A western noir classic mystery by bestselling author John Rose Putnam that will leave you teetering on the edge of your seat until the very last word. When a popular high school senior, the daughter of powerful Laurel big shot, is found dead from a gunshot to the heart on the property of a cantankerous dairyman, suspicion falls heavily on the farmer and his football star son.
The characters were engaging and the mystery and the scenes of the story were built on naturally and I enjoyed the way the story was brought out. Liked it.
This is the second in the Roy Martin Mysteries, with Roy Martin, the Sheriff, having to deal with the murder of the daughter of one of the more powerful families in the county. The body is dumped just over the line and on the property of a cantankerous old farmer who responds to Roy’s visit with his shotgun. Roy tells the farmer his bull may have had a run in with someone and is limping and then asks questions regarding the young woman. Small towns and such, it comes out that Raelynn and the farmer’s son, Will, may have been an item, much to the dismay of her parents. The son’s not any more receptive to Roy than his father and things get a bit testy. Then there’s the disabled Marine who gets along with the cows and the bull.
Roy is a no-nonsense Sheriff and somehow manages to thwart the irate father’s attempt to take the law into his own hands. How it all turns out is a bit of a surprise and the bull gets even. The pace is good and the characters are well-developed, although most are new to this book. This can easily be read as a stand alone. If you like westerns and mystery, you’ll like this one. The third in the series, The Stink on Racoon Creek, released in March and is on my TBR list.
This novel starts out with a bang and doesn’t quit until you’ve read the very last page!
Cantankerous old farmer and his stubborn son–an old disabled Marine who gets along with the cows and a bull who has it in for everyone else and never forgets a slight. Roy Martin, Sheriff, has to get to the bottom of who murdered the daughter of the most powerful man in the county and an ending that will shock you!
“Shooting the Bull” is John Rose Putnam’s second excursion for Sheriff Roy Martin, a superbly crafted character, as he investigates the murder of a young girl. Several of the characters that accompanied Martin in the excellent debut novel in this series, ‘The Misplaced Mob’, are back, and author Putnam complements them with a magnificent selection of additional individuals, each a standout in their own right. If it’s one thing that the author has obviously put a lot of work into, it’s the creation and development of the people who populate his novels, and it shows; you will find yourself still thinking about them long after you finish the book.
Though in many respects this is a character-intense novel, author Putnam serves up an intriguing mystery for the Sheriff to solve. Putnam drops the reader into the case straight from the first sentence and the tension and pace do not let up until the final, epic showdown, a tribute to his exceptional writing skills. Like the first novel in the series, this is set in the 1950’s, in small-town America, an ambience that he recreates with astounding ease, transporting the reader there easily.
I did spot a couple of titillating teasers for what author Putnam may have in store for us as the series evolves. Bring on book three! Highly recommended for lovers of outstanding crime thrillers.