Customer Reviews

Gunshy

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Sharon Lee in Gunshy continues the adventures of Jen Pierce begun in Barnburner. Jen Pierce moved from Baltimore, Maryland to Wimsy, Maine when she inherited her aunt's home. Jen works for the Wimsy Voice, the local newspaper, and is fitting into the town's social network. She's made friends and and is comfortably settling into her new life. One part of her life is Random Access, a computer bulletin board, the people who post there, and David 'Fox' Foxwell who runs it. After a Christmas party for Wimsy Voice employees, a hotel employee is found dead from what the police say was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Later, when Jen learns the identity of the victim, she knows it wasn't a suicide. The victim was deathly afraid of guns and hated them with a passion -- it was murder. Jen knows it's up to her to prove it.

Front and center -- I loved this book. Guess, I have to fess up that I'm originally from Maine and sometimes feel like I'm in exile. Lee manages to evoke Maine in many ways that might pass by someone not familiar with the area: last names, store names, routes and roads, towns, cities, and the people themselves. The evocation of place was so strong that I thought I could smell the crisp winter air and that scent of pine when you reach out and brush against the trees when walking in the woods.

The mystery of Lisa Gagnan's death is unraveled by questioning, searching for clues, and listening as much to what is not said as to what is said. Jen knows something is not right. She's a reporter and begins to investigate to try to have all the questions answered. There's some nifty twists and turns to the plot so you're kept guessing to the end.

There's a large cast of characters and since I never read the first book, I sometimes felt I was at sea without a paddle but you get familiarized with them fairly quickly. The book can be read as a stand alone but I'm definitely going to have to check out the first book and hope there will be more stories about Jen Pierce and Wimsy, Maine.