The Body in the Bog: Miss Fortune World (A Sinful Mystery)

By J L Johnson

*** 'The Body in the Bog' takes place in Sinful, Louisiana, a charming little town created for the 'Miss Fortune' series by Jana DeLeon. The story is set immediately following the events in her first book of the series, 'Louisiana Longshot.'

What is it with this town and bones? Fortune Redding can't believe her bad luck in discovering bones, especially human bones. Fortune already knows Ida Belle and Gertie, founding members of the Sinful Ladies Society, are knee-deep in secrets, but she's about to find out exactly how stubborn they can be.

They refuse to tell her anything about the body in the bog, except that it's a secret they've kept for over 40 years. With the two of them unwilling to tell her anything, Fortune must discover the secret surrounding these particular bones and the reason the mystery needs to remain hidden.

Because where better than Sinful, Louisiana for a mystery of such magnitude to remain hidden all these years? And who better to keep it hidden than the remarkable women of the Sinful Ladies Society?

• Language: English
• Publisher: J&R Fan Fiction
• Release date: Aug 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386123156

J L Johnson

J L Johnson has an absolutely beautiful and charming, highly intelligent daughter.  She also has two brilliant, extremely handsome sons, both US Navy Officers.  Her daughters-in-law are two of the most delightfully sweet, stunningly gorgeous young women in the world.  And to top it all off, she has three of the brightest, cutest, most genuinely gifted grandchildren on the planet.  Some people have told her she might be a wee bit prejudiced on the subject, but she very sincerely doubts it.  She was born in Montana where she grew up with a love of books and reading. Feel free to contact her at [e-mail].

Book preview

Chapter 1

These bones are definitely human, not just some randomly-scattered animal bones, Fortune exclaimed, critically eyeing a few bones sprawled out on the ground, near a large mound of dirt that had obviously been disturbed by some kind of animal.

She thought it had been a very large animal, and had also happened fairly recently, if she had to guess. The dirt looked freshly uprooted, and she could see deep claw marks all around the site. The animal might have been spooked off only moments ago, right when she and Gertie showed up.

Gertie, I’m pretty sure this was someone’s grave. I know a grave when I see one, she narrowed her eyes at Gertie as she slapped at a mosquito the size of a quarter trying to suck her forearm dry. Damn blood suckers! What is it about this place and bones, and blood, and... dead things?

Oh no, it’s really a grave, do you think? We need to get back to town and tell Ida Belle about this, Gertie said, looking back toward Sinful, then directly at Fortune.

It’s definitely a grave. There’s no trace of a coffin though, and I don’t see a marker of any kind, Fortune poked at the mound with a stick.

I think I know who that is...

"Wait a minute, did you just say you know who’s grave this is? You think you know? Or you definitely know?" Fortune asked suspiciously.

I think, I’m not certain... It was all so long ago... I know it must seem suspicious, but,

Suspicious? A single grave with no signs of either a coffin or a marker, out here, next to the bog? Hell’s bells yes, I’d say it’s suspicious! Fortune exclaimed, her eyes as big as the now-squashed mosquito. Then again, is there anything about this town that isn’t suspicious?

Fortune and Gertie were at the edge of the bog, only a short distance outside of Sinful. The town of Sinful was so small that if you drove through it and blinked, you’d never realize there’d been a town there at all.

They’d been picking blackberries for the next batch of SLS cough syrup. It had been Fortune’s idea to add some flavor and color to the potent brew the Sinful Ladies Society sold as a cough and sore throat remedy, once she discovered the berries.

Not that she had anything against their regular brew of pure white lightening, or moonshine, as Gertie called it. She had quite a few bottles tucked away in case of emergency. Sinful was a dry town and you just never knew what could happen that might prevent travel outside of town.

Hurricanes and floods were at the top of the disaster list, but there were other things in the small town that could cause the loss of your mobility. Alligator attacks were at the top of that list.

The bayou ran right at the edge of Fortune’s backyard and it was chock-full of the menacing reptiles. The locals all said the alligators were mostly harmless, but Fortune wasn’t putting her trust in the word mostly.

She gave the alligators a wide berth, sticking to the ‘Don’t bother them and they won’t bother you,’ school of thought. It sounded too good to be true. Fortune thought it probably was too good to be true, so she wasn’t inclined to get up close and personal with the scaly monsters any