Another huge Thank You...

...to Audible listener/reviewer Wayne (Matthews, NC). If it were not for him I would have never even looked at this series. I really enjoy Jana DeLeon's Shaye Archer but this series seemed off of my beaten path. Anyway, I've just finished the last book (so far ) in this light, fun, fast paced original series. Each book is an adventure. The four central characters are very well developed and very often humorous. Cassandra Campbell narrates all of these books beautifully. This series is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If you found this review helpful please indicate so. Thank You.

28 people found this helpful

The fun and mystery continue!

SWAMP SPOOK is book 13 in the outstanding Miss Fortune series by Jana DeLeon. Audible classify it as a cozy mystery and I suppose it is, but it is more fun than most of that genre. Fortune Redding has now retired from the CIA and has her private investigator license. The geriatric ex-spy pair Ida Belle and Gertie are helping her. As always they manage to frustrate Fortune's boyfriend (and local sheriff's deputy) Carter LeBlanc by stepping all over his cases. I love this series! Cassandra Campbell narrates perfectly.

15 people found this helpful

4 Stars for this spooky Halloween special

4 Stars! Swamp Spook is book 13 in A Miss Fortune Mystery series. The series is set in Sinful, Louisiana, USA and follows Fortune, who up until book 12 was a CIA assassin in hiding, and old ladies Gertie and Ida Belle, who are lifelong Sinful residents and ex-spy war veterans, as they help solve a string of various crimes and murders. This series is the first series of Cozy Mystery books that I have read. Cozy Mystery is a new-to-me genre and I am hooked. Once I listened to the first Miss Fortune Mystery series book, I couldn't stop. So far, I have listened to all of the books back to back and I'm not going to stop until there aren't any more. I recommend reading/listening to these books in order since each book builds upon the prior book's story and it makes it much more entertaining and enjoyable to go in order. I'm sure you could still enjoy these books as standalone but it won't be the same. In Swamp Spook, Sinful is having their week-long Halloween celebrations and all of the townspeople help out where they can. Fortune plays a character in the scary maze and in her scene she beheads a (fake) person. During the 30 minute break, someone swaps the fake dead dude with a real one. Of course, Celia gets involved and it is makes for a hilarious scene of realizing the fake dead guy is a real one. I love to see horrible things happen back to her. Her character is a lesson in karma. I hope she really gets shut down once and for all in one of these books, although it would take away a lot of drama so I don't know... Anyway, this twist certainly looks bad for Fortune, especially since she let the town in on her true identity as a CIA agent in the last book and people think she might be dangerous. Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie jump right into investigation mode to try to solve the murder and a few other crimes along the way. If you like books with a big dose of humor, this is the series for you. I have found myself laughing out loud too many times to count. The same narrator reads for the whole series. She did great for the first 11 books, but the past two have seemed sloppy, almost like she is just rushing through. She is making errors such as incorrect words read and using the wrong character name. That was disappointing. I do like that her voices are consistent from book to book.

3 people found this helpful

Ok overall

It wasn’t a bad story, but certain aspects of the ending were figured out very early in the story. Partially figured out who was involved and definitely the “how”.

2 people found this helpful

SAID

I’m only in the first chapter I lost count on how many times this author said, SAID I said Gurty said Adibelle said Talk about annoying. So incredibly bad

1 person found this helpful

Best story yet

I really liked this story. Less cooky than previous books. This one had more of a story plot instead of 1/3 of the book about food. A few things bothered me though.... Fortune couldn’t see under water because the murky water affected her “retinas”??? Since the retina is on the back surface of the interior eye, I’m finding that hard to understand. And I wish SO VERY MUCH that Gerties last name is pronounced correctly: “A-Bear” NOT “He-Bert”

1 person found this helpful

Great

Another fun installment. Didn’t laugh as much as the previous but it was still very enjoyable.

1 person found this helpful

Halloween comes to Sinful!

Former CIA assassin Fortune Redding returns to entertain and excite listeners in Swamp Spook by Jana Deleon. Halloween has come to Sinful, Louisiana, and Fortune finds herself recruited to play the executioner at the haunted maze, a role particularly suited to her. In it, she brandishes an axe and pretends to chop off the head of a person in the form of a dummy. But after the break in the middle of the maze event, Fortune returns to her position to find the body of a real man with his head cut off. Things in the case get stranger and stranger, and Fortune’s arch enemy, Celia Arceneaux, brings in the state police, with accusations against Fortune as the murderer and Deputy Carter Leblanc as unable to handle the case because he is dating the chief suspect. Since Carter finds himself sidelined completely, even after Fortune is vindicated, he takes a move he never dreamed he’d ever make: He hires Fortune, with Ida Bell and Gertie, to use their detection agency to get to the bottom of the case. Swamp Spook is a delightful addition to the Miss Fortune mystery series. With characteristic humor, Deleon gives us a further view of Sinful and its quirky residents. I enjoyed the creative plot and its great twists and turns, with some significant surprises for us readers. The Swamp Team 3 trio of Fortune, Ida Bell, and Gertie find new creative ways of detecting and getting themselves into and sneakily out of trouble. Cassandra Campbell returns to perform the audio edition of this book. As with all the books in this series, Campbell does an excellent job of making this book delightful to listen to. She makes Fortune seem a very real person, a woman we would love to meet face to face and not just in the book. With excellent voices for each of the characters, Campbell makes Sinful come alive. I have read some of the books in this series visually when I didn’t want to wait for the audiobook to be released, and the audio versions have proven to be much more delightful than the print versions. I truly enjoyed listening to Swamp Spook and give it five stars!

2 people found this helpful

Stupid first chapter

The stage for the plot in this book is really a step too far. The real weapons for a Halloween maze. I have enjoyed the other books In this series but the stupidity of this first chapter has tainted the rest of the book.

Love it

love the Miss Fortune series, funny characters, love to laugh ,we all need to laugh