Leslie Langtry is, in fact, a mom and a Girl Scout leader, but she has never assassinated anyone, either professionally or for recreation. Okay, she knits, but she almost never garrotes anyone with the circular needles.

Instead, she lives with her husband, Tom, and two children, Margaret and Jack, in the Quad Cities - with no immediate plans to train either child as an assassin. She wants to make that perfectly clear.

Sure, Tom is a professional bodyguard, but he is not from Australia - nor has he ever been there. Seriously, he can't even do the accent properly. And yes, she has a Pug (named Lucy) who has never, ever tried to seduce anything other than the sofa. She also has a basset hound and two cats - none of which possess any killer instincts whatsoever.

So there, you see, this book in no way mirrors Leslie Langtry's life. That's her story, and she's sticking to it.

Photograph by Todd Welvaert