Trouble in Mudbug (Ghost-in-Law Mystery/Romance Series) [Kindle Edition]

Jana DeLeon (Author)

Book Description

Scientist Maryse Robicheaux thought that a lot of her problems had gone away with her mother-in-law’s death. The woman was rude, pushy, manipulative and used her considerable wealth to run herd over the entire town of Mudbug, Louisiana.

Unfortunately, death doesn’t slow down Helena one bit.

DEA Agent Luc LeJeune is wondering what his undercover assignment investigating the sexy scientist has gotten him into – especially as it seems someone wants her dead. Keeping his secrets while protecting Maryse proves to be easier than fighting his attraction for the brainy beauty.

(Note: This book is part of the author’s backlist, originally released in print in 2009 by Dorchester Publishing)

Product Details

• File Size: 466 KB
• Print Length: 336 pages
• Publisher: Jana DeLeon (January 27, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004AYDC9I
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #655 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #11 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Humor
  • #19 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Women Sleuths

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 129 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Murder Mystery with a twist or ten February 8, 2011

By S. Blass

Format:Kindle Edition

Helena Henry was dead and didn't know it when she woke up at her own funeral. The only person who could see her was her estranged daughter-in-law who inherited a bayou full of trouble from her mother-in-law and from there this ghost story turned murder mystery turned romance story gets off to a running start. Lots of fun, very entertaining and a real whodunit that had me guessing right to the end. Happy to see there are more books in the series. Small Spoiler: The author did manage to work in some adult content in the romance subplot so readers who wish to avoid that may want to be forewarned, and those who are looking for that may be disappointed as it was quite brief.

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars humorous, cute romance...looking forward to more Helena August 8, 2009

By Laura B

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Jana DeLeon's first in the Ghost-in-Law series introduces Helena Henry, the dead mother-in-law to Maryse Robicheaux. Helena was never well liked in the town of Mudbug and her daughter-in-law was at the top of the list of people who couldn't stand her. Helena's wayward son, Hank disappeared 2 years ago and Maryse needs to find him to serve him divorce papers. Unfortunately, he still hasn't made an appearance, but his mother is now haunting Maryse.

Maryse's dull like suddenly gets interesting with a ghost haunting her, someone trying to kill her, and a hot officemate that is wreaking havoc on her hormones.

I really enjoyed this book. It is laugh-out-loud funny and cute. The mystery is decent with enough red herrings to keep the reader guessing, but also not too difficult to figure out. The Maryse/Luc romance is just hot enough without being too steamy. I enjoyed the first 2/3 more than the last 1/3...mostly because the end wasn't as humorous. It also closed everything up without as much excitement.

The style is similar to Stephanie Plum, but not as goofy--just fun. Also similar to Kathleen Bacus's Calamity Jayne series though not as immature (Tressa was young and in the process of growing up). All are very humorous. This one does have more descriptive sex, though (only one episode and it isn't too steamy).

The next installment of the series involves Maryse's friend, Sabine. I'm looking forward to more antics from Helena. She may not have been liked in life, but she's a lot more fun in death!

138 of 166 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Sex; Not Enough Mystery November 30, 2011

By P. M. Arnold

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have been reading the Stephanie Plum books and wanted to try this for a little different type of mystery. Way too much sex and boy, was it graphic. I'm not prudish, because the other books I read have some, but I had to just stop reading it and didn't even finish. The premise was delicious, and looked forward to ghostly mystery, but this didn't fill the bill at all. I wish there was some way Amazon could label these books as to having graphic sex in them.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars disappointing overall, yet some very delightful moments October 12, 2011

By a hargette

Format:Kindle Edition

This book was a bit of a let-down fo rme because it started off so well. As soon as I read the sample which was amusing and fast-paced, I downloaded the book right away. I was really looking forward to this one, but I found as I got futher into that it was a very uneven read. basically the book can be split into 2 parts. one is the very amusing storyline with maryse's hellish-and dead-mother-in-law haunting her and pressuring her into solving the mystery of her murder. this part of the book is very well done and entertaining. I really looked forward to their scenes together.

the second part of this book is the so-called romance with Luc, who was such a cardboard cut-out cliche in my opinion, that I simply could not get into him and maryse as a couple, or really believe any of Luc's "thoughts" and we were subjected to pages and pages of his lame, lothario-type internal monologues. that spoiled the overall enjoyment of the read for me, until I just literally skipped over all of his scenes. I think part of my annoyance was that Maryse seems much cooler when she's focused on the mystery and her annoying mother-in-law than when she's mentally worshipping Luc's butt and wasting pages of thoughts about his tight jeans etc. It just changed her character almost like a light switch going on and off.

Final criticism was that the botany stuff went on a little long for me. maybe it was just me but reading about the seed packets and plant samples slowed down the pace of the book a lot. I don't want to be too harsh because Jana DeLeon is obviously capable of amusing dialogue and good writing, and I do like when authors mix mystery plots with love stories. I know that "romance" can be subjective. this particular romance just really felt flat to me but perhaps would work for someone else.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable but... July 6, 2011

By Michaela

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I will say I enjoyed this book, for the most part, even though, more often than not, the syntax was atrocious. Yes, I'm afraid that grammatically speaking this book was a disaster. There were also enough word omissions and spelling errors to drive one to the point of distraction. (The editor really fell down on the job!)

That said, what saved this literary effort? What kept me reading even as I railed against the glaring mistreatment of the English language? It was, quite simply, Ms. DeLeon characters and their interactions with each other.

I loved the irascible Helena Henry. I laughed out loud several times at the interplay between Helena and her daughter-in-law, Maryse, the main protagonist of the novel. I did feel that Helena's character could have been explained more effectively by dropping little snippets regarding her childhood throughout the book. Instead the author explained Helena's motivations by simply summoning up her history in a few paragraphs toward the end of the novel.

I also wish that the author was as descriptive in her depiction of her characters as she was when describing some of Helena's wardrobe mishaps.

I have to say that, even though I found myself commenting aloud regarding the afore mentioned butchery of the English language, I do plan to purchase the second installment in this series. Hopefully things on the grammatical front will have improved substantially since I really do want to follow the adventures of all of Ms. Deleon's characters.

More About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jana DeLeon was raised in southwest Louisiana among the bayous and gators. Her hometown is Carlyss, but you probably won't find it on a map. Her family owned a camp located on a bayou just off the Gulf of Mexico that you could only get there by boat. The most important feature was the rope hammock hanging in the shade on a huge deck that stretched out over the water where Jana spent many hours reading books.

Jana and her brother spent thousands of hours combing the bayous in a flat-bottom aluminum boat, studying the natural habitat of many birds, nutria and alligators. She would like you to know that no animals were injured during these "studies," but they kept makers of peroxide in business.

Jana has never stumbled across a mystery or a ghost like her heroines, but she's still hopeful.

She now resides in Dallas, Texas, with the most spoiled Sheltie in the world.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#58 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#70 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#58 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#70 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery