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Tubby Dubonnet #0.5
Envision This
Meet Tubby Dubonnet, easygoing, quick-thinking New Orleans attorney-turned-sleuth and the star of a series of amusing mysteries in which he gets to fight evil and pass a good time--although his preference is generally for the latter. He'd much rather eat shrimp scampi or crab etouffée at one of the many local restaurants he frequents than deal with the demands of his infrequent clients.
But once he's in, he's in for the long haul. His clients are going to get the best possible service--no matter how many laws he has to break.
But once he's in, he's in for the long haul. His clients are going to get the best possible service--no matter how many laws he has to break.
- GenresMystery
23 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 26, 2012
24 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
About the author
Tony Dunbar
43 books100 followersTony Dunbar started writing at quite a young age. When he was 12, growing up in Atlanta, he told people that he was going to be a writer, but it took him until the age of 19 to publish his first book, Our Land Too, based on his civil rights experiences in the Mississippi delta. For entertainment, Tony turned not to television but to reading mysteries such as dozens of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories. Among his favorites are: Dashiell Hammett, author of The Maltese Falcon, and Tony Hillerman, and John D. MacDonald, and Mickey Spillane.
He has lived in New Orleans for a long, long time, and in addition to writing mysteries and more serious fare he attended Tulane Law School and continues an active practice involving, he says, “money.” That practice took a hit in the Hurricane Katrina flooding, but the experience did produce a seventh Tubby Dubonnet mystery novel, Tubby Meets Katrina
The Tubby series so far comprises seven books: The Crime Czar, City of Beads, Crooked Man, Shelter from the Storm, Trick Question, Lucky Man, and Tubby Meets Katrina. The main character, Tony says, is the City of New Orleans itself, the food, the music, the menace, the party, the inhabitants. But Tubby Dubonnet is the actual protagonist, and he is, like the author, a New Orleans attorney. Unlike the author, however, he finds himself involved in serious crime and murder, and he also ears exceptionally well. He is “40 something,” the divorced father of three daughters, a collector of odd friends and clients, and he is constantly besieged by ethical dilemmas. But he is not fat; he is a former jock and simply big.
Tony’s writing spans quite a few categories and is as varied as his own experiences. He has written about people’s struggle for survival, growing out of his own work as a community organizer in Mississippi and Eastern Kentucky. He has written about young preachers and divinity students who were active in the Southern labor movement in the 1930s, arising from his own work with the Committee of Southern Churchmen and Amnesty International. He has written and edited political commentary, inspired by seeing politics in action with the Voter Education Project. And he has had the most fun with the mysteries, saying, “I think I can say everything I have to say about the world through the medium of Tubby Dubonnet.”
Hurricane Katrina and the floods, which caused the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans for months, blew Tony into an off-resume job serving meals in the parking lot of a Mississippi chemical plant to hundreds of hardhats imported to get the complex dried out and operating. It also gave Tony time to write Tubby Meets Katrina, which was the first published novel set in the storm. It is a little grimmer than most of the books in the series, describing as it does the chaos in the sparsely populated city immediately after the storm. “It was a useful way for me to vent my anger,” Tony says. Still, even in a deserted metropolis stripped of electric power. Tubby manages to find a good meal.
The Tubby Dubonnet series has been nominated for both the Anthony Award and the Edgar Allen Poe Award. While the last one was published in 2006, the author says he is now settling down to write again. But about what? “Birds and wild flowers,” he suggests. Or “maybe television evangelists.” Or, inevitably, about the wondrous and beautiful city of New Orleans.
He has lived in New Orleans for a long, long time, and in addition to writing mysteries and more serious fare he attended Tulane Law School and continues an active practice involving, he says, “money.” That practice took a hit in the Hurricane Katrina flooding, but the experience did produce a seventh Tubby Dubonnet mystery novel, Tubby Meets Katrina
The Tubby series so far comprises seven books: The Crime Czar, City of Beads, Crooked Man, Shelter from the Storm, Trick Question, Lucky Man, and Tubby Meets Katrina. The main character, Tony says, is the City of New Orleans itself, the food, the music, the menace, the party, the inhabitants. But Tubby Dubonnet is the actual protagonist, and he is, like the author, a New Orleans attorney. Unlike the author, however, he finds himself involved in serious crime and murder, and he also ears exceptionally well. He is “40 something,” the divorced father of three daughters, a collector of odd friends and clients, and he is constantly besieged by ethical dilemmas. But he is not fat; he is a former jock and simply big.
Tony’s writing spans quite a few categories and is as varied as his own experiences. He has written about people’s struggle for survival, growing out of his own work as a community organizer in Mississippi and Eastern Kentucky. He has written about young preachers and divinity students who were active in the Southern labor movement in the 1930s, arising from his own work with the Committee of Southern Churchmen and Amnesty International. He has written and edited political commentary, inspired by seeing politics in action with the Voter Education Project. And he has had the most fun with the mysteries, saying, “I think I can say everything I have to say about the world through the medium of Tubby Dubonnet.”
Hurricane Katrina and the floods, which caused the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans for months, blew Tony into an off-resume job serving meals in the parking lot of a Mississippi chemical plant to hundreds of hardhats imported to get the complex dried out and operating. It also gave Tony time to write Tubby Meets Katrina, which was the first published novel set in the storm. It is a little grimmer than most of the books in the series, describing as it does the chaos in the sparsely populated city immediately after the storm. “It was a useful way for me to vent my anger,” Tony says. Still, even in a deserted metropolis stripped of electric power. Tubby manages to find a good meal.
The Tubby Dubonnet series has been nominated for both the Anthony Award and the Edgar Allen Poe Award. While the last one was published in 2006, the author says he is now settling down to write again. But about what? “Birds and wild flowers,” he suggests. Or “maybe television evangelists.” Or, inevitably, about the wondrous and beautiful city of New Orleans.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 4, 2026
Envision This: A Tubby Dubonnet Short Story (The Tubby Dubonnet Series), my first well-developed short private investigator read from author Tony Dunbar. Shameful admission, I got this book 12 years ago and lost track of it, only discovering when I searched my books by date in an effort to read things that fell through the cracks. I may have found a new author to read. This being the lead-in to the Tubby Dubonnet series. “I received a complementary Kindle copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I look forward to reading more from this author with Crooked Man: A Hard-Boiled but Humorous New Orleans Mystery (Tubby Dubonnet Series #1) added to my TBR list. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).
October 26, 2023
Somewhere along Tubby's career, his inventor client comes up with an idea that has wannabe investors very, very interested - but the meeting doesn't quite go as planned....But the good guys persevere in the end.
No pot of gold at the end of this rainbow - but all meaningful folks are alive and well at the end.
No pot of gold at the end of this rainbow - but all meaningful folks are alive and well at the end.
March 25, 2018
Little tale. Big clever.
If you're a Tubby Dubonnet fan this is a must read.
If you're a Tubby Dubonnet fan this is a must read.
January 21, 2019
Great start to this series!
February 18, 2019
I have loved Tubby Dubonnet for years. This is as entertaining and twisted as the rest of the series and I loved it.
March 9, 2017
Envision This
A very interesting story withOut and two of his friends. Very interesting short story covering one very interesting invention and the attempt to gather investment money to manufacture the contact that would help information retrieval to help individuals appear very bright.
A very interesting story withOut and two of his friends. Very interesting short story covering one very interesting invention and the attempt to gather investment money to manufacture the contact that would help information retrieval to help individuals appear very bright.
August 25, 2016
I dont usually read short stories.
I came across an advert for a later book in this series and it interested me enough to dig further. Not only did I find the full Tubby Dubonnet series but also this prequel.
It seems a good idea to give the reader a chance to see if he likes the author's style , the resident charactors etc, without wasting time on a full novel. I am quite surprised that this practice isnt more wide spread.
As an additional bonus, here was a link to a short video about Tubby Dubonnet's side of New Orleans. As I know very little about that city I believe it will help set the scene for the first in the series which I will be reading before long, in spite of rating this short taster only a 3*
I came across an advert for a later book in this series and it interested me enough to dig further. Not only did I find the full Tubby Dubonnet series but also this prequel.
It seems a good idea to give the reader a chance to see if he likes the author's style , the resident charactors etc, without wasting time on a full novel. I am quite surprised that this practice isnt more wide spread.
As an additional bonus, here was a link to a short video about Tubby Dubonnet's side of New Orleans. As I know very little about that city I believe it will help set the scene for the first in the series which I will be reading before long, in spite of rating this short taster only a 3*
May 9, 2015
This is an entertaining short story featuring Tony Dunbar's lawyer/sleuth Tubby Dubonnet of crime and retribution in New Orleans. It’s filled with the sort of eccentric characters you'd expect to find there (and actually do find there if you visit.) I love this series and this book!
July 28, 2014
Another quick read...lots of fun!
February 25, 2015
I've never read the series and had no idea what to expect.This was cute and fun! Clever, left me chuckling. I'll have to check out the novels.
March 27, 2015
Way to short
But I guess it was a short story like it said. Guess I'll have to buy the next book in bbc.co the series
But I guess it was a short story like it said. Guess I'll have to buy the next book in bbc.co the series
March 20, 2016
TOO short
But written in a true Tony Dunbar style. I am fairly sure that it will be the start of a novel
But written in a true Tony Dunbar style. I am fairly sure that it will be the start of a novel
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews