With one call, everything changed. With a large ranch to
work, a house to keep, a sheriff for a husband and a
moody orphaned teenage niece to care for, Kate Fox's
days, evening and nights are full and it is calfing
season to boot. Still, all manageable and going fairly
well. But, now with Roxy screaming into the phone that
there is blood everywhere and someone is dead, Kate's
world flips upside down faster than a cow kicking the
proverbial milking machine.
Anxious to get news and heedless of her old and dirty
barn attire, Kate jumps in her old '73 Ford Ranchero
and races down the highway trying to get a signal on her
cellphone. Finally reaching the "crime scene" at Eldon's
Bar J Ranch, the details start falling into place.
Eldon, Carly's grandfather is dead, and Ted, Kate's
Sheriff husband, is being whisked off to the hospital
ninety miles away. Kate can only follow the ambulance
and try to make sense of all the jumbled shards of this
highly usual situation. Ted has been shot, but how bad?
Carly is Eldon's heir as both her parents had died, but
where did that girl disappear to? What the hell is going
on?
Shannon Baker's latest offering, STRIPPED BARE, will
certainly add to her growing fame as a writer of
western based mysteries as she so ably and authentically
brings the joys, trials and tribulations of living in the
modern west so vividly to life! The pretty, but not
interested in fashionable attire Kate Fox, her latest
protagonist, is already being praised as a female
Longmire and I couldn't agree more! Born smack in the
middle of eight very lively, outspoken and well-connected
siblings, Kate knows when to make her mark and when
resistance is futile. Getting and giving advice comes
naturally to this boisterous bunch.
With its vivid descriptive writing and compelling
plotting, STRIPPED BARE will take you for a gallop of a
ride that leave you breathless and spellbound until you
reach its very surprising ending. Drawing on her own
experiences of living in the Nebraska Sandhills, Baker
ably paints a very authentic and vivid backdrop to her
story that makes one feel as if experiencing it first
hand. From the long miles to drive to anywhere in the
wide spaces in the west to the quirks, mannerisms and
attitudes of her rural characters, Baker definitely hits
the bull's eye!
STRIPPED BARE is my first introduction to Baker's
wonderful and compelling writing style, but it definitely
will not be my last. I absolutely cannot wait for the
next installment in this new series and I can't recommend
reading STRIPPED BARE highly enough! Be warned... reading
STRIPPED BARE will take you on such a fast paced and
mesmerizing emotional ride, it will leave you breathless
and panting for more! A wonderful western mystery not to
be missed! Enjoy!
Stripped Bare by Shannon Baker is "A must read" (Alex Kava, New York Times bestselling author) that stars a female Longmire in the atmospheric Nebraska Sandhills.
Kate Fox is living the dream. She’s married to Grand County Sheriff Ted Conner, the heir to her beloved Nebraska Sandhills cattle ranch, where they live with Kate’s orphaned teenage niece, Carly. With the support of the well-connected Fox Clan, which includes Kate’s eight boisterous and interfering siblings, Ted’s reelection as Grand County Sheriff is virtually assured. That leaves Kate to the solitude and satisfaction of Frog Creek, her own slice of heaven.
One night Kate answers a shattering phone call from Roxy at the Bar J. Carly’s granddad Eldon, owner of the ranch, is dead and Ted has been shot and may never walk again. Kate vows to find the killer. She soon discovers Ted responded so quickly to the scene because he was already at the Bar J . . . in Roxy’s bed. And to add to her woes, Carly has gone missing.
Kate finds out that Eldon was considering selling his ranch to an obscenely rich environmentalist. Some in town hate the idea of an outsider buying up land, others are desperate to sell . . . and some might kill to get their way. As she becomes the victim of several “accidents,” Kate knows she must find the killer before it’s too late. . . .
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