Louisiana Longshot

I'm very, very late coming to this party (there are now twenty-eight Miss Fortune Mysteries in print) but I'm happy to be here. 'Lousisana Longshot' was great fun. The humour was unforced but constant. Even though the main character, Fortune Redding, is a CIA assassin with a long list of kills to her name, she's easy to like. I enjoyed her, often bemused, reaction to living in the small town of Sinful, Louisiana, which seems more alien to her than being in-country in a Middle Eastern desert. I enjoyed watching her try and fail to behave like the librarian and ex-beauty queen her cover story claims she is. Most of all, I enjoyed watching her getting to know the formidable and amusing older women who lead The Sinful Ladies who covertly show more run the town.

There's a mystery plot that's used mostly to reveal the complex history of Sinful and The Sinful Ladies while putting Fortune into increasingly risky situations that usually end with her getting wet, muddy, shooting something and or trying to hide from the local ex-marine Deputy Sheriff.

For me, the book was one big smile and I happily suspended my disbelief to enjoy it fully. I loved the mix of the young assassin and the dangerous, secretive, scheming old ladies trying to solve a murder while preventing the Deputy Sheriff from building a case against a local widow.

The plot made a kind of whacky sense. Yes, it was too fantastic to be true but it was also too much fun for me to be worried about feasibility.

I think this series is going to be a regular comfort read for me, an opportunity to step away from reality into a chaotic, slightly exotic, female-dominated world where the good guys win the end. I've already downloaded 'Lethal Bayou Beauty', the second book in the series.

I recommend the audiobook version of 'Louisiana Longshot'. Cassandra Campbell's narration added a lot to my enjoyment of the book. I think she got the tone absolutely right and she gave each of the main characters a distinctive voice. show less

I absolutely loved this book. This is the first in the Miss Fortune mystery series. The book is hilariously funny with Fortune (as in Soldier of Fortune) who is a trained assassin who works for the CIA. During her five year career she has come across some very dangerous people, and on her last assignment which finished just before this book begins, she crossed the wrong arms dealer. She has a price on her head. Her boss wants her out of harm's way so he sends her undercover to a small town called Sinful, in Louisiana. Everyone thinks, including Fortune herself, that she'll be safe in the sleepy little town. Not!!! She winds up in a hot bed of intrigue when she gets inovled with two septogenarian women. These white-haired women seem show more perfectly respectable and harmless, but on her first day there, a human bone is found in the bayou backing on the yard of the house where Fortune is living. That's where the mayhem and hilariious antics begin. This is a cozy mystery, but it has more action and calamaties, all mixed in with madcap humour, than most thrillers. Loved the book. Loved Fortune and her two sidekicks - Ida May and Gertie, and I loved the setting - right on the Louisiana bayou. show less

I was surprised at how much I liked this. It's a hilarious twist on conventional small town cozy mysteries, with a CIA paid assassin having to hide out in a small town, only to befriended by the oddest set of wonderful old ladies. Seriously worth it.

A new series/author for me. All I can say is: end of chapter one and my stomach hurts from laughing. I do believe I am going to enjoy this Fortune Redding character.

Chuckled and chortled my way through this one. Too many funny situations to pick a favorite. Fortune’s reaction to a typical southern town kept me entertained while she tried to figure out why the dog turned up human bones. With the assistance of the leading ladies of the local Women’s Auxiliary, Fortune works to unravel the mystery of the found bones. What remains to be seen is whether Fortune will survive the assistance offered by the twosome.

Wow! Right from the first few sentences, you realize you’re not dealing with your average cozy! Fortune Redding, expensively dressed, disembarks from a plane near Washington, D.C., having freshly killed someone. You soon realize she’s a CIA assassin. Yikes! She ends up hiding out in Sinful, Louisiana, an appropriately named bayou backwater, posing as a demure, pretty librarian.

Or at least I thought. I thought author Jana Deleon has penned a fun, twisty mystery with Miss Fortune as a fish-out-of-water in a narrow-minded town in South Louisiana, population: 253. Instead, the novel falls into too-twee territory by Chapter 4. Every Southern stereotype pops up in the book’s cardboard characters; in fact, Fortune Redding is the only show more semi-realistic character in the entire book. Yet, the plot’s not bad, and the ending was first-rate. Will I be back for more adventures in Sinful, La.? Only God knows because I sure don’t. show less

Well, I'm almost sure Longshot refers to a weapon, when I first saw the title I thought it refered to a drink. Sure. But this book turned out to be so humorous I was completely taken in, especially since it combines two different military operations and a lot of secrets. What can you do when your best assassin ends up on a worldwide hit list? Naturally the first thing would be to make her disappear, at least for a certain length of time. Where better? The Louisiana bayou, perfect if you don't become the meal of an alligator!

Fortune is a personal assassin who has blown her cover. Her new identity "Sandy-Sue Morrow" is obviously about as opposite as possible to her own. When Fortune learns where she will be, how will she ever be able to show more play that one out? Initiative? Improvisation? She will be the doppleganger as Sandy-Sue, who is a librarian, knitter (well, that could come in handy), and former beauty queen who also happens to be the niece of Fortune's boss...what? This will not be a new appointment, this is strictly to have her off the grid until she is no longer in danger from the arms dealers' hit list. This book is full of quirky citizens and rules, the town is named Sinful, yet Sundays have their own quirky regulations for a surprising reason. The Sinful Ladies Society is comprised of Seniors; one might say they are still living in the '60s but some are very capable, surprisingly versatile, and definitely your accustomed "little old ladies".

I loved this book, full of adventure, murder, mystery, and some very good friends, the essence of quirkiness, even elderly as they are. What a surprise to learn their history! This book is fun, different, and what's with the deputy who keeps popping up out of nowhere? With so much going on one might wonder how anything gets accomplished, and for that matter does anything get accomplished? This is a read that will take you on unusual adventures just by being there. I can hardly wait to read more by Jana Deleon. show less

assassins, louisiana, humor, law-enforcement, spies

Super great fun! Think of it as Mel Brooks does James Bond (but female). Don't want to recap the whole story, because the publisher's blurb gives hints and clues and there is no need for spoilers. Just give yourself enough time to laugh yourself silly over the situational and verbal humor.
I am so glad that I got it as Whispersync on the cheap!