It’s Christmas in Sinful and Fortune is set to participate in all the local hoopla. A Christmas gala, caroling, and a sleigh ride are on the agenda. Murder is not. But when someone bumps off Santa, Fortune is aware a killer is lurking among the holiday cheer. But with no client and no reason to interfere with a police investigation, it looks as if Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie will have to sit this one out. Big and Little Hebert might be criminals, but they prefer no competition in their territory, especially someone brazen enough to kill a man at the Christmas gala. When they hire Fortune to investigate the man’s death, she gets her Christmas wish and Swamp Team 3 sets out to solve their final case of the year.
Just Desserts? It’s November in Sinful and everyone is gearing up for Thanksgiving. But when Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie bag a body on their turkey hunting trip, the quiet enjoyment of fall is over. No one really knew Miles Broussard well, and as he’d recently sold the building his business was in to retire in another state, no one could explain how he’d ended up murdered and dumped in the bayou. Ally Lemarque has been waiting her entire life to open her bakery, and that day finally arrived when she purchased the building from Miles. But when she visits the site late at night and interrupts an intruder, she comes away with a crack on her head and concerns about why someone would break into an empty building. Fortune doesn’t think for a minute that Miles’s murder and the attack on Ally are unrelated. And Swamp Team 3 won’t rest until they’re sure Ally is safe.
When black cats roam, and spooks are seen, Come celebrate, it’s Halloween. Sinful, Louisiana, really knows how to throw a party, and it goes all out for Halloween. The weeklong celebration kicks off with a maze of horror in the park built of hay bales. And Fortune has the perfect assignment—the executioner. Her scene comes complete with a head block, a hatchet, and a fake body with removable head. It’s the perfect setup…for a crime. When Fortune returns from break and realizes the body in her scene is a real one and not the prop, she knows trouble is coming. Before she can shake a broomstick, Celia Arceneaux has raised the alarm and the state police show up to take over the investigation. With Carter on the sidelines and Fortune the prime suspect, Swamp Team 3 sets out to catch a real monster.
Around the world Santa Claus has many names. But in a deep, swampy bayou of Louisiana, he's known as Papa Noël. In such a hot and humid place, there can be no sleds or reindeer, so Papa Noël rides the river in a boat that's pulled by eight alligators, with a snowy white one named Nicollette in the lead. On this particular Christmas Eve, it's so foggy on the river that even Nicollette's magical glowing-green eyes may not be enough to guide Papa Noël. The alligators are tired, grumpy and bruised from banging into cypress trees, and Papa is desperate to get all the gifts to the little children. Well, "quicker than a snake shimmies down the river," the clever Cajun people come up with a solution that saves the day. A colorfully inventive Christmas tale, Papa Noël is a lesson in fast thinking, as well as a witty introduction to a part of America that's rich in folklore and legend.
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jana DeLeon, the third book in the Miss Fortune Mystery series. When only a crack shot will do… In the two weeks CIA assassin Fortune Redding has been hiding in Sinful, Louisiana, she’s been harassed, poisoned, and shot at…and that was the easy part. But now, she’s about to face her biggest challenge since setting foot in the tiny bayou town. When mayoral candidate Ted Williams is murdered, everyone is surprised. Ted was a blowhole and a Yankee, but those usually weren’t good reasons to kill someone. When Sinful Ladies Society leader Ida Belle becomes the lead suspect in the crime, Fortune knows she’s got to solve a murder and save one of the only friends she’s ever had. But as the investigation begins, more and more secrets surface, and Fortune realizes that sometimes nothing is as it seems. Swamp Sniper is a humorous mystery set in the bayous of southern Louisiana. It has a cozy mystery feel and features a strong woman sleuth in a fish-out-of-water storyline. Swamp Sniper is the third book in the Miss Fortune series and appeals to readers of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Praise for Jana DeLeon: “DeLeon is excellent at weaving comedy, suspense and spicy romance into one compelling story.” – RT Book Reviews “I don’t know where she comes up with this funny stuff, but I can’t wait to read the next book…” – Night Owl Reviews “Jana DeLeon has a breezy style with enough of a comic touch to leave you smiling.” – The Romance Reader “Son of a gun, we’re having fun in the bayou!” – Fresh Fiction “The quirky characters keep the action moving…” – Barbara Vey, Publisher’s Weekly Blogger To learn more about Jana and her books visit her at: http://janadeleon.com http://facebook.com/janadeleonauthor @JanaDeLeon
From New York Times bestselling author Jana DeLeon, the seventh book in the Miss Fortune series. A force to be reckoned with… During missions as a CIA assassin, Fortune Redding saw and overcame most every obstacle, but Sinful, Louisiana, keeps producing new challenges for her. When a hurricane blows through, it brings a shower of counterfeit money raining down on the tiny bayou town. When the money is linked back to Ahmad, the arms dealer who issued the kill order on Fortune, everyone is worried that her nemesis is far too close for comfort. When Ahmad’s men turn up in Sinful, the situation becomes life-and-death for Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie, and Deputy Carter LeBlanc learns Fortune’s true identity. As Swamp Team 3 rushes to locate the counterfeiter, Fortune hopes to take down Ahmad and free herself from her fake life. But will her relationship with Carter make it now that he knows the truth?
Working in an American primitive style animated by the humor and storytelling genius for which he is renowned, Caldecott Winner artist Paul O. Zelinsky puts oils to cherry and maple for this tall-tale competition between a Tennessee woods-woman extraordinaire and a hungry, fearsome bear.Thundering Tarnation has a bottomless appetite for settler's grub. When word goes out about a competition to hunt this four-legged forest of stubble, a young woman, second to none in buckskin bravery, signs up. "How about baking a pie, Angel?" the other hunters taunt. "I aim to," says Swamp Angel. "A bear pie."What follows is as witty a round of roughhousing as ever jostled the ranks of Americana. Anne Isaacs' original text unfolds in a crackling combination of irony, exaggeration, and bold image-making. Zelinsky's paintings respond with deft yet hilarious expressions, rhythmic shapes, and a sense of monumental motion, as benefits a heroine who can wield a tornado like a lasso, drink a lake dry, and snore down a forest. In the course of these grand shenanigans, the Great Smoky Mountains are stirred up, Montana's short-grass prairie laid down, and Thundering Tarnation's fate proves to have no less a reach than the starry heavens.Swamp Angel marks the debut of a promising new storyteller and adds to the tall-tale traditions a pictorial counterpart that will entertain and endure for a long time to come.
From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jana DeLeon, the fourth book in the bestselling Miss Fortune series. What’s a little arson between friends? Undercover CIA agent Fortune Redding spent her first three weeks in Sinful, Louisiana dodging insults, makeup advice, guard dogs, bullets, and Deputy Carter LeBlanc, both professionally and personally. But just when she thinks things are going to settle down in the small bayou town, someone sets her friend Ally’s house on fire. Carter, who’d just started pursuing Fortune on a personal basis, goes back into cop mode and admonishes her to stay out of his investigation. This time, he swears he won’t issue any warning before arresting her. But with her friend’s safety hanging in the balance, Fortune can’t resist taking matters into her own hands and calls on her partners in crime fighting, Ida Belle and Gertie, to help. This is a mission for Swamp Team 3. Swamp Team 3 is a humorous mystery set in the bayous of southern Louisiana. It has a cozy mystery feel and features a strong woman sleuth in a fish-out-of-water storyline. Swamp Team 3 is the fourth in the Miss Fortune series and appeals to readers of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. "Southern wit at its best!" - NYT Bestselling author Gemma Halliday "Sinfully funny!" - NYT Bestselling author CC Hunter/Christie Craig “DeLeon is excellent at weaving comedy, suspense and spicy romance into one compelling story.” – RT Book Reviews “I don’t know where she comes up with this funny stuff, but I can’t wait to read the next book…” – Night Owl Reviews “Jana DeLeon has a breezy style with enough of a comic touch to leave you smiling.” – The Romance Reader “Son of a gun, we’re having fun in the bayou!” – Fresh Fiction “The quirky characters keep the action moving…” – Barbara Vey, Publisher’s Weekly Blogger To learn more about Jana and her books visit her at: http://janadeleon.com http://facebook.com/janadeleonauthor @JanaDeLeon
