Kari Bovee's Blog

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Like most of us, I’d heard the name Annie Oakley before, but she didn’t interest me until about a decade ago when my father encouraged me to watch a PBS American Experience biographical special featuring Annie Oakley and her rise to fame.

I watched the show and became enchanted with this pint-sized wonder woman who was incredibly empowered at a time in history when most women weren’t allowed to be empowered. She had talent, spunk, determination, modesty, and the courage to be herself—an expert markswoman and sharpshooter. She bested most men in the sport, including her husband, Frank Butler, and her boss, Buffalo Bill Cody—two of her most ardent supporters.

As a fan of historical fiction and historical mysteries, I thought it would be entertaining to put this feisty young woman in the role of an amateur detective. Based on everything I’d read about her she certainly had the smarts, the compassion, and the desire to see justice served and order reign in the world. I’ve tried to maintain historical accuracy for the most part, but in this series, I have played with some facts: I’ve altered time-lines, added fictional characters, embellished historical characters, and put Annie into situations she never faced in real life—and I’ve had so much fun doing it.

This month, I am releasing the entire Annie Oakley Mystery series collection in a boxed set which includes the prequel novella, and three full-length novels full of adventure, mystery, and mayhem. The set is available for preorder now on Click Here to reserve your collection.

The prequel novella, Shoot like a Girl, is the story of Annie before she joins the Wild West Show. Although she doesn’t play the role of amateur detective in this book, we learn what drives her to seek order and justice for herself and others through her relationship with Buck, a horse who becomes her lifeline during a difficult period in her life.

From her experiences in Shoot like a Girl, Annie becomes impassioned to seek justice for those who cannot seek it for themselves, and we see her spring into action to solve the mystery of her fallen Indian assistant in Girl with a Gun. This will set her on a course for more adventures as she tries to set things right in a world that can go oh so wrong.

In Peccadillo at the Palace, we see Annie and the Wild West Show venture across the pond to England to perform for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. During the weeks-long sea voyage, the murder of their escort, a favorite of the queen, is an omen of more nefarious things to come and Annie finds herself embroiled in an assassination plot against the beloved monarch.

Folly at the Fair takes Annie and the traveling show to Chicago for the Columbian Exposition of 1893. When her friend and colleague is accused of killing a man they encountered on the world’s most famous Ferris wheel, Annie steps in to help, only to discover that the man’s death is connected to a series of murders that have all taken place at the fairgrounds. The clock is ticking, and Annie must find the culprit lest her friend face the noose.

I have delighted in imagining what was in the heart, mind, and soul of this young woman who faced many obstacles in her life, only to become one of the most famous women of all time. It’s been gratifying to put her in difficult situations and see her come out of a shroud of mystery, shooting her way to the truth. I hope you will enjoy these and future adventures I’ve created for this amazing woman of history—Little Miss Sure Shot, Annie Oakley.

Come travel the world with Annie! Click Here to preorder the Annie Oakley Mystery Series: Fame, Fortune, Murder.

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Living in the untamed West in the turn of the 18th century certainly took some tenacity. Particularly in the Colorado Rocky mountains. But there were many people, including some pretty amazing women, who did it through sheer tenacity and grit—and lived to tell the tale.

Recently, while researching my upcoming historical cozy mystery series, The Pryce of Murder series, featuring Arabella Pryce—an English Expat who finds herself in a small Colorado mining town via fame and fortune in New York City, I stumbled upon Isabella Bird, a British explorer, writer, photographer, and naturalist, who fell in love with the ruggedness and beauty of Colorado and in no uncertain terms, conquered it. 

Born in 1831 in Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, England, Isabella was a sickly child, suffering from ailments of the spine, headaches, and insomnia. Her family doctor, who was quite progressive for his time, recommended she spend more time outdoors. A woman after my heart, Bird took had an affinity for horses and learned to ride at a very young age. 

An extremely intelligent child, she also loved to read and write and was first published at age sixteen. The piece was a pamphlet addressing free trade versus protectionism. From then on, she continued writing articles for various periodicals. 

The family spent several summers in Scotland, in an effort to improve her health, but Isabella continued to decline. This time, the doctor recommended a sea voyage. In 1854, with money given to her by her father, Isabella first sailed to the United States. Her letters written home formed the basis of her first book, An Englishwoman in America, which was published 1856.

Having caught the travel bug, Bird again left Britain in 1872, first going to Australia, and then spending time in Hawaii, then known as the Sandwich Islands. There, she climbed both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Her love for the Islands resulted in her second book titled Six Months in the Sandwich Islands.

IN 1873, her travels then took her to the territory of Colorado, where she had heard its mountainous air was beneficial for good health. On horseback, she covered 800 miles of Rocky Mountain terrain and climbed one of Colorado’s more difficult fourteeners, Longs Peak—in rubber boots and a flowing, silk Hawaiian dress, no less. She accomplished this and other amazing feats with the help of a guide, Jim Nugent, or “Rocky Mountain Jim,” who was once described as “a textbook outlaw with one eye and an affinity for violence and poetry.” Bird, in letters to her sister which were first published in the magazine, The Leisure Hour, wrote of him as “her dear desperado,” and as “A man any woman might love but no sane woman would marry.” Those letters culminated in Bird’s fourth and perhaps most famous book, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains.

Although she and Nugent had formed a special bond, and some sources claim he was madly in love with her, the lure of more adventure pulled Isabella away from her good friend. He died one year after her departure from Colorado.

Bird later married surgeon Dr. John Bishop, but her restless spirit could not be tamed. She went on to travel the world, but the time in the Colorado Rockies would always remain special to her. Now, over 100 years later, she is still known as the “mother” of the region. 

There are so many amazing women of history that serve to inspire women of our generation. Isabella Bird was one such woman. 

My character, Arabella Pryce is not quite so adventurous, and finds life in the West just as challenging as other women of her time. But as she learns to navigate the wilds of the Colorado mountains, I hope she can make her mark there as well!

The first book of The Pryce Murder Series, The Pryce of Conceit, An Historical Ghost Cozy Mystery, comes out in May, 2023.

A woman who made her high flying dreams come true, Bessie Coleman was the first woman of African American descent and the first woman of Native American descent to obtain her pilot’s license, and the first black person of either sex to earn an international pilot’s license Born in Atlanta, Texas in 1892, Bessie was … Continue reading Bessie Coleman – High Flying Aviatrix →

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For over 400 years, historians have been trying to discern the mysterious death of Amy Robsart and whether her husband, Robert Dudley,  and perhaps Elizabeth I, had anything to do with it. Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and Queen Elizabeth I played together as children, but their relationship may have deepened while both imprisoned in the … Continue reading Elizabeth I and the Death of Amy Dudley →

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Repost: Fashion icon, military leader, murderer. Few women can lay claim to all three titles, but Cleopatra was no ordinary woman. Born in 30 B.C.E., Cleopatra, who ruled Egypt for 21 of her 39 years, was a woman of great beauty and style. She was also a fierce leader who craved power and control. Among many … Continue reading Cleopatra – Fashion Icon, Military Leader, Murderer →

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For nineteen years, Sonora Webster Carver made her living on the back of a flying horse.   Clad in a trim bathing suit, Sonora climbed a forty-foot wooden tower and when a galloping horse charged up the adjoining ramp, she jumped on its back and the two would sail through the air, eventually landing in … Continue reading Sonora and her Flying Horse →

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Join host Kari Bovee, award-winning author of historical fiction as she shares stories of strong women of history combined with mysteries of the past. >> Listen to Flash briefing HERE. << Welcome back to the continuation of Ghost Stories of New Mexico on Where History Meets Mystery. Today we continue with of the story Julia Schuster Staab, the … Continue reading Flash Briefing – New Mexico Ghost Stories: La Posada Part II →

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Join host Kari Bovee, award-winning author of historical fiction as she shares stories of strong women of history combined with mysteries of the past. >> Listen to Flash briefing HERE. << Welcome back to the continuation of Ghost Stories of New Mexico on Where History Meets Mystery. I hope you enjoyed last week’s ghost stories of La Llarona … Continue reading Flash Briefing – New Mexico Ghost Stories: La Posada →

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