• Swamp Santa

  • A Miss Fortune Mystery, Book 16
  • By: Jana DeLeon
  • Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
  • Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (2,302 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Swamp Santa  By  cover art

Swamp Santa

By: Jana DeLeon
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

It's Christmas in Sinful and Fortune is set to participate in all the local hoopla. A Christmas gala, caroling, and a sleigh ride are on the agenda. Murder is not. But when someone bumps off Santa, Fortune is aware a killer is lurking among the holiday cheer. But with no client and no reason to interfere with a police investigation, it looks as if Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie will have to sit this one out.

Big and Little Hebert might be criminals, but they prefer no competition in their territory, especially someone brazen enough to kill a man at the Christmas gala. When they hire Fortune to investigate the man’s death, she gets her Christmas wish and Swamp Team 3 sets out to solve their final case of the year.

©2019 Jana DeLeon (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Swamp Santa

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,924
  • 4 Stars
    309
  • 3 Stars
    52
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,808
  • 4 Stars
    190
  • 3 Stars
    30
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,684
  • 4 Stars
    257
  • 3 Stars
    69
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Christmas in Sinful!!

When Santa drops dead at the annual Sinful Louisiana Baptist and Catholic joint Christmas gala Fortune, Ida Belle, and Gertie (and Gertie's very vocal parrot) find themselves pressed into action. Then when Fortune's private detective agency is hired by the Hebert crime family to protect them from unjust involvement Deputy Carter LeBlanc, Fortune's boyfriend, objects to her involvement. It's then that things get crazy for Fortune and her two geriatric buddies.

Swamp Santa is Book 16 is this marvelous cozy mystery series by Jana DeLeon. The novels are standalone, but are best listened to in order to appreciate the outstanding character development.

Cassandra Campbell narrates the series perfectly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

3.5 Stars! Swamp Santa is book 16 in A Miss Fortune Mystery series. The series is set in Sinful, Louisiana, USA and follows Fortune Redding, who up until book 12 was a CIA assassin in hiding, and old ladies Gertie and Ida Belle, who are lifelong Sinful residents and ex-spy war veterans, as they help solve a string of various crimes and murders.

This is the first full series of Cozy Mystery books that I have read. Cozy Mystery was a new-to-me genre when I found Louisiana Longshot, the first Miss Fortune Mystery series book. Ever since I listened to that book, I couldn't stop. I listened to all of the books back to back up through the 15th book, Cajun Fried Felony, and then was bummed that Swamp Santa wasn't on audible yet. I tried to read it but I had too much going on with my life to really get into reading it so I just waited a few months for the audible to arrive and as soon as it did, I bought it. Now I am sad all over again because there aren't any more books in this series yet and the final sentence of the book was a doozy! It is a lead in to what will come next and I don't want to wait to see what will happen. I tried checking out the author's website but there is no mention of when the next book will be released. I don't know what I will do with out my favorite Sinful characters that I have gotten to know over the past 4 months.

I recommend reading/listening to these books in order since each book builds upon the prior book's story and it makes it much more entertaining and enjoyable to go in order. I'm sure you could still enjoy these books as standalone but it won't be the same.

Swamp Santa is a Christmas edition of this series. In this book, someone killed the man who was playing Santa at one of Sinful's Christmas events. It turns out that this is a multi-city mystery across, New Orleans, Mudbug, and Sinful. Santa wasn't actually the same man who was supposed to be playing Santa. Instead he was a shady and dangerous PI who was searching for a woman and a baby. Fortune and her team, along with the Heberts and Manny, and Carter are all on the case. Of course, Carter in an official Law Enforcement capacity and the others all privately. There are lots of twists and turns in this book. I really appreciate that this author allows the reader to unravel the clues along with the characters and I love how the mystery gets pieced together so well where there are different paths we can follow, some correct and others not, when trying to figure out what really happened.

Even though the mysteries were well pieced together, there were very basic things that didn't make complete sense; such as certain character relationships and interactions. Also, why do these people all have the same last names? Are there only 4 or 5 to go around? Not a huge deal, just weird. The little things kept this book from being elevated to 5 stars for me.

I love the personal story-lines as well. I love Fortune and Carter together and would have loved to see even more of their relationship. I love that Ida Belle and and Walter are engaged and preparing for their wedding. I absolutely adore the friendship and working relationship that Fortune is forming with the Heberts and Manny. I'm so glad that they have become staples in these books. They are all a group of characters that I have grown to love.

If you like books with a big dose of humor, this is the series for you. I have found myself laughing out loud too many times to count.

The same narrator reads for the whole series. She did great for the first 11 books, then books 12 and 13 were a bit sloppy, almost like she was just rushing through, making errors such as incorrect words read and using the wrong character name. 14 and 15 got back on track, but this one was just mediocre. Her voices are usually consistent from book to book but this one was a tad off. The narration was perhaps a bit rushed this time making the enunciation not as clear as it should be in parts and I think there were a couple small word errors as well. Nonetheless, I look forward to more of this series being narrated and hopefully this narrator will be the one to read it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • TC
  • 09-10-20

Adore these books

I like the author has used the same reader - adore all the voices. The stories are always fun, the plots twist & turn. & I have fallen in love with the town and all the characters!!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I love this series

I often go for this series when I want something a little lighter. I love the mystery thriller books but once in a while I like to interject some humor. the characters are so over the top sometimes I laugh out loud in the car.
love the antics!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I enjoy each and every character in this book and have from all the other previous books.

I can be having the worst day of my life and sit down to listen to this book and everything just seems to feel better. Both the writer and the narrator are amazing bringing out the wonderful characteristics of each character in this book. I want to thank you for another very enjoyable book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

They got me at the end

Way to make me buy the next book by adding that last bit at the end🙄

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

WOW!

Love how vibrant the characters are. Great story line. Hate the cliff hanger. please hurry up with the next book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

good book

Loved this book. funny and exciting, Those ladies sure know how to get in to trouble. keep them coming.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another winner!!

I absolutely love this series! ❤️ The characters have depth and I would hang out with them!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Worth the wait!

I held out for the audio version. Glad I did. The actress is perfect for the part. I’m from south Louisiana. Even though she mispronounces some of the local names, she brings the characters to life! Jana DeLeon is an amazing author who keeps the characters growing without getting stale. Looking forward to the next installment.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful