Basque Moon

Nellie Burns and Moonshine Mystery #2

by Julie Whitesel Weston

Nellie Burns, photographer, and her Labrador dog, Moonshine, travel with sheep rancher Gwynn Campbell and his Basque sheepherder to the Stanley Basin of central Idaho. Nellie plans to photograph scenes for a railroad s brochures to lure tourists to the West. When they arrive at the sheep camp, they discover the current herder is dead.
Nellie s curiosity and photography lead her to a moonshine still and then a dash up a forested mountain. Nellie and Moonshine confront the greatest challenges yet to their courage and ingenuity when they face a range war and a ruthless killer.
Basque Moon is an exciting and authentic story of western conflicts in the 1920s. Nellie must dig deep to restore her faith in herself and her chosen profession."

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery

250 pages, Hardcover

First published August 17, 2016

About the author

Julie Weston grew up in Idaho and practiced law for many years in Seattle. Her debut fiction, MOONSHADOWS, a Nellie Burns and Moonshine Mystery, was published in 2015 (Five Star Publishing) and was a Finalist in the May Sarton Literary Award. Her next mystery, BASQUE MOON won the 2017 WILLA Literary Award for Historical Fiction. Her memoir of place, The Good Times Are All Gone Now: Life, Death and Rebirth in an Idaho Mining Town (University of Oklahoma Press, 2009), received an honorable mention in the 2009 Idaho Book of the Year Awards. Her short stories and essays have been published in IDAHO Magazine, The Threepenny Review, River Styx, Clackamas Review and other journals. She and her husband, Gerry Morrison, now live in central Idaho where they ski, write, photograph, and enjoy the outdoors.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nellie Burns, a young lady (most likely in her mid-20's), heads out west from Chicago to Idaho in the summer of 1923 to photograph scenery for the Oregon Short Line Railroad. They are hoping to use her photographs of rustic sheep camps, along with the surrounding mountains to lure tourists out west. She is joined by her dog, Moonshine (or Moonie for short).

Once there, she meets up with Gwynn Campbell, a sheep-herd owner with several herders and thousands of sheep under his care. He's grouchy, but there is a bit of history between him and Nellie, and he seems to feel affectionate towards her. He introduces her to Alphonso, a Basque immigrant/sheepherder who speaks very little English.

Once they arrive to camp, they find the previous sheepherder dead with a bullet wound to the head.
Nelly is quickly introduced to the ongoing range war between cowboys and sheepherders. Threats and pranks are growing increasingly violent. Obviously, she feels the correct course of action is to become involved instead of returning to the relative safety of Chicago.

Bottom line: This book was mind-numbingly bad with a difficult to follow story-arc. I couldn't buy the danger that Nellie was put into, and then didn't understand her response to said danger. The dialogue wasn't much better. Nellie's voice, in particular, didn't seem to be authentic to the setting (1920's). I will give Weston credit for her descriptions of place. She did this well. Given 0.5/5 stars or a rating of "Very bad". Grab it from the library if you love the history of Idaho...otherwise skip this one.

Stuff I learned: ~~Here's a great article discussing the history of sheep in Idaho, their destructiveness, and the battle with cowboys. http://www.whatitmeanstobeamerican.or...
~~A description of early American female photographers can be found here: http://www.oxfordartonline.com/page/A...
~~Finally, a history of Basque people can be found here: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Basque

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basque Moon is one of the best reads of my summer reading...it has everything I love when I want to read a book just to lose myself in a good story. It takes place in Idaho in the 1920s and Weston's writing is so clear and strong she took me right to the heart of the "wild old west." There is drama, mystery, a dog named Moonshine you can't help but fall in love with and plain old good writing. Weston paints a clear picture of how women were treated and what was expected without being over dramatic and letting that picture take over the powerful narrative. I am all ready for the next "Nellie Burns" mystery!

[Terri Rowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this 2nd mystery in the Nell Burns series. I like that it can be read as a stand alone. The story was intriguing-and Nell gets to again show what she is made of-as she tries to establish herself in her career-and learn something about the rugged country she has found herself living and working in Idaho.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nellie Burns is back, along with her canine companion Moonshine and her camera, making her way in the still Wild West days of Idaho among an assortment of colorful characters. She's got just the right temperament to find trouble and just the right skill set, including photography and a kind of pig-headed reckless persistence, to solve crimes.

In this sequel to Nellie's debut in Moonshadows, she negotiates the tensions between Basque sheepherders, cattlemen, and dude ranch cowboys, while matching wits with some truly scoundrelish moonshiners and forging an alliance with another of Idaho's remarkable and resourceful women. And she moves one notch closer to a more than passing relationship with the enigmatic Sheriff Azgo.

Come for the tight plot line, with its escalating suspense; stay for Weston's ability to evoke the stark beauty of wild Idaho with her sensory-rich prose.

I read it twice, to enjoy focusing on each in turn.

[Mystic Miraflores · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story with the spunky--and sometimes foolhardy--female photographer/detective, Nell Burns. I have always been intrigued by the Basque settlements in Idaho since meeting a professor in college. He is descended from Basque sheepherders in Idaho and it was a big deal in his family for him to earn a PH.D. I enjoyed the descriptions of the scenery and the various rough characters in the book. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Sandybear76]

Nell and her dog Moonshine are in Idaho to take pictures on her big box camera to hopefully sell to the railroad for their ads. Nell stays at a sheep camp with a sheep rancher for a couple of nights. Real moonshine brewing in the scrubby hills, a dead sheep herder, tourists at a dude camp, and saloon girls, horse, Model t's.

set in 1923 in Idaho

[Cathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the setting for this book and is mostly why I wanted to read it. It takes place in the Sawtooth Mountain Range of Idaho during prohibition. I thought the author did a great job of taking the reader there and she had a nice range of interesting characters. I liked the cattlemen/sheepmen rivalry aspect of the story, too.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last book I read before the Covid-19 pandemic came to USA. We left for Honduras the next day and came home 10 days later to no evidence of health screening for international flights in Atlanta and Detroit airports

[Lkaehall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these stories that take place in Idaho.

[robert braunschweiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read. Puts you in the time and place and adds some suspense. I am ready for the next adventure

[Michael crage · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not care for this book. I know that haphazard is not a word usually used to describe writing, but that is the word that comes to my mind after reading the book. As far as the rating, I finished it, but it is as low a 2 as possible. In the book a woman trying to make a living as a photographer does all kinds of crazy thing that no reasonable person would do while trying to get salable pictures.

[Roxane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great mystery - lots of history re: cattlemen vs sheep herders...and the descriptions of the Idaho back country are amazing!



This was an ARC from Stop, You're Killing Me!

[Julie Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

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