[Miss Fortune Universe 01] • Jewel of the bayou

Even before CIA assassin Fortune Redding came to town, Sinful, Louisiana had more excitement than it deserved - and Gertie and Ida Belle, founding members of the Geritol Mafia, always seemed to find themselves at the center of whatever trouble was bubbling up along the Bayou.

Gladys Langstrom, a cantankerous recluse known for blowing through her employees and tossing them aside faster than her tissues, has been a thorn in the side of the Sinful Ladies Club for longer than anyone cares to remember. A pillar of the Sinful Baptist Church until she got stuck with the wrong end of the pipe during the Great Organ Fiasco, she’s withheld her presence (to everyone’s relief) and her money (to the Church Board’s dismay) ever since. But if you take one clueless newcomer, throw in a rugged man on a mission, and stir it all up with the ugliest necklace this side of the swamp, there might just be a way for Gertie and Ida Belle to make Gladys useful in spite of herself. One thing is for sure… the Sinful Ladies can put the mess into mystery without even trying.