Review of Swamp Spook by Jana DeLeon

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. 

Book 13 of 14 in the Miss Fortune Mystery series.

Available on Amazon.

Who in their right mind thought it was a good idea to have Fortune act as an executioner for the Halloween maze? That’s just tempting fate too much. So it’s hardly surprising when someone switches out the dummy body for a real one and pushes Fortune and company into yet another murder mystery adventure. 

This one is even funnier as it’s Carter who enlists the services of newly minted PI Fortune and her consultants, the Terrible Twosome. He’s left with no choice when Celia wrangles the involvement of the state police. One of my favourite parts is where Carter gets a front row seat to a ‘shenanigan cover-up’… one not staged for his benefit! He knows fully well the sleuthing trio are guilty but he can enjoy the state police’s lack of proof. And besides who would believe that two sweet old ladies were traipsing through a murder scene after midnight?!

The murder itself was quite well-plotted. There are several suspects and motives. An interesting angle is that the real investigation doesn’t start until just after the halfway mark. It’s not a problem as there is a lot of action to take in and there are really two crimes to consider and that’s what takes up page space.

Gertie and Ida Belle continue to amuse with their antics and barbs…

Gertie perked up. “I have been thinking about some tights for the winter. Maybe with long sweaters and some of those hoochie boots that come up to your important assets.”

Ida Belle stared at her in dismay. “Those assets were fully depreciated a century ago, and you don’t need boots blazing a trail to ancient history.”

Fortune seems to be settling into her role as resident female bada$$ and it was fun to get one installment where poor Carter isn’t run crazy by her antics.

Overall this was a fun, well-crafted addition to the series and I look forward to continuing!

I give this one 4.5/5 spooky espresso shots.