She’s become an American sensation. But someone wants her dead. Will Annie put a bullseye on the killer before it’s too late?
Fifteen-year-old Annie Oakley is the sole supporter of her widowed mother and two younger siblings. An expert markswoman and independent spirit, she hunts game to sell to the local mercantile to make ends meet instead of accepting a marriage proposal that could solve … proposal that could solve all her problems, including the impending foreclosure of her family’s farm.
After a stunning performance in a shooting contest against famous sharpshooter Frank Butler, Annie is offered a position in the renowned Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Finally, she has a chance to save her family’s farm–and make her dreams come true. But after her catapult to fame, a series of crimes takes place in the Wild West Show, including the death of Annie’s Indian Assistant. The coroner claims the death was due to natural causes, but mysterious clues convince Annie it’s murder. As she gets closer to the truth, her prized horse, Buck–a major part of her act–is stolen, and she realizes that someone is out to get her.
With the help of a sassy, blue-blooded reporter, Annie sets out save her horse, find the killer, and clear her good name–before everything she’s worked for is destroyed.
2019 Chanticleer Murder & Mayhem First Place, Best in Category
2019 Hillerman Award for Southwest Fiction
2019 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards: First Place in the Mystery/Crime Category
2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards: Finalist in Historical Fiction
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Good read with historical overtones
This was the best book I’ve read in a long time and I read 2 to 3 books a week. I told my mother about it and she said she couldn’t put it down
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this story.
I love a good historical novel. Better yet if it’s a mystery. This page-turner follows Annie Oakley as she solves a crime to absolve her name. It’s Sherlock Holmes meets the Wild Wild West.
I am going to say right off the bat that I was pleasantly surprised by Girl with a Gun: An Annie Oakley Mystery by Kari Bovee. I thought the premise sounded really good, but I still wasn’t sure what to expect. This book exceeded my expectations and was so fun to read.
Girl with a Gun focuses on 15 year-old Annie Mosey who is the sole provider for her mother and 2 younger brothers. The book begins by Annie going to a competition where the prize is $200 if you can outshoot the great sharpshooter Frank Butler. After everyone has been impressed by her shooting abilities, she is offered a job with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show under the stage name Annie Oakley that she gladly accepts so she can send the money home to her family. Annie goes on the road with them and quickly finds herself in the middle of a murder and many other mysterious happenings.
I loved seeing names I recognized (besides Annie) like Buffalo Bill and Chief Sitting Bull. Even though the book is fiction and I know it’s not full of facts, I still found it fascinating even just reading about these people in a fictional sense.
I think the major thing people have issues with when reading Girl with a Gun is that there isn’t a lot of characterization. Things might seem a bit abrupt, and relationships not all that believable because of this. This book doesn’t GO DEEP is one good way to put it. I didn’t have any issues with this myself, and just thought of it as a very fun read. I would say it’s on the lighter side, but there are some emotional moments and some heavy subject matters that gave it lots of substance.
Final Thought: If you are looking for something fun to read that’s a bit different from your normal thriller/mystery then I definitely recommend this book. Just don’t go into it expecting lots of characterization and depth because you aren’t going to find it here; I went in with an open mind and I liked it just fine. It’s also a very quick read even though it comes in at over 300 pages. If there are more books to this series I will definitely be reading them as well!
Girl with a Gun in 3-ish words: Unique, Inventive, Fun