Customer Reviews

A Ton of Trouble: A Josephine Fuller Mystery

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She's a full figured woman who is comfortable in her own skin, not caring that many people are prejudiced about her size. She works for Mrs. Madrone, a very wealthy woman who lives in San Francisco and gives away sizable sums to charities and organizations that apply to her foundation for a grant. Josephine Fuller, Jo to her friends, is the person who investigates the requesting organization and then reports her findings to Mrs. Madrone.

Jo's latest assignment is the Friend in Need Centers, an organization that councils pregnant women but in reality is a front for the pro-life radicals. At the same time she's performing her duties, she is looking for evidence for clearing her friend Thelma of a murder charge. Somebody doesn't like what Jo is doing because she is shot at twice and comes dangerously close to dying a third time.

The protagonist of this novel is a very likable woman who gains reader empathy but not their sympathy because she doesn't need it. She believes she's attractive and appealing and the audience accepts her on her own terms. The story line is fast paced and the reader never knows who the killer is until the author reveals it in an exciting and believable climax. A TON OF TROUBLE is a ton of fun in this amateur sleuth mystery.

Harriet Klausner

When Josephine, our super-sized sleuth, receives a letter from Wolf
Lambert she decides to visit him in the beautiful Napa Valley while on
assignment there investigating grant applicants.

Wolf is a retired director, owner of a winery, and the proud producer
of x-rated films starring plus sized women. Josephine is also
interested in the tenant downstairs, one Mr. Mulligan who was also going
to be in San Francisco. Upon arriving at Lambert Wineries, she takes a
stroll around. There was a stack of empty wine barrels and half
barrels for sale as planters, and Josephine wanders over to that
display, while she waited to see Wolf, she noticed other people arriving,
supposedly for a tour of the winery.
When Wolf shows up he is blind drunk. As he staggers around he grabs
onto one of the bottom barrels making the whole stack start rolling
down. When the dust clears and Josephine rushes to see about Wolf, she
sees a pair of legs clad in blue jeans hanging out of one of the
barrels. Closer inspection reveals the body of a dead man.

Imagine, if you can, the job the detectives have (with Josephine's help)
sorting out the dead man, the drunken owner, several plus sized women
and a few men, waiting to make a porno film, and Josephine, trying to
establish a rendezvous with her boy friend. I have to admit this is a
first for me. Full of mystery, romance, and plus sized porn stars.

Review by: Ginny Welding

Ms. Murray has also written:
At Large
Large Target
Larger in Death

In A Ton of Trouble, the 4th installment of Lynne Murray's Josephine Fuller mystery series, Jo finds herself visiting Wolf Lambert, director of x-rated plus size films, at his winery due to a strange letter she received with an invitation to his winery. With her curiosity sparked and some spare time on her hands Josephine visits the winery and comes across the body of Steve Farquar, the son-in-law of Lambert's neighbor who incidentally wants to buy Lambert's property. Thelma, a super-sized BBW (big beautiful woman), x-rated film star and bookkeeper, is accused of the murders and Josephine Fuller is somehow roped into investigating the murder. But she still has to perform the duties of her day job, investigating a number of women's clinic for a possible charitable contribution from her very wealthy boss.

I truly enjoyed A Ton of Trouble and it's somewhat wacky mix of characters that felt so real they popped off the page. The story itself was entertaining if not overly challenging as far as mysteries go. I enjoyed interesting mix of story and characters Lynne Murray put together for her readers. I absolutely loved Josephine Fuller. She reminded me of so many plus size women I know. Not necessarily proud to be plus size but not ashamed of her size in anyway. She is just a normal woman struggling to find love, happiness and earn a living in a world that does not always see past her size.

As I said earlier the mystery part of the book was not particularly challenging. If you are a mystery buff and good at figuring out the killer before the end of the story you will probably suspect the killer or at least part of how the killing was done before the end of the book. But the the lack of challenge in the mystery does not take away from the story as a whole. I still enjoyed the interesting story twist including the ongoing investigation of the women's clinics for Josephine's boss.

All in all, A Ton Of Trouble is a good book and I will definitely be picking up other books is the series.

Reviewed by Desiree
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