A nice and funny cozy mystery, this short novel was a pleasant diversion. Nothing fancy, just constant chuckles and an onslaught of totally absurd situations piling up in Sinful, Louisiana, population just over 200. When a CIA assassin Fortune blows her cover in the Middle East, she has to hide (aka live undercover as a librarian and former beauty queen) in a quiet little town on the edge of the swamps, while her boss deals with the situation at the Agency. But the somnolent atmosphere of Sinful is deceiving. All sorts of comedies and tragedies, murder and mayhem lurk just below the surface.
As soon as Fortune arrives in town, the action starts rolling, throwing the undercover librarian into all sorts of imbroglios. And without her arsenal, she is totally clueless. How would a former beauty queen behave in her place? Would she paint her nails pink? Would she shoot an alligator?
The main instigators of Fortune’s troubles are two senior ladies Gertie and Ida Belle, two sweet (sweet?!) gray haired Southern ladies who practically run Sinful. As Fortune copes with her new geriatric friends, she learns that not all her arms training prepared her for the small town life, and that blending in with her new neighbors requires some serious readjustments of priorities.
The characters are colorful, the pacing breathtaking, and the atmosphere of the tiny town, with all its inherent dramas and rivalries, rings true for the grateful reader, who can’t stop smiling.
A trifling little novel, delightful and addictive. I’m thinking of downloading the next installment.
