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Show Me #3
Show Me the Gold
Staking out a country graveyard to catch vandals, ex-spy Phoenix Smith and Acting Sheriff Annalynn Keyser respond to a neighboring county's urgent call. The old friends block an exit from an abandoned farmhouse where four bank robbers were spotted. The women engage in a fatal shootout, but two gang members escape. Achilles, Phoenix's K-9 dropout, can't sniff out a trail but smells a trap set to kill pursuers.
The FBI takes over the case but fails to find the fugitives or the gold coins they stole. Agents suspect Phoenix knows where the gold is. So do the elusive robbers. Phoenix must adapt her tradecraft to protect herself and others and to follow threads leading to the gang and the gold.
The FBI takes over the case but fails to find the fugitives or the gold coins they stole. Agents suspect Phoenix knows where the gold is. So do the elusive robbers. Phoenix must adapt her tradecraft to protect herself and others and to follow threads leading to the gang and the gold.
- GenresMystery
304 pages, Hardcover
First published December 17, 2014
About the author
Carolyn Mulford
12 books66 followersCarolyn writes the award-winning Show Me mystery series featuring an ex-spy who applies her tradecraft honed in Eastern Europe to solving homicides in rural Missouri. Carolyn taught English as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ethiopia, worked as a writer and editor in Vienna and Washington, D.C., and freelanced as a nonfiction writer and editor before focusing on mysteries and historical MG/YA fiction.
To read book excerpts and and blog posts, visit http://carolynmulford.com.
To read book excerpts and and blog posts, visit http://carolynmulford.com.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 10, 2015
Fun read. Page turner. Author neatly ties the events impacting 3 middle aged friends in a small Missouri town into a satisfying crime thriller. Can't wait for the next round. Dog lovers will be happy with the K9 protector of hummingbirds & Phoenix & her friends
December 14, 2016
Fast moving mystery with exciting twists and turns. Mulford does not waste a word. Great detective work and deductive reasoning by the characters who shine in this story. A very good read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2018
A CIA operative has returned to her small town in Missouri, and now solves crimes with her friends, while attempting to figure out life as a normal older woman. In this one, our heroine juggles the FBI, conflicts with friends, an itchy trigger finger (showing that Glock can really upset a rehearsal of a college production of Oklahoma), and the revenge driven psychopath. At certain moments, a sense of humor shows up, but our author does not make her characters ridiculous.
Good series fiction for the beach, though it could have been 50 pages shorter. A fun read.
Good series fiction for the beach, though it could have been 50 pages shorter. A fun read.
June 8, 2017
Well-written enjoyable read with a little challenge at the end
January 30, 2015
Carolyn Mulford’s “Show Me” mysteries — set in Missouri, the “show me” state — follow wounded ex-CIA agent Phoenix Smith to her small hometown of Laycock, where she hopes to build a new, safer life but can’t seem to stay out of the line of fire. The bad guys may not be the Eastern European big leaguers she dealt with as a spy, but their bullets are equally lethal.
In the third series entry (following Show Me the Murder and Show Me the Deadly Deer) Phoenix rides along when her old friend, Acting Sheriff Annalynn Keyser, responds to an urgent request for help in a neighboring county, where four bank robbers have been spotted at an abandoned farmhouse. The women get involved in a deadly shootout with two of the men, but the other two escape, apparently with the stolen gold.
Phoenix’s endearing dog, a K9 Corps dropout named Achilles, is hopeless at tracking the escapees, but he saves his owner and the law enforcement officers at the scene when he sniffs explosives and warns them away from the booby-trapped house.
The FBI takes over the investigation, and agents sense that Phoenix isn’t what or who she seems. She can’t reveal her former double life as a covert operative. On the record, she’s merely a consultant for her former employer, a venture capital firm, and her primary personal interest is establishing a foundation to help the families of crime victims. The FBI tags her as a thief who made off with the missing gold. Phoenix’s efforts to prove her innocence and find the missing thieves who have the gold lead her into further danger.
The plot has enough twists, turns, and blind alleys to keep readers turning pages, but the greatest strength of Carolyn Mulford’s writing is her gift for creating likable characters with the kinds of flaws that make us all human. Annalynn is still grieving for her husband, the former sheriff, whose death in scandalous circumstances provided the plot for Show Me the Murder, and doubts that she has what it takes to head up local law enforcement. Phoenix herself misses her CIA adventures and wonders if she can ever resign herself to smalltown life again: “I’d recovered—almost—from my wound and accepted—almost—the loss of my old double life. I hadn’t regained the self-confidence and daring that had enabled me to succeed as a covert operative and as an executive of a venture capital firm. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have [a goal].” Watching this conflicted woman come to terms with her changed circumstances and find a new purpose is a reason in itself to read Mulford’s books.
The small town setting of Show Me the Gold has plenty of the crime and secrets that go into engaging mysteries. Highly recommended for readers who love character-driven stories with realistic small town settings.
The author provided an advance copy of Show Me the Gold in exchange for an honest review.
In the third series entry (following Show Me the Murder and Show Me the Deadly Deer) Phoenix rides along when her old friend, Acting Sheriff Annalynn Keyser, responds to an urgent request for help in a neighboring county, where four bank robbers have been spotted at an abandoned farmhouse. The women get involved in a deadly shootout with two of the men, but the other two escape, apparently with the stolen gold.
Phoenix’s endearing dog, a K9 Corps dropout named Achilles, is hopeless at tracking the escapees, but he saves his owner and the law enforcement officers at the scene when he sniffs explosives and warns them away from the booby-trapped house.
The FBI takes over the investigation, and agents sense that Phoenix isn’t what or who she seems. She can’t reveal her former double life as a covert operative. On the record, she’s merely a consultant for her former employer, a venture capital firm, and her primary personal interest is establishing a foundation to help the families of crime victims. The FBI tags her as a thief who made off with the missing gold. Phoenix’s efforts to prove her innocence and find the missing thieves who have the gold lead her into further danger.
The plot has enough twists, turns, and blind alleys to keep readers turning pages, but the greatest strength of Carolyn Mulford’s writing is her gift for creating likable characters with the kinds of flaws that make us all human. Annalynn is still grieving for her husband, the former sheriff, whose death in scandalous circumstances provided the plot for Show Me the Murder, and doubts that she has what it takes to head up local law enforcement. Phoenix herself misses her CIA adventures and wonders if she can ever resign herself to smalltown life again: “I’d recovered—almost—from my wound and accepted—almost—the loss of my old double life. I hadn’t regained the self-confidence and daring that had enabled me to succeed as a covert operative and as an executive of a venture capital firm. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have [a goal].” Watching this conflicted woman come to terms with her changed circumstances and find a new purpose is a reason in itself to read Mulford’s books.
The small town setting of Show Me the Gold has plenty of the crime and secrets that go into engaging mysteries. Highly recommended for readers who love character-driven stories with realistic small town settings.
The author provided an advance copy of Show Me the Gold in exchange for an honest review.
September 13, 2018
Retired CIA operative Phoenix Smith and her dog Achilles are back for another adventure alongside Phoenix's lifelong chum, Annalynn Carr Keyser, acting sheriff of Laycock, Missouri. The story hits the ground running with lots of action right away.
A bank has been robbed, valuable gold coins are missing and every member of the extended family of the ne'er-do-wells involved seem to be acting suspiciously. In a reversal of the norm, Phoenix and Annalynn find themselves under investigation by the FBI. Meanwhile, Phoenix faces personal decisions about her love life, has to help stage a community theater musical, and also must dodge mysterious attempts on her life.
This is the third book in the Show Me mystery series, and the core group of characters are growing nicely into their roles. An enjoyable read.
A bank has been robbed, valuable gold coins are missing and every member of the extended family of the ne'er-do-wells involved seem to be acting suspiciously. In a reversal of the norm, Phoenix and Annalynn find themselves under investigation by the FBI. Meanwhile, Phoenix faces personal decisions about her love life, has to help stage a community theater musical, and also must dodge mysterious attempts on her life.
This is the third book in the Show Me mystery series, and the core group of characters are growing nicely into their roles. An enjoyable read.
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January 7, 2015SHOW ME THE GOLD features Acting Sheriff Annalynn Keyser and Phoenix Smith, an ex-spy. They get caught up in the hunt for four bank robbers, which ended with them shooting two of them. The other bank robbers, along with the FBI, believe Phoenix knows where the missing gold is hidden. She must use all of her skills and those of her trained dog, Achilles, to keep herself safe and ferret out the truth. SHOW ME THE GOLD has good characters and an interesting mystery. While SHOW ME THE GOLD is a stand-alone novel and reads very well, I could have gained more insight into the characters from reading the other books in this series.
January 24, 2015
Invalided out of the CIA, covert agent Phoenix Smith returns to her small Missouri home town to recuperate, only to stay on to help her best friend with numerous problems. A sociopathic bank robber from the next county, fleeing from the FBI, seems to have Phoenix in his sights; even worse, the FBI suspects Phoenix of hijacking the Krugerrands that were his loot. Phoenix can shoot with the best of them, but she is increasingly aware that she's a middle aged woman who just may have to overcome her commitment issues or lose her new beau.
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June 8, 2017Miniseries: A Phoenix Smith Mystery
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews