Louisiana Longshot

A Miss Fortune Mystery, Book 1

By: Jana DeLeon

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

It was a hell of a long shot....

CIA assassin Fortune Redding is about to undertake her most difficult mission ever - in Sinful, Louisiana. With a leak at the CIA and a price placed on her head by one of the world's largest arms dealers, Fortune has to go off-grid, but she never expected to be this far out of her element. Posing as a former beauty queen turned librarian in a small bayou town seems worse than death to Fortune, but she's determined to fly below the radar until her boss finds the leak and puts the arms dealer out of play.

Unfortunately, she hasn't even unpacked a suitcase before her newly inherited dog digs up a human bone in her backyard. Thrust into the middle of a bayou murder mystery, Fortune teams up with a couple of seemingly sweet old ladies whose looks completely belie their hold on the little town. To top things off, the handsome local deputy is asking her too many questions. If she's not careful, this investigation might blow her cover and get her killed. Armed with her considerable skills and a group of elderly ladies the locals dub the Geritol Mafia, Fortune has no choice but to solve the murder before it's too late.

©2012 Jana DeLeon (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Clever, funny and fun

Finding Miss Fortune was a happy accident. While a fan of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, I gave up on Evanovich's audio books because the reader is so awful (and so NOT New Jersey). Jana DeLeon's Miss Fortune is equally silly, but the character line-up of Fortune, Ida Belle, Gertie, Carter LeBlanc and the rest are so appealing that you find yourself willingly going along for the ride with their hairbrained antics. The narrator (voice actor) Cassandra Campbell does a great job of capturing each character uniquely in all the southern glory. The books are not 'deep' and Fortune, however much she may be conflicted about being an assassin is no "troubled soul." She is more of the "woman with a gun" model who's ready to lock and load and take on any challenge. In a bizarre kind of way, given that few of us are trained in armed combat, sharp-shooting or other deadly arts, Fortune is very endearing and a little inspiring. I love that her two best friends are octogenarians. Gertie is forever the comic relief (sometimes to overkill), but the real trump card for me is Ida Belle. The characterizations, between the text and skill of the narrator, quickly engage your imagination and empathy and are hugely enjoyable. Read them in order as the story progresses. They are terrific long car-ride or computer (or walk the dog) books. I'm a fan of the Miss Fortune series, but could not make the leap to DeLeon's Mud Bug series which had too much romance and silly, not enough character development.

Loads of fun

Loved it! Great writing, fun characters, fast paced, good narrator. Only complaint is that it ended. I will definitely be continuing this series!

Entertaining

If you enjoy eccentric old southern women and small town Louisiana this is a very enjoyable book with some nice twists. Very entertaining for some light listening.

A FUNNY, COZY MYSTERY

What made the experience of listening to Louisiana Longshot the most enjoyable?

It was a fun read - not too serious but had lots of laughs.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Louisiana Longshot?

The dog finding a bone - a human bone.

Which character – as performed by Cassandra Campbell – was your favorite?

Gertie - she was a hoot as were the other ladies of the Sinful Ladies Society.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh.

Fun and Suspense

I enjoyed this book! The cast of characters are are mischievous, funny and full of surprises. It was a light mystery and without all the gore, sex, violence and cussing. It's proof that a book doesn't need all of that to be excellent. I would recommend this to women of all ages.

Great Cozy Mystery!!

I'm glad I stumbled upon this book. What a great start to a new series of cozy mysteries for me! Captivating characters, funny dialogue and fantastic narration! I highly recommend

Loved it!

This is a great listen! Downloading book 2 as soon as I'm done writing this review.

Very Entertaining

This book is a light-hearted murder mystery. The characters are amusing and have a few surprises up their sleeve. The plot was interesting. The narrator did a great job making it easy to distinguish each character. I enjoyed it very much and will continue with the series.

Great story. plenty of unexpected plot twists,

Great Narration as well. Author and narrator paint a very accurate representation of the location in Southern Louisiana.

Miss Fortune's Misfortunes Good Fun and Surprises

A little Chosen Family... I'll start with my overall impression. I really had great fun with this story. I dearly appreciate light-hearted shenanigans every once in a while... Actually, I enjoy that often. Unrealistic, maybe, but this was good, mischievous, if misguided, fun and really strong female archetypes that could make my generation behind them quite proud, and, if I had only known some such ladies as the Sinful Ladies, perhaps I'd not so often be so chagrined at being raised in the shallow south.

I kept trying to think of how a hardened CIA professional might manage to get so caught up in local drama. Though our lead, female protagonist (Regan??) may have the reflexes and training of a foreign agent, I think it's just as well she's currently not on missions. As her superior, I'd be remiss and then some if I were to actually send her into the field with real national security issues dependent on her success and overall abilities.

I don't begrudge the accents, though the Sinful Ladies do sound mid-west and not kai-yon peppa. True, as far as narrators go, Khristine Hvam in the Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter does Caijun very well, and Carly Robins in Marie Castle's Hell's Belles does a fair job so you know what you're hearing without getting confused when a bayou is mentioned.

Fuuuuunnn and surprises!