Girl with a Gun by Kari Bovee – 3 Star Book Review

She’s on the rise to fame and fortune, but her sudden notoriety comes with some deadly consequences.

Welcome to one of the February 3rd stops on the blog tour for the Annie Oakley Mystery series by Kari Bovee with iRead Book Tours (schedule linked.) Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for more reviews, exclusive content form the author, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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About Book One

Girl with a Gun
An Annie Oakley Mystery Book One
by Kari Bovee

Print/eBook
Published 5 March 2020
Bosque Publishing
Page Count: 320

Audiobook
Published 10 September 2020
Bosque Publishing
Length: 9 hours and 24 minutes
Narrator: Susanna Burney

Genre: Historical Mystery, Cozy Mystery
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

She’s on the rise to fame and fortune, but her sudden notoriety comes with some deadly consequences.

Annie Oakley thrives as a sharpshooter in the Wild West Show. Finally, she has a chance to save her family’s farm—and make her dreams come true.

But her act misfires when she discovers her Indian assistant dead in her tent. Uncovering a shocking secret from her assistant’s past, the girl with the gun believes it’s murder. Determined to find the truth, she ruffles some horse feathers, making enemies along the trail.

​But, when her prized gelding is stolen, Annie realizes she might have been the target all along.

Can Little Miss Sure Shot save her equine friend and find the killer before everything she’s worked for is destroyed?

​If you like a cunning mystery, a feisty heroine, and a fast-paced plot that keeps the pages turning, you’ll love this wild ride with the iconic Annie Oakley in the saddle.

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My Review

My Rating: 3 Stars
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I was granted complimentary audiobook access to Girl with a Gun as part of my participation in a blog tour for this series with iRead Book Tours. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Author Kari Bovee set out to do something with the classic Annie Oakley story that’s never been done before: turn it into a cozy mystery! I’m a huge fan of cozy mysteries and historical fiction, and Annie Oakley flavoured review opportunities have been flocking to my inbox lately (seriously, sometimes trends in publishing are so niche it’s hard to believe they’re coincidence!) so I jumped at the chance to try out this series for the tour.

The pros: Bovee is definitely a skilled storyteller and crafted a believable plot of cozy mystery level difficulty and reader stress. It was light, easy to follow, and easy to get lost in. I do love the attempt to do something different with such a well known, factually based character and I do think Bovee has succeeded in developing a unique version of Annie that will appeal to mystery and historical fiction readers alike.

The cons: None of the other characters felt developed, there are a lot of egregious historical inaccuracies that didn’t seem to be there on purpose to aid the plot, and this book (and its sequels) are on the long side for the cozy mystery genre. There are plenty of mini-plot sequences that do nothing for the overall story and could have been trimmed. There’s also a relationship between two side characters that involves baby-making between a grown man and a very young girl that’s creepy, unnecessary, and not founded in what’s historically known for the man the older character is based on.

Susanna Burney’s narration was easy to listen to and well-paced. She did a good job of making characters sound distinct without exaggerating anything too much or putting on an over-the-top performance that distracts. I would gladly pick up other audiobooks with this narrator.

More Books!

Peccadillo at the Palace
An Annie Oakley Mystery Book Two
by Kari Bovee

Print/eBook
Published 5 March 2020
Bosque Publishing
Page Count: 336

Audiobook
Published 5 May 2021
Bosque Publishing
Length: 9 hours and 52 minutes
Narrator: Susanna Burney

Genre: Historical Mystery, Cozy Mystery
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

She’s outgunned her opponents at every turn, but will it be enough to solve a royal case of murder? Annie Oakley can’t believe her good fortune at an imperial invitation.

Queen Victoria wants Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show to perform for her Golden Jubilee. But during the voyage to England, a royal escort is murdered and the gun-slinging star finds herself at the center of an assassination plot against the crown.

Determined to catch the killer, Annie tracks down the clues. And by the time they reach London, she thinks she’s right on course. But when her husband falls mysteriously ill, and an assassination attempt is made on the queen, the sharpshooting amateur sleuth may find herself out to sea before her ship comes in.

Can the clever markswoman solve the double-barreled mystery before it’s too late?

Peccadillo at the Palace is the second novel in the Annie Oakley Mystery Series. If you like a fast-paced mystery with unexpected plot twists that will keep you guessing until the very end, you’ll love this riveting historical mystery featuring America’s favorite sure-shot.

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Folly at the Fair
An Annie Oakley Mystery Book Three
by Kari Bovee

Print/eBook
Published 23 May 2020
Bosque Publishing
Page Count: 326

Audiobook
Published 14 September 2021
Bosque Publishing
Length: 9 hours and 48 minutes
Narrator: Susanna Burney

Genre: Historical Mystery, Cozy Mystery
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

She never misses a target. But unless she can solve this murder, she’ll become one…

Chicago World’s Fair, 1893. “Little Sure Shot” Annie Oakley is exhausted from her work with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. But when a fellow performer scuffles with a man who threatens her harm, she has to keep her eyes peeled. And when the heckler is found dead under the Ferris Wheel, Annie won’t rest until she proves her defender is innocent.

Before she can rustle up any clues, an old friend asks Annie to protect her young daughter. And as more bodies turn up around the grounds, she’s going to need all her sharpshooting skills just to stay alive.

Can Annie live up to her reputation and put a bullseye on the killer?

Folly at the Fair is the third book in the Annie Oakley mystery series. If you like strong heroines, Wild West adventures, and suspenseful twists and turns, then you’ll love Kari Bovée’s fast-paced whodunit.

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Shoot Like a Girl
An Annie Oakley Mystery Book 0.5
by Kari Bovee

Print/eBook
Published 25 November 2019
Bosque Publishing
Page Count: 88

Audiobook
Published 7 December 2020
Bosque Publishing
Length: 2 hours and 14 minutes
Narrator: Susanna Burney

Genre: Historical Mystery, Cozy Mystery
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

She would do anything for her loved ones, even if it meant she’d be lost to them forever.

Young Annie Oakley never expected to be saddled with responsibility so soon. Following her father’s sudden death, the spirited girl finds herself shipped to a nearby county working for a couple promising a good wage. But when she discovers they are not what they seem, Annie suddenly fears her life may be in peril.

Determined to help her mother and siblings, she endures the hardships and mistreatment from the couple. But when that cruelty is targeted at the beautiful Buckskin horse who is her only friend, Annie decides to take matters into her own hands.

Will the spunky teen return to her loved ones, or will her decision land her in jail?

​Shoot like a Girl is the prequel novella to the Annie Oakley mystery series. If you like a fiercely loyal heroine who won’t be anyone’s victim, then you’ll love Kari Bovée’s thrilling story of America’s best-loved sharpshooting sensation.

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About the Author

When she’s not on a horse, or walking along the beautiful cottonwood-laden acequias of Corrales, New Mexico; or basking on white sand beaches under the Big Island Hawaiian sun, Kari Bovee is escaping into the past—scheming murder and mayhem for her characters both real and imagined, and helping them to find order in the chaos of her action-packed novels. Bovee writes the award-winning Annie Oakley Mystery Series and the Grace Michelle Mystery Series, and has more ideas than time for many, many more.

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Giveaway Alert!

Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card courtesy of the author of the Annie Oakley Mysteries! (one winner) (ends Feb 11)

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.