them. Is it related to the Sinful murder or Fortune’s dad?

I had really high hopes for this book because we’ve seen how much trouble these three can get in under normal circumstances, so I figure Mardi Gras would top even their best escapades. There are a few ridiculous, laugh out loud moments, but not as many as I expected. This book was mainly character development for Fortune. It’s a good book and it helped advance the plot of the series. I just prefer the crazy, silly books. 

Gators and Garters is the eighteenth book in the series. After 50 years of telling Walter she won’t marry him, Ida Belle has said yes, and the big day is almost here. All of the wedding plans are coming along nicely until the caterer goes missing. Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie are hired to investigate. But Molly’s wild life leaves them with a lot of suspects. Was it due to her time in prison? Her career as a cage fighter? Her deadbeat boyfriend? Deadbeat dad? Missing brother? 

I liked Gators and Garters more than Bullets and Beads but I’m not sure why. Maybe because I’m so excited Ida Belle has finally said yes to Walter. Also, I love the friction between Gertie pushing for a traditional ceremony and Ida Belle pushing back with a full camo redneck celebration. The mystery in this book was far more interesting than the previous one, and unlike the last, it provided a lot of local color. Both books had cameos by my favorite character, Gertie’s “pet” alligator, Godzilla. He’s reason enough to read any book. 

Alligator at Estero Llano Grande State Park. Photograph by pixifer

A cute premise but ultimately a forgettable book

Trouble in Mudbug by Jana Deleon

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I love the Miss Fortune series by Jana Deleon. Seriously. Love, love, love it. I’ve recommended it to so many people. A few weeks ago, I got a notice from amazon that the latest book has come out. I quickly got tired of waiting for my library to purchase a copy, so I picked up Trouble in Mudbug, the first in the Ghost-in-Law series by Jana Deleon, in hopes that it would tide me over. 

Botanist Maryse Robicheaux spends her days in the bayou hunting down plants and trying to avoid other humans. She lost her parents at a young age, which made her an oddity and a subject of pity in the small town of Mudbug. Then she made the mistake of marrying rich, bad boy Hank Henry. The marriage ended quickly, with Hank running off before Maryse could divorce him, leaving her stuck with his debts and his awful mother Helena. When Helena drops dead, Maryse thinks one of her problems is solved, until Helena’s ghost appears and tells Maryse she has to help her find the murderer. Then sexy zoologist Luc Lejeune shows up at her office saying the state has assigned him to her station. Just when Maryse thinks things can’t get any worse, someone tries to murder her. Maryse, Helena, and friends have to find the killer before the killer finds Maryse. 

I thought this book would be perfect for me but I actually forgot I read this. The premise was good, I liked some of the characters, I loved the wackiness. I think the problem was that I found Maryse tiresome. Maybe she gets better in later books but I’m in no hurry to find out. And Luc was a cardboard cutout of a romance hero. 

Overall, this was a swing and a miss for me. 



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