Book Review: Sharpshooter

Reviewed By: Pat Reid - RAM

Sharpshooter     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Nadia Gordon
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Culinary   Woman Main Character   Amateur Sleuth
Series: Sunny McCoskey # 1
Chronicle Books, 2002, 272 pp.

The main character of this book is Sunny McCoskey, owner of Wildside, a restaurant located in the Napa Valley Wine County. Jack Beroni of Beroni Vineyards is found dead on his property and still wearing a tuxedo. He has been shot in the chest with a rifle, sniper style, from a distance. Sunny’s good friend Wade Skord is soon arrested for the murder. Wade who also owns a vineyard is in the habit of using the same type of gun that shot Jack Beroni for a game he invented called assault golf.

Sunny takes it upon herself to find the real killer and is thus embarked on her detective career. Soon Sunny’s friend Rivka, who also works at Wildside, is deeply involved. Their quests into the history of the Beroni family and their employees makes the pair suspect a number of different people. The threat posed to the valley by an insect, the glassy-winged sharpshooter and how the owners of the different vineyards want to approach the insect problem also comes into play. After a number of misadventures they finally narrow the search and come up with the murderer.

The book moves at a fast pace and I would have enjoyed it more if I had a deeper interest in the types of wines and the growing of wines because the book has many referrals to different types of wines and the making of the same.

Pat Reid - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Pat Reid - RAM