Death at the Summit

Target Practice Mysteries #2

by Nikki Haverstock

When a new Westwood employee with old grudges is murdered during the brand summit, Di starts investigating with roommate Mary and Great Dane Moo at her side.

After a snowstorm strands all the suspects at the Westmound Center and the only cop present asks Di and Mary not to get in the way, they have to keep a low profile.

It’s no surprise that Mac was murdered. He was a sexist bigot who used his business to take advantage of others prior to being bought out by Westmound. With so many suspects, will they be able to find the real killer?
A wholesome cozy murder for every sleuth in the family

This is the second book in a brand-new series set at the fictional Westmound Center for Competitive Shooting Sports in rural Wyoming.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Contemporary, Ebooks, Christmas, Cozy

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Nikki Haverstock is a writer who lives on a cattle ranch high in the Rocky Mountains. She has studied comedy writing at Second City and has published 6 cozy mysteries that are heavy on the humor.

Before fleeing the city, she hosted a competitive archery reality show, traveled the world to study volcanoes, taught archery and computer science at a university and now works on her family’s ranch herding cattle. Nikki has more college degrees than she has sense and hopefully one day she will put one to work.

Nikki likes to write comedy pieces that focus on the everyday humor of one-uppers, annoying family members and strange behavior of the ultra-rich. She tried stand up but the cattle weren’t impressed.

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this second book of the series, it's Christmas time, and the range industry is having a summit at the Cheyenne, Wyoming headquarters. The sky is dumping snow. The usual obnoxious jerk is killed soon enough, but all the suspects are jerks, too, so any of them could be the culprit.

Okay, but the archery stuff is little more than background noise.

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved to be back with the familiar characters & setting and this was cozy read. But there were too many characters and almost everyone had also a nickname so that confused a bit.

[JoAn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death at the Summit by Nikki Haverstock is the second in this cozy series and I found it to be just as enjoyable as the first one. The characters are all likable, the mystery is well done with enough twists to keep me turning the pages. I'm looking forward to the next one.

[Deanie Nelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Archery instructor Diana is helping her bosses but together a "Brand Expo" for all of the products made by their parent company, Westmoreland, when one of the more odious vendors is murdered. When a snowstorm hits Wyoming, Diana and friends are trapped in the archery center with the killer.

For short books, the Target Practice Mysteries pack a lot into the plot. The pacing is good, also, and it doesn't seem rushed. While the novel might be better if it went into more detail in certain places, it's still about great characters and interesting murders.

[Carol Nemecek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confusing book due to all the knicknames and technical information. For a while I thought I was reading a story about a group of animals, then about a zoo. When the pet names started to unravel, it only set up more confusion. All this could have been related with straightforward names beause if you stopped reading the names but followed the story, the tale was fairly simple. Neither a must read nor a do not read in my book!

[Sandee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A different kind of mystery that was okay. Di and friends try to solve a murder that happens at a brand summit for bows and guns. The author provides a in depth description of the sport, the business and the various types of summits. More than I wanted to know about this subject. Fast read with a simple mystery.

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason this didn´t appeal to me. There were too many characters, and I couldn´t get interested enough in them to sort them out. It wasn´t a terrible book, it just didn't do anything for me.

[Lisa]

Unfortunately, I'm reading them out of order, so (SPOILER ALERT) the interactions between Liam and Di are rather anticlimactic. Still, the Great Dane named Moo hangs around, and as evidenced in the other books in the series, Haverstock obviously has experience with big dogs. Moo's personality is spot-on, and her descriptions of his antics enable to reader to picture him in the room with you, reading the book.

Done now, and I don't feel like I needed to go back and read this one. Not much happened, and had I read this before 3&4, I may not have continued reading the series. Another murder and a snowstorm that strands nearly everyone at the center in Wyoming, and Di and Mary add some members to their sleuthing team to make what seems to resemble the Scooby Doo cast. The victim wasn't well-liked, but finding the murderer is still difficult. No archery in this one, really. There were almost too many characters here, but now it's fleshed out in my mind for subsequent books.

[Roger Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sexist bigot businessman, whom nobody likes including his own wife, is murdered at an archery summit event during a snow blizzard in Wyoming. The suspects are stranded in the summit center until the police can plow thru the snow and investigate the scene. Di and her roommate Mary, who both work for the summit's promoters, along with Moo the great dane, decide to begin their own investigation prior to the official police inquiries.
The story is a fun, uncomplicated, and entertaining cozy mystery, the second in a series from this author. Not a lot of action and the romance angle seemed to be strained, but the humor is amusing, especially the antics of Moo to keep a smile on your face.

[Mjuneb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who Didn’t Do It

When a Westmound Summit turns deadly, the on-site Scooby-Doo fans are told by the police to not be seen investigating. With the help of Moo, the company Great Dane, they begin snooping and fined everyone of the suspects has a good motive. Moo is allowed to take down the murderer at the end.
The detective work is more straight forward conversations and the police attitude is more don’t let me see you interviewing suspects. It makes a more relaxed mystery and Moo adds humor with the normal Great Dane clumsiness to keep things entertaining.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death at the Summit (Target Practice Mysteries #2), my second read from author Nikki Haverstock and the second in the Target Practice Mystery Series. I bought the Kindle edition back in January of 2016 & never got around to reading it until I got the Author's Direct audio edition back in August of this year. Well-written & enjoyable. a cute, clean cozy mystery. I look forward to reading more in this series & from this author. Since I already own 10 books by her that won't be a problem. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Frolicking Read

Moo, the Great Dane, tends to steal the show in this story. The team sees themselves as the Scooby Doo gang and seem to bumble their way to solving another murder mystery. The character development is great. I think getting to know the core characters was the most enjoyable part of the story.

Some of the suspects are pretty stereotypical so they didn’t seem as real as our protagonists. The budding romances added a another interesting plot to the story.

Fun to read. Enjoy!

[monacia williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trapped in the snow.

When you read around the technicalities of archery and other weapons, this was not a bad novel. I had to do that because this sport was completely new to me, so the many technical references lost me every time. Also, I kept wondering if I had skipped over some pages because, at times, the dialogue did not make sense, I guess that happens sometimes when the book starting the series is not read.
If you know the sport, go ahead and read, you will enjoy reading this book.

[Darcysmom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Di is in the thick of things, working hard at the Westmound Summit when she discovers the body of the generally reviled Mac. She and Mary put their detective hats back on and investigate the murder with Moo the Great Dane along as their ever present companion.
Death At The Summit is a quick, easy reading cozy mystery. Although it is the second book in the Target Practice Mysteries series, it can be read on its own.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good but could have used a bit more background about archery(not a lot more but a bit so dummies like me would know what they were talking about eg. the different kinds of bows and meets etc. I know it is had to decide how much is too much but other than that the story was good and I didn't see the ending coming at all. Except the part about the dog throwing up. The story was well written and I will read another by this author.

[Kathy B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death at the Summit

The story has several different people involved and I wasn’t sure who was the murderer. I love how Nikki weaves the story, weather, and suspects into a chilly winter murder. I’ve been in snowfalls where the flakes are as big as goose feathers. Can imagine being stuck in a building with a dead body. Highly recommend this author. Can’t wait to read the series.

[Heidi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found myself really not caring about anyone in this series, especially the young archers. I thought the premise was cool initially, but archery isn't as interesting as I thought it would be. Couldn't bring myself to finish it - the murder suspects were shallow and not realistic, and again I didn't really care that they were killed. It made no sense why they got involved trying to solve another murder.

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't as interesting as the first book in the series and had very little about archery or guns. The range still hasn't opened and they've already had two murders on the grounds--seems like it would be hard to keep that hush-hush and not have it affect their operation.

I liked the focus on women athletes.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason I just want to keep reading this series to see what happens next with the characters and the company. The characters are likable, the dog is a nice addition, and the competitive archery storyline is interesting. I like books that enlighten me, and I am learning to appreciate competitive archery.

[Alisha Henri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Delightful Mystery

While the story is delightful to read, the subject of murder certainly isn't. Ms. Haverstock has chosen an interesting venue and charming, unique, and eclectic characters especially Moo, the harlequin Great Dane. The plot was simp!e, but pleasingly, the murderer wasn't easy to discover. Definitely worth the read.

[Sharon M. Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Archery and murder

This story is a continuation of the first book with a murder thrown in. Wyoming is a wonderful place, so I was a little disappointed that the author didn't describe it a little more other than great descriptions of a dog in the snow. Speaking of dog, Moo is one of the best parts of the book.

[Mandy Hackland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it would have helped if I had a grasp of archery and had already read the first book. As it was I found some of the archery terms confusing, and some of the references back to the previous story were difficult to fit into the current book. I did enjoy the relationship between the protagonist and the dog though.

[David Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily providing my honest review. I don't know that much about archery but love this series. Di and Mary are at it again to solve a murder, with Moo's help, of course. It was hard to put down and I recommend this series. I am looking forward to the next book.

[Andrea Latham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice short cozy about a new Westwood employee with old grudges is murdered during the brand summit, Di starts investigating with roommate Mary and Great Dane Moo at her side. There is a snow snowstorm that strands all the suspects and this gets very interesting about finding out who the murderer is.

[Mrs. J.P. Cantle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Target sport mystery

Do have up her job when she began divorce programmes. From being a computer wizard with her own company she joined a sports company. Set in the archer world the book offers insight into the life of the athletes as well as the business. Moo is a fantastic character whom I would love to meet.

[Mike Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

On target murder mystery

Nikki Haverstocks' second book in this series impressed more than the first perhaps due to the first needing to be more of a guide into a sport/world in which many will not be familiar.This second book showcased the writers lighter side without taking attention away from the mystery.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this series so far. This one was good too, but either I was half asleep or there was no real lead up to "who dun it" He runs out and boom, it's him. (I don't think that's a spoiler, I hope it's not anyway)
I like the camaraderie and work ethic of the characters. I hope to read more of these.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Death at the Summit by Nikki Haverstock is the 2nd book in the Target Practice Mysteries series. A Summit held at the Westmond Centre for Competitive Shooting Sports, sees one of the attendee's murdered. An interesting mystery where we learn a bit about competitive shooting sports and the equipment required. Great Dane Moo plays a big part. A pleasant, short cozy mystery.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snowstorm strands people who are vendors and employees of company trying to revitalize the archery industry. One person is murdered, but too many suspects didn't like the guy. Then there's he hungry Great Dane.

[Carole D Hutchison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun easy story to enjoy

Jappe did a great job of giving you just enough Mistry and humor to make the book interesting . It's a fast read and yet you don't want to stop until you get to the end good job done by the author