Customer Reviews

Going, Gone: A Gail McCarthy Mystery (Gail McCarthy Mysteries)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I enjoyed Laura Crum's earlier novels when Gail McCarthy was a working veterinarian. There is no sense of urgency in this book. Much of the visual imagery is pleasing and Sunny the horse is a great character but Crum drops the ball with Gail's old friends Lonny Peterson and Bret Boncantini. Plus I wasn't in the mood for Gail's little soap-box treatment of home schooling. I'm a teacher, enough said. Gail's husband, Blue Winter, is so laid back he's pretty much a non-character. The plot is intersting but not at all exciting. Overall, I was disappointed with this novel. This review may not be helpful if you've never read Crum before, but to veteran Crum readers, I'm interested in what you think.

Started reading the Laura Crumm books when they first came out and they just keep getting better and better. Going Gone is one of my favorites thus far. Even non horsey readers will like these mystery stories. Gail McCarthy is a down to earth vet, with a family of animals, husband, and son, and as you read the books, gets to be a real interesting person to the reader and makes you want more. Hope she keeps writting about Gail and her adventures in our beautiful California.

I guess you could call me a die hard fan of the old Laura Crum. I kept buying her books even after she entered her 'baby' phase and her writing took a way wrong turn. Well, this is it, this is the last Laura Crum book I will buy or borrow.

Possible spoilers: I couldn't finish this book. I struggled to read along while Gail and her obedient little husband planned a trip to visit Gail's old lover. I kept reading through the boring road trip to the lover's farm. I was still reading when Lover gave Gail a present of a horse. Shortly after they dragged Lover off to jail for murder, I gave up. The only thing that would have improved this book is if the killer came back and murdered Gail's whole family. That's how desperate I was for something interesting to happen. And that's how much I cared about the characters.

If it is an interesting cozy you are looking for, don't even consider this one. Try one of Mary Saums Thistle and Twigg series. Funny, great characters and interesting themes. For more mystery and excitement try Beverly Connor's Dianne Fallon mysteries.

Laura Crum has come through again with a fast paced mystery in her series of Gail McCarthy Mysteries. Gail's son is 9 and she is less focused on her son and more at ease with her life. Gail is a vetererinarian and mystery solver. I love her telling of the animals she loves and has lost.

Lovely descriptions of the natural world are only one part of the gorgeous writing. A wholly satisfying mystery is another part of the equation. But for me, only slightly exposed to the beauty of horses as a young girl, the most captivating part of the novel (as with the prior book in the series, Chasing Cans) was the love of and appreciation for the animals which were among the most fully realized characters in the book. Not to take anything away from the humans at all, I am quick to add. Gail McCarthy, 45-year-old veterinarian with a home near California's Monterey Bay, is very like her creator, surrounded by four-footed creatures - horses, dogs and cats as well as chickens - and her husband and young son. When they decide to visit Gail's old boyfriend, Lonny, in the Central Valley, upon their arrival they find him about to be arrested on murder charges.

Gail is convinced that Lonny is innocent of the crimes, though the evidence is damning: The gun that had killed Lonny's girlfriend and her brother, found on the floor near the bodies, belonged to Lonny, and only his fingerprints are on it. The deputy sheriff sent to arrest him is a childhood friend of Gail, and, unofficially, he and Gail set out to prove that someone else committed the murders when the detective assigned to the case is certain they've already got their man.

Wild chase scenes are ubiquitous in mystery novels, but none as wonderfully realized as the ones atop four-footed animals depicted here. Also typical of Ms. Crum's writing is this passage: "And here we were. For just this moment, in a perfect world. I stared down at the sunlight gleaming on Sunny's silvery-gold neck and glanced at Mac's happy, open face. I let my eyes drift around the wide spaces that surrounded us, a tapestry of hills and sea and sky. For a second my heart clutched. I want to hold us in this moment forever. Free and happy and whole, on our horses, on the roof of our world. But moments can't be held." The book is an unabashed pleasure to read, and is recommended.

Gail McCarthy is a veterinarian, who along with her husband and young son, takes a camping and riding vacation on the property of one of her old friends. Soon after their arrival at the campsite, her friend is arrested for murder by another old friend who is now in law enforcement. Even as Gail tries to maintain the vacation, she is drawn into trying to help her friends. Eventually, her efforts take her back home where she continues her efforts to help clear her friend.
I liked how Laura Crum described the countryside, the meadows and forest, and Gail's relationship with her horses. Even someone like me, who knows little about horses and riding, could understand the connection and the joy Gail experienced when she rode.
I also liked how she portrayed the reconnection among old friends. For readers of previous books in the series, this would also be a reconnection with old friends as they are characters from previous books. For me as a first time reader, I want to get to know the stories of what happened to these characters before the events of this story.
I liked this book, but oddly, it was more because I enjoyed getting to know the character of Gail than for the mystery. I'll likely read others in this series.
This was an Advanced Readers Copy received through Library Thing.

This was the first book in this series I have read. It was easy to read without having read the previous books because I didn't feel lost at all. All the characters were well introduced. I thought the lead of the story, Gail, was a bit on the dumb side. I'm assuming the previous books about her were mysteries also.Example-She sat down at a table next to the people she felt uncomfortable about in a restaurant to eves dropping on them, then she was surprised when one of them recognized her when he left? The author also spent a lot of time (words) describing the scenery, I found myself skipping through those parts. Gail's son was a big part of the story but her husband not so much. He was more of a background character. It wasn't a bad story but I'm not going to buy a book from this series.

Laura Crum's horse lovers mystery was a new experience for me. The words that came to mind as I read were introspective, peaceful and caring. The mystery itself was secondary.
Gail McCarthy loves her family, animals and the countryside. This love come through the narrative without being mawkish or overly sentimental. She becomes involved in a murder investigation in order to clear a dear friend from false accusations.
I enjoyed this novel although it is very different from the mysteries I usually read.
Advance Reading copy received through LibraryThing

Forty-five year old retired horse veterinarian Gail McCarthy is married to a man younger than her. Together they raise their six year old son; home-schooling him. Gail believes the three of them could use a vacation so they paick up their things, take their horses and go to the Sierra Nevada foothills to camp on land belonging to her former boyfriend, Lonny Peterson.

Lonny arrives at their camp to greet them. Accompanying him is another childhood friend of Gail, sheriff's deputy Bret Boncantini. Lonny explains that Bret arrested him for the murders of his girlfriend Lorene Richardson and her brother Cole; they ran livestock auctions. Neither Gail or Bret believe Lonny killed them, but the lead detective believes he did as the female victim was seen fighting with the suspect over her dating her former spouse Kevin Moore and Lonny's gun was by the body with only his prints on it. Finally a witnesses places Lonny at the crime scene at about the time of the homicides. Bret is limited on what he can do so Gail investigates following a lead that Cole was involved in illegal dealings. However, a calculating killer watches her carefully preparing for one more murder if needed.

The Laura Crum mysteries will obviously be enjoyed by amateur sleuth aficionados, but also by horse lovers. Going, Gone is an entertaining whodunit as several murders including a child occur in front of a pristine stark natural background. Gail stands by her friend and being a civilian can do what Bret as a law enforcement official cannot even as she breaks laws to prove her case. Although the typical amateur sleuth risking their life is an intricate part of the strong plotting, fans will enjoy Going, Gone as there are plenty of viable suspects with Lonny remaining at the head of the class.

Harriet Klausner