In Deep Voodoo

I needed to kill an afternoon so I selected this book to read. It immediately grasped me into the little town of Mojo. I loved all the quirky characters. It took three free evenings to read this. I enjoyed this book immensely.

Stephanie Bond is an author who from the get-go holds your attention. Usually I'm a slow reader but I could not put this book down and had it read in 2 days. I'm now reading the second book in the series and lovin' it.

I was under the spell of IN DEEP VOODOO by about page 5. The setting immediately drew me in, and the characters and storyline soon after. At first, I was afraid that there were too many characters to keep them all straight, but everything added up in the end in a satisfying, if darker-than-expected conclusion. The most confusing part of the book, for me, was the tone. Lots of light humor inter-mixed with some pretty dark stuff, like a murder and a grisley conclusion. Still, I enjoyed reading it very much and will probably read the next in the series too!

I bought this novel thinking of it as just another girly read, but as the plot started to thicken with Penny getting deeper and deeper into Voodoo,I was amazed. The novel is fast paced and you almost start to feel pity for Penny. I am looking forward to the sequel.

Penny Francisco came home early only to find her husband attorney Deke making love in their bed to Sheena "litigator" Linder; making it worse is that she had dirty feet. The divorce settlement left Penny with her health store, The Charm Farm, and some adjoining land that she plans to use to grow herbs; Deke got their house across the street that he paints an ugly pink, but he also hid valuable assets in the name of his now fiancée. Penny's assistant Marie Gaston hosts a divorce celebration for her boss. One of the guests secretly gives Penny a voodoo doll of Deke; Penny stabs the doll in the heart. The next day she goes over to see Deke who had frantically called her several times, but was not answering his phone. She finds him dead with a weapon stabbed through his heart. Everyone else thinks Penny either killed Deke with voodoo or as crime of passion. Penny plans to prove otherwise by uncovering the truth with the help of a donut lusting private investigator as her only ally. Stephanie Bond provides a terrific amateur sleuth investigative tale with a heated romantic subplot to enhance the bewildered but delightful lead female protagonist. Penny is the fabulous center to the strong story line as her antics will amuse the audience. Her efforts to prove she is innocent though everyone in Mojo, Louisiana believes otherwise while making side comments about pink houses, replacement females, mayoral ex mother-in-laws, hunks, and voodoo make for a fine time. Still the bottom line means diving IN DEEP VOODOO as she has a slight doubt that just maybe her jab with the pin killed her former spouse. Harriet Klausner