Lethal Bayou Beauty by Jana DeLeon

Lethal Bayou Beauty
Jana DeLeon
4/5 stars

Buy it on Amazon

From Amazon:
No one in Sinful liked Pansy Arceneaux, but who hated her enough to kill her?

When aspiring actress Pansy Arceneaux returns to Sinful, Louisiana to head up the beauty pageant portion of the Summer Festival, CIA assassin Fortune Redding knows she’s in for trouble. Her undercover identity as a former beauty queen makes Fortune the perfect choice to chair the event with Pansy, but Pansy’s abrasive personality makes it impossible to get through a single rehearsal without a fight.

 When Pansy turns up dead, Fortune is the prime suspect. Armed with only her wits and two conniving seniors referred to locally as The Geritol Mafia, Fortune launches an investigation to find the real killer before her cover is blown.

***

This book was just as much fun as the first one.  Fortune's character continues to really branch out, and you can see she's got a happily-ever-after in the form of a complete lifestyle change by the end of the series.  The minor characters in this series are a lot of fun too, like Walter, the man who owns the general store.  He's a guy I'd spend time with.  Carter continues in his sexy cop-ness, and Gertie and Ida Belle are just as fun too.  There's some slap-stick humor here and there, and an annoying person is killed, which is always a bonus.

Some aspects of this series are a little far-fetched, like 2 murder investigations in 2 weeks in a town of 200 people, but sometimes suspending disbelief is okay if you want to have a good time, and a good time was definitely had reading this book.  On to book 3!

Louisiana Longshot by Jana DeLeon

Louisiana Longshot (A Miss Fortune Mystery)
Jana DeLeon
4/5 stars

Buy on Amazon (FREE!)

From Amazon:
CIA assassin Fortune Redding is about to undertake her most difficult mission ever--in Sinful, Louisiana. With a leak at the CIA and a price placed on her head by one of the world's largest arms dealers, Fortune has to go off-grid, but she never expected to be this far out of her element. Posing as a former beauty queen turned librarian in a small bayou town seems worse than death to Fortune, but she's determined to fly below the radar until her boss finds the leak and puts the arms dealer out of play. Unfortunately, she hasn't even unpacked a suitcase before her newly inherited dog digs up a human bone in her backyard.

Thrust into the middle of a bayou murder mystery, Fortune teams up with a couple of seemingly sweet old ladies whose looks completely belie their hold on the little town. To top things off, the handsome local deputy is asking her too many questions. If she's not careful, this investigation might blow her cover and get her killed. Armed with her considerable skills and a group of elderly ladies the locals dub The Geritol Mafia, Fortune has no choice but to solve the murder before it's too late.

***

I really liked this book.  Plot and writing quality-wise, it's pretty generic (not bad, mind you, but nothing really stands out), BUT the characters and the fact that it's pretty funny make up for it.

Fortune is a character with a lot of room to grow, which is important in a series (four books so far). She's tough, but still human.  The two old ladies, Gertie and Ida Belle, are the best part of this series. I know "innocent-looking old lady solves crime" is a done to death trope (thanks Agatha!), but these old ladies have got some real bite to them.  And then there's Carter, the sexy cop.  I like mysteries with a bit of romance in them, and while there isn't anything going on between Carter and Fortune yet, there will be soon!

I have already bought the next book and will be digging in soon.  That right there is a reason to check it out because I put down more books than I finish reading (maybe I'm picky, maybe I'm a snob, I don't know), and here I am buying the follow-up.  Also it's free, so you've got nothing to lose.