A Rodeo Producer, Dead in the Bull Pen. Accident or Murder?
Elizabeth, until recently a top-flight national TV journalist, is regaining her footing after a dizzying demotion to tiny—and entirely foreign to her—Sherman, Wyoming. But her equilibrium faces a major challenge.
The apparently accidental death — under the hooves of rodeo bulls — of a rodeo producer preparing for Sherman’s annual … preparing for Sherman’s annual Fourth of July Rodeo catches the attention of Elizabeth and her KWMT-TV colleague Michael Paycik. Not only is it a major story about the region’s biggest event, but it’s being outrageously mishandled by the station’s egocentric anchor.
As Elizabeth and Michael dig, area rancher Thomas Burrell joins the investigation, providing background on suspects — and there are plenty because the victim had many enemies. But Tom has divided loyalties, so Elizabeth doubts his commitment to finding the truth no matter what. Not to mention that both Mike and Tom show an interest in her … they might be okay with working together in a peculiar triangle, but the points of this geometry is starting to get under her skin.
… From the tip of the rodeo queen’s tiara, to “agricultural byproducts” ground into the arena dust, TV reporter Elizabeth “E.M.” Danniher receives a murderous introduction to the world of rodeo.
Don’t miss any of “Caught Dead in Wyoming”
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Left Hanging
Shoot First
Last Ditch
What people are saying about LEFT HANGING
“I started laughing on the first page and continued laughing until the end.”
“Loving the world of Cottonwood County, Wyoming!”
“The dialogue was so well written that I could easily imagine the innuendo, tone of voice and facial expression of each character.”
What people are saying about the CAUGHT DEAD IN WYOMING series
“She writes a little like Janet Evanovich only better.”
“E. M.’s internal monologues are sharp, snappy and often hilarious.”
“Hoping this series lasts forever!”
“McLinn has created in E. M. a female protagonist who is flawed but likable, never silly or cartoonish, and definitely not made of cardboard.”
“While the mystery itself is twisty-turny and thoroughly engaging, it’s the smart and witty writing that I loved the best.” – Diane Chamberlain, bestselling author
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I enjoy Patricia McLinn’s writing and enjoy this series. The characters and their friendship adds to the story.
Left Hanging by Patricia McLinn
Caught Dead in Wyoming Series Book Two
Elizabeth Margaret Danniher has a five month contract left with the network. She was sent to the small town of Sherman in Wyoming. Quite a step down from New York and Washington DC, but she’s making the best of it. In fact, she’s already made quite the splash. She cleared a man of murder…by the order of his young daughter for her to do so…and cleaned out some no-accounts in the justice system.
She is all for justice. Even when she looks at people as suspects…and finds it very unwelcome. In the end, she’s made some good friends and perhaps a few enemies. But, she found the truth. So, when the Fourth of July Rodeo is all set to hit town and there’s a death…she doesn’t sit back and accept it as an accident without lifting every stone…or bale of hay…to find the truth.
I love this series and all the secondary characters. There’s a lot of humor while on the hunt for justice.
**Language
https://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/2015/02/patricia-mclinn-book-list.html
A view into the minds of people who feel history has cheated them of something they should have had.
McLinn’s writing is just to my taste. Great characters that interact well. I have read the previous (first) book in the series and plan to read the rest.
Well-developed characters and great plot! Kept me entertained to the end!
This is a nice change from the “cozy” mysteries. Characters develop, and there are some really interesting ones that I have no problem imagining I might run into them in my town. Interesting info on Wyoming. Good evolving mystery…and there is a dog!
I enjoyed the first book in the series and bought this as I wanted to see how the three main characters develop. It’s an intriguing triangle, with Elizabeth attracted to both Mike and Tom in different ways. But I’m afraid this story got too bogged down with the details of rodeo life, which means nothing to me. It held up the plot. There was also a cast of thousands which got confusing – too many black cowboy hats, which even Elizabeth herself said at one point. I did finish it but probably missed some important points as I resorted to skim reading the descriptions. Will appeal to many but not really for me.
Scamming the Rodeo
Criticism: I read Ms McLinn’s first book in this series a couple years ago. Without ruining the first one’s plot, I wish she’d reviewed the background and relationships of a couple of the characters.
-Appropriate for mid-teens – adults
-Setting: Small town Wyoming nearing the 4th of July, where our main character, Elizabeth, is rebuilding her journalism career after her no-good ex spitefully ruined it in the big city.
-No sex, although part of the plot includes past seduction of young ladies involved in the yearly rodeos in Wyoming and Colorado. (How could those women be that naive?)
-Some strong language, but more often it is referred to as having been used and sometimes in an amusing fashion.
-Violence: not described in much depth, although the apparent cause of the murder is truly awful.
-Interesting characters.
-Some clever dialogue and smooth writing style
Plot no spoilers:
A sleazy businessman is found having been trampled to death by herd of charging of bulls. Turns out that the bulls not only shouldn’t have been loose, but they weren’t the actual cause of death. Instead, they were the means of covering up the actual cause. Clever.
Elizabeth, her journalist friends, and law enforcement work mostly together to figure out who orchestrated the murder and why. There are plenty of possibilities. The guy’s death could arguably be said to have made the world a better place.
I felt the story may have started slowly, but that might have been because I’d waited so long to read this installment.
Recommendation? Read #1 first, then after a reasonable amount of time pick up this one.