The Gun Also Rises – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint #BookReviews – February Recap

Rosepoint Reviews - February Recap

Welcome March!

If it’s March, can spring be lurking around the corner? Unfortunately, not in our part of the world, where we are a mere hour from the windy city, Chicago. The area in northwest Indiana (NWI) is looking pretty frigid for another two weeks (at least). Fortunately, being an hour from Jesse Brown Medical Center, the VA Hospital in Chicago, my hubby has access to some pretty amazing care and was a beneficiary of those medical wizards again this week. Either we’ve been exceptionally lucky with the care he has received, or they are all really that good. (Thank heaven and a shout out to the personnel–thank you!)

February, of course, a short month anyway, definitely saw a decrease in my blog activity. I’d decided the first of the year that there was no way I could continue to keep the pace I was trying for with any degree of quality content. So, I’ve cut my target posts to three days a week (Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday) unless something unusual crops up that demands attention. Busier than a one-armed paper-hanger, I didn’t get a recap out for January, although there were some very worthy five star reads: Fractured Truth by Susan Furlong and Freedom Road by William Lashner. And the luck continues with some remarkable books in February (see my listing below).

March signals the month to highlight Irish authors and novels and I have a number of books lined up already, as well as an interview, and those will be highlighted at an early date.

My book reviews for February:

(If you missed any of my full reviews, just click the link below.)

Ratman and Robin: The Attack of Catman and the Meows by K.A. Bolton

The Puppy Who Knew Too Much by V.M. Burns

Something Red, Something Dead by Eva Gates

Feb 1 – The Second Wife by Sheryl Browne

Feb 3 – The Gun Also Rises by Sherry Harris

Feb 5 – The Wedding Guest by Jonathan Kellerman

Feb 8 – Murders and Metaphors by Amanda Flower

Feb 10- Ratman and Robin by K.A. Bolton

Feb 12- The Puppy Who Knew Too Much by V.M. Burns

Feb 15- The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey

Feb 17- Something Red, Something Dead by Eva Gates

Feb 19- A Killer’s Alibi by William L. Myers, Jr.

Feb 22- Dead Memories by Angela Marsons

Feb 24- Open Carry by Marc Cameron

Feb 27- Final Exam by Carol J Perry

The Beantown Girls was an exceptional five star read–highly recommended! Finding no feasible way to separate my husband’s reviews from mine, I doubled my Goodreads Challenge to 200, which should amply cover the 100 I hope to read. (Sitting in a hospital can get you reading time, but zero internet or review time.)

If you’ve wondered about why I use the cell phone to showcase the book cover, it’s because that indicates either a download from NetGalley or directly from an author request. Otherwise, a blog tour includes the tour banner and identifies the book tour operator. (You can view the two upcoming shortly in the widget column on the right.)

Also, I keep a running list of all the books attributed to my NetGalley and Alphabet challenges on my Reading Challenges page and I’ve started a list of my favorite reads of 4.5 stars or better that I’ll post mid-year. It’s not too late to participate in a reading challenge and there is a challenge out there for everyone!

As always, please share your recommendations for great reads with me and thank you so much for being a part of this blog and for taking the time to post your likes and comments. They are SOOO appreciated!

The Gun Also Rises by Sherry Harris #BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway

I am so delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for The Gun Also Rises-A Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery #6 by Sherry Harris on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour. Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!

Book Details

The Gun Also Rises (A Sarah W. Garage Sale Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Kensington (January 29, 2019)
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
ISBN-10: 1496716965
ISBN-13: 978-1496716965
Digital ASIN: B07CWF942Q

Book Blurb

TO RECOVER A PRICELESS MANUSCRIPT . . .

A wealthy widow has asked Sarah Winston to sell her massive collection of mysteries through her garage sale business. While sorting through piles of books stashed in the woman’s attic, Sarah is amazed to discover a case of lost Hemingway stories, stolen from a train in Paris back in 1922. How did they end up in Belle Winthrop Granville’s attic in Ellington, Massachusetts, almost one hundred years later?

WILL SARAH HAVE TO PAY WITH HER LIFE?

Before Sarah can get any answers, Belle is assaulted, the case is stolen, a maid is killed, and Sarah herself is dodging bullets. And when rumors spread that Belle has a limited edition of The Sun Also Rises in her house, Sarah is soon mixed up with a mobster, the fanatical League of Literary Treasure Hunters, and a hard-to-read rare book dealer. With someone willing to kill for the Hemingway, Sarah has to race to catch the culprit—or the bell may toll for her . . .

My Review

A garage sale mystery! That is definitely something new for me in the cozy genre, and is there any better premise for a bunch of bibliophiles than a storyline about books? Rare books, exceedingly rare books. One of which is by famous author Hemingway no less. This book spelled fun from the beginning! I really enjoyed the author’s writing style–just enough snark to keep it kicky but respectable.

There are several threads weaving in and through the main storyline. The first is that protagonist Sarah Winston is involved in a fundraiser to bring home a war dog that is vital to the mental health of a recently returned veteran suffering from PTSD. Also, Sarah is invited to set up, catalog, and sell a massive collection of books at Ms. Belle Winthrop Granville’s mansion. She is a widow who is clearing out and donating the entire library. There are real collector’s items in the main library downstairs, including first edition, leather-bound rare and semi-rare books. While sifting through the “lesser” books in the attic, however, decades of paperbacks including Nancy Drew and assorted mysteries, Sarah discovers a case of original manuscripts by Hemingway.

OMG! I could almost smell them! Like finding the dead sea scrolls…so excited–definitely brought me back to the discovery of all the manuscripts my grandfather left. The paper, yellowing and somewhat brittle, so fragile. But if that’s not enough, before she can settle down, the case is stolen and she’s off to recover it–but nearly gets taken out by a wayward branch–another of which killed the maid who grabbed the case.

Rumors are flying about a limited, signed edition of The Sun Also Rises after Sarah finds a receipt for the missing book also secreted in the attic. Move over, Sarah, I’ll help you look! But that sets off a league of crazed treasure hunters, media frenzy, a big guy who insists on following her, and visits to one of the local mob bosses. Sarah, through her friends and contacts with her ex, gains access to the local base as she continues to work both the fundraiser and deliver pointed questions to whoever might have a connection to the missing manuscripts.

Characters are fairly well fleshed, though perhaps not thoroughly as they might this being the sixth in the series. Even so, I’m liking Sarah. She really knows how to go about pursuing bargains! And Seth has really piqued my interest. I like the setting in Ellington MA, which gives me peaks into Boston. Secondary characters are engaging and meld a fine connection to the protagonist who has had to restart her life off the base. I also appreciated the inside scoop on the role of military wives, particularly those with a ranked spouse, something not previously contemplated. The well-plotted narrative moves at a good pace and keeps interest through to the conclusion. I’m hooked and looking forward to the next in this series!

I received this ebook download from the publisher and NetGalley for the book tour and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review, giving me a new series to follow. Recommended for any looking for a unique perspective into cozy mysteries with a sassy, independent, and capable protagonist as well as the inside scoop on garage sales, and our veterans.

Giveaway

Here is your chance to win one of (3) Print Copies of The Gun Also Rises (A Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery) by Sherry Harris (U.S. Only) in this Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Sherry Harris - author Agatha Award-nominated author, Sherry Harris, started bargain hunting in second grade at her best friend’s yard sale. She honed her bartering skills as she moved around the country while her husband served in the Air Force. Sherry uses her love of garage sales, her life as a military spouse, and her time living in Massachusetts as inspiration for the Sarah Winston Garage Sale series.