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Tubby Dubonnet #5-6
Tubby Dubonnet Mysteries Vol 5-6
The FIFTH and SIXTH funny, offbeat, and surprising legal thrillers in the Tubby Dubonnet series.CORRUPTION, MURDER, AND A REALLY GREAT PO’BOY…“Take one cup of Raymond Chandler, one cup of Tennessee Williams, add a quart of salty humor, and you will get... Dunbar’s crazy mixture of crime and offbeat comedy.” -The Baltimore Sun
A New Orleans lawyer who'd rather eat, drink, and swap stories than get caught in court, Tubby Dubonnet, cleaving faithfully to his guiding principles “Never screw a client and never lie to the judge,” manages, in his own laconic fashion, to right many of the wrongs that beset his clients. In these late-series books, he’s experiencing the pride and satisfaction of new grandparenthood. And he’s taken on some additional civic duties, agreeing to co-chair the reelection campaign of his good friend, Judge Hughes.
But in Tony Dunbar’s books, New Orleans is The Big Sleazy squared. No one is safe, especially from their elected officials. Even if they are an elected official.
Half the fun of a Tubby Dubonnet book is watching his sly creator fit together a plethora of fascinating yet seemingly unrelated jigsaw pieces to form a picture you never saw coming. And the other half is hanging out with Tubby and his crew of eccentrics, sleazeballs, goofballs, and enticing, confusing babes in the Big Easy-to-Love. The food descriptions are no slouch either.
These are funny-hard-boiled mysteries with as many laughs as chills, because no matter how dire things get, Dunbar never loses his sense of "I think he's going to shoot us once we're out in the Gulf," Tubby whispered to the girl.“His aura is green,” she agreed.
“Dunbar has an excellent ear for dialogue … His stylish take on Big Easy lowlife is reminiscent of the best of Donald Westlake and Elmore Leonard.” -Booklist
WHO WILL LIKE THESE: Fans of Tremé, softshell crab po’ boys, Domilise’s, the Upperline Restaurant…wait, let’s start over, it's not all about the food—ok, fans of legal mysteries, (particularly Parnell Hall’s Steve Winslow series and anything by Lia Matera), comic mysteries, Elmore Leonard, funny lawyer movies like My Cousin Vinny, TV shows like Ally McBeal and Night Court; and everyone’s favorite New Orleans yarn, Confederacy of Dunces.
Vol. 5: CRIME CZAR
It's a city of sin. And murder is only one of them.
Tubby Dubonnet can't forget the last words that escaped an old friend's lips, and he can't get out of the way of a political campaign that's turning rough. Obsessed with the idea that a shadowy crime boss may be pulling the strings that have cost good people their lives, Tubby is entering into a test of courage with the most violent men in New Orleans. And if that weren't dangerous enough, he’s just picked up the worst ally he could ever a beautiful prostitute gunning for revenge.
Vol. 6: LUCKY MAN
When the D.A. himself sets you up, you know you're going down…So what if Judge Hughes shared a few special moments with Sultana Patel—why is this a matter of public interest? “The stench from that courthouse fills the city,” roars D.A. Marcus Dementhe.
A New Orleans lawyer who'd rather eat, drink, and swap stories than get caught in court, Tubby Dubonnet, cleaving faithfully to his guiding principles “Never screw a client and never lie to the judge,” manages, in his own laconic fashion, to right many of the wrongs that beset his clients. In these late-series books, he’s experiencing the pride and satisfaction of new grandparenthood. And he’s taken on some additional civic duties, agreeing to co-chair the reelection campaign of his good friend, Judge Hughes.
But in Tony Dunbar’s books, New Orleans is The Big Sleazy squared. No one is safe, especially from their elected officials. Even if they are an elected official.
Half the fun of a Tubby Dubonnet book is watching his sly creator fit together a plethora of fascinating yet seemingly unrelated jigsaw pieces to form a picture you never saw coming. And the other half is hanging out with Tubby and his crew of eccentrics, sleazeballs, goofballs, and enticing, confusing babes in the Big Easy-to-Love. The food descriptions are no slouch either.
These are funny-hard-boiled mysteries with as many laughs as chills, because no matter how dire things get, Dunbar never loses his sense of "I think he's going to shoot us once we're out in the Gulf," Tubby whispered to the girl.“His aura is green,” she agreed.
“Dunbar has an excellent ear for dialogue … His stylish take on Big Easy lowlife is reminiscent of the best of Donald Westlake and Elmore Leonard.” -Booklist
WHO WILL LIKE THESE: Fans of Tremé, softshell crab po’ boys, Domilise’s, the Upperline Restaurant…wait, let’s start over, it's not all about the food—ok, fans of legal mysteries, (particularly Parnell Hall’s Steve Winslow series and anything by Lia Matera), comic mysteries, Elmore Leonard, funny lawyer movies like My Cousin Vinny, TV shows like Ally McBeal and Night Court; and everyone’s favorite New Orleans yarn, Confederacy of Dunces.
Vol. 5: CRIME CZAR
It's a city of sin. And murder is only one of them.
Tubby Dubonnet can't forget the last words that escaped an old friend's lips, and he can't get out of the way of a political campaign that's turning rough. Obsessed with the idea that a shadowy crime boss may be pulling the strings that have cost good people their lives, Tubby is entering into a test of courage with the most violent men in New Orleans. And if that weren't dangerous enough, he’s just picked up the worst ally he could ever a beautiful prostitute gunning for revenge.
Vol. 6: LUCKY MAN
When the D.A. himself sets you up, you know you're going down…So what if Judge Hughes shared a few special moments with Sultana Patel—why is this a matter of public interest? “The stench from that courthouse fills the city,” roars D.A. Marcus Dementhe.
373 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 7, 2016
486 people are currently reading
415 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.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 6, 2017
It took a while for Crime Czar to grow on me, but then before I knew it, I was finishing the second part. I have to read more of Tubby to decide if I love him or if he's just moderately entertaining.
November 9, 2022
Good stories about a lawyer who is actually a likeable and fairly decent person.
I will only comment on book 6 as it’s a long time since I read book 5 and I think I wrote a separate review then.
Book 6. Tubby gets involved defending a judge who the new District Attorney is accusing of impropriety.
The DA wants the judge to dish the dirt on his fellow judges in order to be treated leniently.
That strand of the story in the book is interwoven with other stories covering various shady and or unfortunate folk and how Tubby deals with it all.
I will only comment on book 6 as it’s a long time since I read book 5 and I think I wrote a separate review then.
Book 6. Tubby gets involved defending a judge who the new District Attorney is accusing of impropriety.
The DA wants the judge to dish the dirt on his fellow judges in order to be treated leniently.
That strand of the story in the book is interwoven with other stories covering various shady and or unfortunate folk and how Tubby deals with it all.
July 14, 2017
Tubby Dubonnet Mysteries, Vol 5-6 (Vol 5, Crime Czar; Vol 6, Lucky Man)
Two excellent books combined in a boxed set. As in all Tubby Dubonnet mysteries, there are many sub-stories evolving that seem totally disconnected other than they seem to be logical happenings in the New Orleans environment. By the end of the book, Tony Dunbar has woven these disconnected stories together so well that you just shake your head and say, "Wow, I didn't see that coming." Great reads.
Two excellent books combined in a boxed set. As in all Tubby Dubonnet mysteries, there are many sub-stories evolving that seem totally disconnected other than they seem to be logical happenings in the New Orleans environment. By the end of the book, Tony Dunbar has woven these disconnected stories together so well that you just shake your head and say, "Wow, I didn't see that coming." Great reads.
May 29, 2018
This was an AWESOME READ!!
Totally a can't put down, until the very end!! I love the way it is written, I felt as though I was right there in each story!!
Tubby Dubonnet is a very likable character. Just an everyday guy, trying to help his friends, and clients that come his way!! Any Tubby Dubonnet book is a MUST READ!!
Totally a can't put down, until the very end!! I love the way it is written, I felt as though I was right there in each story!!
Tubby Dubonnet is a very likable character. Just an everyday guy, trying to help his friends, and clients that come his way!! Any Tubby Dubonnet book is a MUST READ!!
January 23, 2019
Two good books
As implausible as the plots sometimes get, the stories are entertaining and the characters easy to identify with. Tubby is that rare lawyer who's more fun out of court
As implausible as the plots sometimes get, the stories are entertaining and the characters easy to identify with. Tubby is that rare lawyer who's more fun out of court
December 24, 2023
Very entertaining
The characters and plots created in this series are funny and believable it doesn't take long to read these stories as you can't put the book/books down. I highly recommend.
The characters and plots created in this series are funny and believable it doesn't take long to read these stories as you can't put the book/books down. I highly recommend.
January 16, 2017
Fun reading
Fun reading the characters are always getting in trouble trying get the big money payout but ends up losing it tubby always fins the truth
Fun reading the characters are always getting in trouble trying get the big money payout but ends up losing it tubby always fins the truth
January 4, 2018
These books are humorous, however, I do not like this writer's particular style.
February 9, 2018
Ruyfuy
The new version,the more likely you have any of them in my car and then you will need the address
The new version,the more likely you have any of them in my car and then you will need the address
April 20, 2018
Ah New Orlwans
I love these murder and mayhem books. The author brings New Orleans darker side to life as well as introducing the reader to the city"s inhabitants.
I love these murder and mayhem books. The author brings New Orleans darker side to life as well as introducing the reader to the city"s inhabitants.
April 4, 2019
Another Insight of New Orleans living
Great development of characters, interesting perspective of New Orleans and a lot of good food! Tubby is a stand-up guy o IN a sometimes seedy business.
Great development of characters, interesting perspective of New Orleans and a lot of good food! Tubby is a stand-up guy o IN a sometimes seedy business.
October 17, 2018
now i am hooked. This was such a great, easy and creative book. i was hooked after the first page.
The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.
i would highly recommend this author and this book.
The characters were easy to fall in love with and follow, along with the story. the author made the mental visions so easy and vivid of the surroundings and the characters actions felt so real.
i would highly recommend this author and this book.
January 23, 2017
Good read
Tubby can be slightly unethical but has a good heart for his friends and family. He is funny and will go to bat for all friends and clients.
Tubby can be slightly unethical but has a good heart for his friends and family. He is funny and will go to bat for all friends and clients.
February 4, 2017
Moves fast!
As usual...fun, interesting, great characters and fast moving! Tubby never disappoints! If you're looking for fun, mystery and a crazy ride, then check out Tubby!!!
As usual...fun, interesting, great characters and fast moving! Tubby never disappoints! If you're looking for fun, mystery and a crazy ride, then check out Tubby!!!
July 30, 2021
Readable, but not for me.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews