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Shandra Higheagle Mystery #3
Deadly Aim
Deadly Aim: A Shandra Higheagle Mystery
Book three of the Shandra Higheagle Mystery Series
Passion… Secrets… Murder...
The dead body of an illicit neighbor and an old necklace send potter Shandra Higheagle on a chase to find a murderer. Visions from her dead grandmother reveals Shandra is on the right path, but the woods are full of obstacles—deadly ones.
Detective Ryan Greer believes Shandra’s dreams will help solve the mystery, but he also knows the curious potter could get herself killed. He’s determined that won’t happen.
Until he’s blind-sided. Are Shandra’s powers strong enough to save them both, or will the murderer strike again?
Book three of the Shandra Higheagle Mystery Series
Passion… Secrets… Murder...
The dead body of an illicit neighbor and an old necklace send potter Shandra Higheagle on a chase to find a murderer. Visions from her dead grandmother reveals Shandra is on the right path, but the woods are full of obstacles—deadly ones.
Detective Ryan Greer believes Shandra’s dreams will help solve the mystery, but he also knows the curious potter could get herself killed. He’s determined that won’t happen.
Until he’s blind-sided. Are Shandra’s powers strong enough to save them both, or will the murderer strike again?
- GenresMystery
219 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 25, 2015
102 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Paty Jager
113 books395 followersPaty Jager is an award-winning author of 55+ novels, novellas, and short stories of murder mystery, western romance, and action adventure.
All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.
All her work has Western or Native American elements in them along with hints of humor and engaging characters. Paty and her husband raise alfalfa hay in rural eastern Oregon. Riding horses and battling rattlesnakes, she not only writes the western lifestyle, she lives it.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
August 25, 2018
This series is a nice blend of romance and mysteries. In the third there still not much about Shandra's story.
Shandra is riding on her land when comes across a dead person as the animals were feeding on him. It was not a pretty sight. She calls Ryan Greer who soon arrives to take over the investigation. The body is identified as Shandra's neighbor. He had plenty of enemies including his wife, the fish and game warden, his employees and he was a womanizer. The tale several changes of direction. The romance between Shandra and Ryan continues. The ending was a surprise to me, I didn't see it coming.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book and series
Shandra is riding on her land when comes across a dead person as the animals were feeding on him. It was not a pretty sight. She calls Ryan Greer who soon arrives to take over the investigation. The body is identified as Shandra's neighbor. He had plenty of enemies including his wife, the fish and game warden, his employees and he was a womanizer. The tale several changes of direction. The romance between Shandra and Ryan continues. The ending was a surprise to me, I didn't see it coming.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book and series
April 25, 2019
3.5 stars
Big game hunters are not the most popular figures in the real world or in fiction so it isn’t easy to have much sympathy when Shandra finds J.W. Randal’s animal-ravaged body on her property. Perhaps it would be better to say my sympathy was with Shandra, first for finding another body on her Huckleberry Mountain and second for her finding out she had such a reprehensible neighbor. I guess this just goes to show that large properties can make it hard to know your neighbors. At any rate, finding a body on her own land at least provides some justification for Shandra sticking her nose in where it doesn’t really belong.
It’s fortunate for Shandra that the deputy sheriff, Ryan, is not averse to her sleuthing and, in fact, he respects her spiritual connection to her Nez Perce ancestry and the dreams that seem to lead them to important hints. What occasionally gets in the way is the growing romance between the two and their “mating dance”, if you will. I appreciate the way Ms. Jager is allowing a natural growth of their mutual attraction rather than the instalove we see too often. I was happy to learn that they still haven’t told each other their deepest secrets but that seems to be coming soon.
Meanwhile, back to the investigation…clues begin to mount that point in different directions including potential bad blood in the game hunting business and a possible illicit liaison. Most intriguing is a particular necklace whose provenance is difficult to track down .and this part of the hunt brings Shandra’s particular creative expertise to the forefront. When things come to a head, though, there’s more than one surprise
In this entry, a bit more editing could have been useful as occasional flaws are more obvious than in previous books in grammar and word choices as well as in shifting points of view. Also, while Ann M. Thompson is a better than average narrator, she did pull me out of the story every now and then with mispronunciations and odd pacing. Still, an interesting mystery and Ms. Thompson’s reading made this an appealing tale.
Big game hunters are not the most popular figures in the real world or in fiction so it isn’t easy to have much sympathy when Shandra finds J.W. Randal’s animal-ravaged body on her property. Perhaps it would be better to say my sympathy was with Shandra, first for finding another body on her Huckleberry Mountain and second for her finding out she had such a reprehensible neighbor. I guess this just goes to show that large properties can make it hard to know your neighbors. At any rate, finding a body on her own land at least provides some justification for Shandra sticking her nose in where it doesn’t really belong.
It’s fortunate for Shandra that the deputy sheriff, Ryan, is not averse to her sleuthing and, in fact, he respects her spiritual connection to her Nez Perce ancestry and the dreams that seem to lead them to important hints. What occasionally gets in the way is the growing romance between the two and their “mating dance”, if you will. I appreciate the way Ms. Jager is allowing a natural growth of their mutual attraction rather than the instalove we see too often. I was happy to learn that they still haven’t told each other their deepest secrets but that seems to be coming soon.
Meanwhile, back to the investigation…clues begin to mount that point in different directions including potential bad blood in the game hunting business and a possible illicit liaison. Most intriguing is a particular necklace whose provenance is difficult to track down .and this part of the hunt brings Shandra’s particular creative expertise to the forefront. When things come to a head, though, there’s more than one surprise
In this entry, a bit more editing could have been useful as occasional flaws are more obvious than in previous books in grammar and word choices as well as in shifting points of view. Also, while Ann M. Thompson is a better than average narrator, she did pull me out of the story every now and then with mispronunciations and odd pacing. Still, an interesting mystery and Ms. Thompson’s reading made this an appealing tale.
October 2, 2023
Much like the first body Shandra discovered, this was another hated individual that nearly everyone wanted to see dead. Leaving Ryan with too many suspects and not nearly enough clues. But, Shandra has help and she’s more than willing to give Ryan a hand with the heavy lifting of solving this latest death on her land. When I look back on it, the solution maybe shouldn’t have been quite such a surprise, but this one really caught me off guard, because I did not expect that to be the answer. I’m loving the slow build of the relationship between Shandra and Ryan, and I can’t wait to see what trouble they land in next.
January 7, 2019
hooked on the series....
July 2, 2016
like the characters and the slow building romance
April 27, 2019
Murder is the name of the game! How many bodies can Shandra Higheagle rack up on her property? If you had more than one body that you found while walking through your property, would that make you want to move? Would you be concerned? Threatened? Especially if the corpse didn’t appear to be over a week old? Jager has an exciting third installment of the Shandra Higheagle Mysteries that will leave readers guessing until the very end. Everyone has a reason to want the victim dead, but who really did it?
Shandra is back on her mountain and again finding dead bodies. While riding, she stumbles across someone who has clearly been feeding the animals for a few days…and not in a good way! She immediately alerts her detective friend, Ryan to notify him of yet another mystery for them to unveil. Knowing that he can’t stop Shandra from helping this time around, Ryan actually looks forward to her insightful dreams and knowledge of the land to help him find the killer. He still wants to keep her safe, seeing that the man was killed with a shot to the heart, but it would be pointless to deny her as the days count down to his brother’s wedding. Shandra on his arm will be the talk of the family for weeks and he can’t seem to get enough time with her. When Shandra gets a little too close to finding out the truth about the killer, can Ryan save the only woman who has really ever made him stop in his tracks? Or, will it be the other way around?
Jager has a beautifully written mystery that will leave readers eager to continue the series alongside the main character, Shandra Higheagle. The character development is fantastic and the pace is steady. Since this review is complimenting the audiobook, Thompson’s narration was a fairly accurate depiction of what I would expect from a radio or television broadcaster or maybe someone retelling a story in a different perspective; there seems to have been a slight lack of emotion and feeling to the story with this type of voice relay. The story was enjoyable nonetheless and easy to follow. If you are a reader of mysteries, you may want to pick up this story and give it a read. Since this is the third installment, readers are able to read this one as a standalone; however, it may be more enjoyable to start from the beginning of the series.
An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a four-star rating to Deadly Aim by Paty Jager.
Shandra is back on her mountain and again finding dead bodies. While riding, she stumbles across someone who has clearly been feeding the animals for a few days…and not in a good way! She immediately alerts her detective friend, Ryan to notify him of yet another mystery for them to unveil. Knowing that he can’t stop Shandra from helping this time around, Ryan actually looks forward to her insightful dreams and knowledge of the land to help him find the killer. He still wants to keep her safe, seeing that the man was killed with a shot to the heart, but it would be pointless to deny her as the days count down to his brother’s wedding. Shandra on his arm will be the talk of the family for weeks and he can’t seem to get enough time with her. When Shandra gets a little too close to finding out the truth about the killer, can Ryan save the only woman who has really ever made him stop in his tracks? Or, will it be the other way around?
Jager has a beautifully written mystery that will leave readers eager to continue the series alongside the main character, Shandra Higheagle. The character development is fantastic and the pace is steady. Since this review is complimenting the audiobook, Thompson’s narration was a fairly accurate depiction of what I would expect from a radio or television broadcaster or maybe someone retelling a story in a different perspective; there seems to have been a slight lack of emotion and feeling to the story with this type of voice relay. The story was enjoyable nonetheless and easy to follow. If you are a reader of mysteries, you may want to pick up this story and give it a read. Since this is the third installment, readers are able to read this one as a standalone; however, it may be more enjoyable to start from the beginning of the series.
An audiobook was provided to Turning Another Page by Audiobookworm Promotions and in no way affects the honesty of this review. We provide a four-star rating to Deadly Aim by Paty Jager.
October 28, 2017
Potter Shandra Higheagle is riding across her Arizona ranch, getting back to basics after being gone from the land she loves for two weeks to teach a class and exhibit her work at an art show in New Mexico. She stumbles across a disemboweled body, launching another murder investigation. Visions from her dead grandmother help Shandra and Ryan, her personal deputy sheriff, solve the murder of the extremely unpleasant neighbor who ran illegal exotic game hunts on his ranch.
On the minus side: the copy-editing could have been tighter with this one (at one point, Shandra refers to the “Apache Jicarillo Reservation,” but the proper name is “Jicarilla Apache Reservation”; in another location, a character says “Whose your doctor …” among other hiccups). I also struggled with the switch between the description of a character’s actions and thoughts – “He’d felt Red’s animosity and figured Randal was fooling around with other women. But the niece? He hadn’t seen that. I’ll go back and interview the nice alone and see if the incident was before or after Mrs. Randal threatened her husband.” I had to keep stopping to figure out what was happening and would have preferred the characters thoughts to be set off in some fashion (maybe with italics?) from the actions. The hiccups took me out of the story and frustrated me, diminishing my enjoyment of the book.
On the plus side: Interesting plot about illegal big game hunting. Good description of Shandra’s pottery making. Likeable characters, even the supporting ones. While this series still falls in the “romance dressed up in mystery clothing” category for me, the mystery portions are enough to hold my attention, and I really do like the relationship between Shandra and Ryan – the mix of cultures and their respect jobs, how they obviously care for each other and are taking time to get to know one another. I also like that Ryan doesn’t poo-pooh Shandra’s dreams regarding the case, and that he respects her opinions and insights.
This is book three in an eight book series. Even though I got irritated with the mechanical problems of the book, I think I will read more. I’m curious to see how the relationship between Shandra and Ryan progresses, and what happens with some of the other characters.
On the minus side: the copy-editing could have been tighter with this one (at one point, Shandra refers to the “Apache Jicarillo Reservation,” but the proper name is “Jicarilla Apache Reservation”; in another location, a character says “Whose your doctor …” among other hiccups). I also struggled with the switch between the description of a character’s actions and thoughts – “He’d felt Red’s animosity and figured Randal was fooling around with other women. But the niece? He hadn’t seen that. I’ll go back and interview the nice alone and see if the incident was before or after Mrs. Randal threatened her husband.” I had to keep stopping to figure out what was happening and would have preferred the characters thoughts to be set off in some fashion (maybe with italics?) from the actions. The hiccups took me out of the story and frustrated me, diminishing my enjoyment of the book.
On the plus side: Interesting plot about illegal big game hunting. Good description of Shandra’s pottery making. Likeable characters, even the supporting ones. While this series still falls in the “romance dressed up in mystery clothing” category for me, the mystery portions are enough to hold my attention, and I really do like the relationship between Shandra and Ryan – the mix of cultures and their respect jobs, how they obviously care for each other and are taking time to get to know one another. I also like that Ryan doesn’t poo-pooh Shandra’s dreams regarding the case, and that he respects her opinions and insights.
This is book three in an eight book series. Even though I got irritated with the mechanical problems of the book, I think I will read more. I’m curious to see how the relationship between Shandra and Ryan progresses, and what happens with some of the other characters.
January 1, 2018
In Deadly Aim by Paty Jager, Shandra Higheagle takes her horse out on her mountain when she comes across a body of a man who has been mauled by wild animals. Immediately pulling out her phone, she calls Detective Ryan Greer. It takes a day to identify the body as Shandra’s neighbor, J.W., whose employee states that the man never committed an honest behavior in his life. Ryan wants to hurry up in solving the case because he is scheduled to be the best man in his brother’s wedding to Ryan’s ex- girlfriend this weekend. And with Shandra’s being scheduled to be his date, Ryan is eager to show her off to his family. He hopes that Shandra’s mystical dreams that come from her Nez Perce grandmother and which has helped to solve mysteries in the past will help to lead them to a solution.
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
January 31, 2018
Shandra Higheagle was enjoying a ride on her horse after being away from her beloved ranch for two weeks when she suddenly finds a body of a man that has been mauled by wildlife. She calls Detective Ryan Greer to report the dead body. Detective Greer and Shandra are becoming closer but taking their budding relationship slowly, they have become great friends and Shandra knows she can share her visions from her dead grandmother. These visions help Shandra and Detective Greer find out what really happened to the dead man. Was this an accident or murder?
This book can be enjoyed as a stand-alone mystery but reading the previous books will give you a better understanding of Shandra and Detective Greer’s relationships and Shandra’s connection with her dead Native American Grandmother. This is a shorter book but still packed with suspense, strong characters, and a touch of romance. Shandra and Greer’s relationship plays an important part in the storyline as they become closer they trust one another more which allows them to work on solving the mystery. However, they have both been hurt before are very slowing allowing this relationship to turn romantic. Greer trusts Shandra’s visions at times more than Shandra does. I really enjoy that the characters aren’t rushing into a romantic relationship allowing them to get to know one another. I really enjoyed this mystery which included a few red-herrings to keep the suspense going until the end of the story. I thought I had the killer figured several times throughout the book only to change my mind as the story progressed.
I listened to the audio version of this book. I found Narrator Ann M Thompson to be enjoyable. She has a nice voice, great diction, although I felt a couple of time she may have rushed the pace a little. I didn’t notice this in the previous book. The pace was not too rushed and still lent to an enjoyable listening experience.
I would recommend this book to other mystery lovers. *I was given a copy of this book in hopes I would submit a review. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own and in no way influenced.
This book can be enjoyed as a stand-alone mystery but reading the previous books will give you a better understanding of Shandra and Detective Greer’s relationships and Shandra’s connection with her dead Native American Grandmother. This is a shorter book but still packed with suspense, strong characters, and a touch of romance. Shandra and Greer’s relationship plays an important part in the storyline as they become closer they trust one another more which allows them to work on solving the mystery. However, they have both been hurt before are very slowing allowing this relationship to turn romantic. Greer trusts Shandra’s visions at times more than Shandra does. I really enjoy that the characters aren’t rushing into a romantic relationship allowing them to get to know one another. I really enjoyed this mystery which included a few red-herrings to keep the suspense going until the end of the story. I thought I had the killer figured several times throughout the book only to change my mind as the story progressed.
I listened to the audio version of this book. I found Narrator Ann M Thompson to be enjoyable. She has a nice voice, great diction, although I felt a couple of time she may have rushed the pace a little. I didn’t notice this in the previous book. The pace was not too rushed and still lent to an enjoyable listening experience.
I would recommend this book to other mystery lovers. *I was given a copy of this book in hopes I would submit a review. All thoughts and opinions are that of my own and in no way influenced.
December 30, 2025
Shandra Higheagle Mystery Book 3
Once again Shandra finds a dead body. This one is on her property and has been maul by animals. As the investigation goes on Ryan, who wants her to stay out of it, keeps allowing her to be part of it. When he tells her to stay out of things Shandra sticks her nose in anyway.
This story also brings us to the brothers wedding. Well that was a let down. I really was hoping for more interaction between them. Dad was the only fun part.
Same reader and the same problems I had before I had with this book. The reader is the same for the series, so I will wait before continuing. There are only 13 more books in the series.
Once again Shandra finds a dead body. This one is on her property and has been maul by animals. As the investigation goes on Ryan, who wants her to stay out of it, keeps allowing her to be part of it. When he tells her to stay out of things Shandra sticks her nose in anyway.
This story also brings us to the brothers wedding. Well that was a let down. I really was hoping for more interaction between them. Dad was the only fun part.
Same reader and the same problems I had before I had with this book. The reader is the same for the series, so I will wait before continuing. There are only 13 more books in the series.
May 18, 2018
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
This series just keeps getting better and better! The more I read (listen), the more I want to know about Shandra and Ryan. The character development is excellent and the plot is pretty awesome too. Shandra finds a dead body while riding her horse and embarks on a quest to discover what really happened to the dead man. It was so interesting, and entertaining, and totally worth a read.
This series just keeps getting better and better! The more I read (listen), the more I want to know about Shandra and Ryan. The character development is excellent and the plot is pretty awesome too. Shandra finds a dead body while riding her horse and embarks on a quest to discover what really happened to the dead man. It was so interesting, and entertaining, and totally worth a read.
August 18, 2018
Shandra riding on her mountain, stumbles upon another body. This being her neighbor, a man not liked, case of illegal elk shooting against him. As they dig, they uncover he had a sickness of killing,just to be killing. He loved the power, and greed that came with it, his love affairs were many. Did one of them or their husband kill him. A devious plot, of hate.The other side the romance is coming along better after going to the wedding and meeting his family
November 23, 2017
Series,getting more interesting
Jager's characters are developing as their relationships evolve. I prefer for motivations to be explained by storyline depth rather than author explanation each time a character does something. Side stories are much more intriguing to character development and the author is beginning this style. Much better story development.
Jager's characters are developing as their relationships evolve. I prefer for motivations to be explained by storyline depth rather than author explanation each time a character does something. Side stories are much more intriguing to character development and the author is beginning this style. Much better story development.
April 27, 2020
I believe I received promo code from author. I am voluntarily reviewing. I enjoy listening to this mystery.
September 11, 2020
Verbs, Ms. Anger, verbs
Again, I loved the story, but the verbs are atrocious and highly distract ting to anyone who speaks proper English
Again, I loved the story, but the verbs are atrocious and highly distract ting to anyone who speaks proper English
May 7, 2025
good read
May 18, 2025
Great book!
Absolutely love the rural settings where the stories take place.
I would recommend these books to anyone who loves the outdoors as I do.
Absolutely love the rural settings where the stories take place.
I would recommend these books to anyone who loves the outdoors as I do.
May 21, 2015
4 STARS
I have liked all three books of the Shandra Higheagle Mystery series. It was pretty easy to guess who the murder was, but there were twists in the series that surprised me. I like the relationship between Shandra and Ryan.
Shandra finds her third dead body. This one was on her land and was more gruesome. She called Detective Ryan Greer directly.
Shandra Higheagle is a potter. She brought her land because it has the clay on her land for her to use. Shandra has had bad luck in romance department so she is taking her time slowly with Ryan. She has dreams and sees her grandma that has deceased and the dreams have clues for the mystery. Shandra is half Indian.
Detective Ryan Greer is more serious about Shandra but he is willing to take it slowly. He does take Shandra to his brother's wedding to his old girl friend.
No one really likes the dead guy. He has private hunts on his land that is not all legal, sleeps around and treats his wife badly.
This is a fast read and enjoyable story. I will look for more Paty Jager books in the future.
February 22, 2018
As good as the previous 2 books in the series, this is a great series of romance/mystery books.
Ryan and Shandra's relationship is developing, they are taking time to know each other.
Shandra finds a body whilst out on her horse on her land, a common occurence! The first person she thinks to ring is Ryan who comes to help.
The body is found to be Shandra's not so nice neighbour, so there is no shortage of suspects in the case.
Whilst they're trying to solve the murder, it's also the weekend of Ryan's brother, Connor's wedding to Lyssa (Ryan's ex). Ryan is taking Shandra, the first time she's met his family.
A really good story which is well written. I've just downloaded the next 3 books so will review once I've read them.
Ryan and Shandra's relationship is developing, they are taking time to know each other.
Shandra finds a body whilst out on her horse on her land, a common occurence! The first person she thinks to ring is Ryan who comes to help.
The body is found to be Shandra's not so nice neighbour, so there is no shortage of suspects in the case.
Whilst they're trying to solve the murder, it's also the weekend of Ryan's brother, Connor's wedding to Lyssa (Ryan's ex). Ryan is taking Shandra, the first time she's met his family.
A really good story which is well written. I've just downloaded the next 3 books so will review once I've read them.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews