One missing person turns out to be four, then three more, in this newly minted PI’s first real case.

What is the connection between bodies on the luggage return at Southwest Florida International Airport, client Allison’s missing twin brother, Cuban refugees landing on a Florida island, young men sailing off on a trip to the Caribbean who never return, six-year-old Manuel who has lost his mother, Colombian drugs smugglers, a missing cocaine shipment, and Susan who wants protection from thugs breaking into her apartment?

Ernestine “Ernie” Pratt, an almost thirty, independent, computer geek turned PI lives with her mother Jessica on an island in Florida. She tries to connect the dots and find the answers with the help of Sherriff’s Deputy Jeremy Thorpe and a cast of unruly characters.

Now available at  Amazon – Kindle

J.C. Ferguson’s Mangrove Madness is a rollicking good ride. In this PI story, with a pinch of cozy and a dash of hardboiled, Ernestine “Ernie” Pratt, finds herself caught up in a missing persons case that has as many twists and turns a mangrove root. A single woman, closing in on 30, marriage-shy but definitely interested in men, Pratt is surrounded by as quirky a cast of characters as you’d expect to find washed up on the Florida Gulf Coast in winter. She has all of the requisite smarts, courage and self-deprecating humor, and Ferguson presents her with a great colloquial narrative voice. I definitely see a series character.

–David Daniel, author of White Rabbit and The Marble Kite.

Reviews

Its not all madness 🙂

By Patti Brassard Jefferson, Author on March 25, 2017

Format: Kindle Edition

I bought this book at P.J. Boox bookstore in Florida and loved it. It is the first book that I have read by this author but will not be the last, I assure you. Its a good mystery and the fact that much of it takes place in Fort Myers Beach added a bonus for me. The heroine of the story is likable and genuine and you find yourself rooting for her to solve the mysteries before her. I hope that J.C. Ferguson turns this into a series as I would love to see Miss Ernie Pratt in another twisting, turning adventure!

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A Mystery in Our Backyard

by Henry (Hank) Heitmann, Author, January 2018

OK, I got hooked just like a Redfish in the back waters. I was never a big fan of mystery novels, but J.C. Ferguson’s Mangrove Madness introduced me to the genre in a wonderful way. It was very hard to put the book down. The story was in constant motion, the southwest Florida settings were deliciously visual, the humor produced audible laughter, and the characters became alive. I even imagined a young Meg Ryan as “Ernie” and Mathew McConaughey as Jeremy in a movie version of the book. J.C. Ferguson writes with great humor, intriguing plot twists, and fun sex scenes. I am anxious to read a sequel.

Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2018
What a fun, fast paced, action filled adventure! Taking place in my area just adds to my enjoyment. Hoping for #2 book soon!

Check out the location of the story.

Website for my award-winning novel, The Janus Code.

About the Author, J.C. Ferguson (aka) Judy Loose