Stripped Bare

Kate Fox #1

by Shannon Baker

Stripped Bare by Shannon Baker is "A must read" (Alex Kava, New York Times bestselling author) that stars a female Longmire in the atmospheric Nebraska Sandhills.

Kate Fox is living the dream. She’s married to Grand County Sheriff Ted Conner, the heir to her beloved Nebraska Sandhills cattle ranch, where they live with Kate’s orphaned teenage niece, Carly. With the support of the well-connected Fox Clan, which includes Kate’s eight boisterous and interfering siblings, Ted’s reelection as Grand County Sheriff is virtually assured. That leaves Kate to the solitude and satisfaction of Frog Creek, her own slice of heaven.

One night Kate answers a shattering phone call from Roxy at the Bar J. Carly’s granddad Eldon, owner of the ranch, is dead and Ted has been shot and may never walk again. Kate vows to find the killer. She soon discovers Ted responded so quickly to the scene because he was already at the Bar J . . . in Roxy’s bed. And to add to her woes, Carly has gone missing.

Kate finds out that Eldon was considering selling his ranch to an obscenely rich environmentalist. Some in town hate the idea of an outsider buying up land, others are desperate to sell . . . and some might kill to get their way. As she becomes the victim of several “accidents,” Kate knows she must find the killer before it’s too late. . . .

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Crime, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller, Suspense

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 6, 2016

About the author

Shannon Baker writes mysteries about strong women in dangerous situations. Her books are set in the iconic landscapes of the American West, from the Colorado Rockies to the Nebraska prairies, to the deserts of southern Arizona. Baker spent 20 years in the Nebraska Sandhills, where cattle outnumber people by more than 50:1, and too few years living on Colorado’s front range. Her dark suspense, The Desert Behind Me, is a 2019 Winner of the New Mexico/Arizona Book Award.
Seconds before quitting writing forever and taking up competitive drinking, Shannon was voted Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s 2014 Writer of the Year and, buoyed with that confidence, continued to write, earning another RMFW Writer of the Year nod in 2017-18. Shannon makes her home in Tucson where she enjoys cocktails by the pool, breathtaking sunsets, a crazy Weimaraner, and killing people (in the pages of her books).

A lover of the outdoors, she can be found backpacking in the Rockies, traipsing to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, skiing mountains and plains, kayaking lakes, river running, hiking, cycling, and scuba diving whenever she gets the chance. Arizona sunsets notwithstanding, Baker is, and always will be, a Nebraska Husker, heartbreaking as the last two decades have been. Go Big Red.

Reviews

[Christa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic start to a series and showcases an excellent main character. Kate Fox runs the ranch that belongs to her sheriff husband and his parents. When her husband is injured after a shooting that involves a murder, suspicion falls on him and it is up to Kate to find out the truth. Kate has an interesting and quirky family, and there are a multitude of other eccentric secondary characters in the rural small town setting. The plot moves along rapidly, and kept me completely engrossed and entertained. I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy mysteries with strong female leads. I enjoyed this one enough that I had to pick it back up and read it again almost five years after the first time. I enjoyed it every bit as much this go round.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where do I start with this one? First of all, I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the setting immensely. Ironically I was reading this and another book at the same time that both talked about ranching and calf season. I didn’t know much about it before but it seems like an all consuming passion for those that choose ranching as a way to make a living. I loved the huge Fox family in all their uniqueness. And the ending….well it stunned me. Kate is amazing and I am going to follow her right along to the next in the series to see where life takes her.

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dollycas's Thoughts

Kate Fox works the family farm and her husband Ted is the sheriff in Grand County, Nebraska. Kate is right in the middle of calving season and Ted is in the middle of a campaign to keep his job. Their teenage niece Carly lives with them.

One night Kate returns to the house to hear a ringing phone, it was the sheriff's phone that rings when Ted doesn't answer his cell phone. She answers to hear a woman screaming. She recognized the voice, not one of her favorite people, but Roxy was calling for help. Rozy rapidly tells her father-in-law, Eldon Edwards is dead and that Kate's husband Ted has been shot. Kate calls the sheriff from the neighboring county, Milo Ferguson while on her way to the scene. She arrived just in time to follow the ambulance to the hospital 90 miles away.

Then she found out Ted was Milo's prime suspect and that Ted may never walk again. Determined to prove her husband's innocence she barrells headlong into an investigation. An investigation that uncovers profound secrets. An investigation that could get her killed.

_____

Kate Fox is a strong woman and a strong protagonist. Her entire life turns upside down when her husband is shot and she tries to find the person responsible. Ted is the sheriff of a vast territory in the Nebraska Sandhills. It's a very low crime area and he had a very safe job until the day it wasn't. Kate is part of a big close-knit loving family. Ted's an only child with a very controlling mother. These characters are surrounded by a large supporting cast. All the characters are well-defined with purpose in the story. The core characters developed well throughout the book with room to grow as the series continues.

Ms. Baker has written a very complicated mystery with a plethora of twists and turns. What appeared to be a very easy case to solve truly wasn't. Kate impressed me with her multitasking. She had a little help with the calves but her mother-in-law kept heaping things on her to do, all while trying to ascertain who killed Eldon, shot and framed her husband for the deed, and while trying to find her niece who has gone missing. I was as shocked as Kate when all was revealed.

Stripped Bare is a compelling mystery with a stellar protagonist in Kate Fox. The remote rural setting of the Nebraska Sandhills is unique with a wild west feel at times. The story dropped a few clues about Kate's future and the final page had me smiling ear to ear. I have added the entire Kate Fox series to my wish list. I hope to read and review book 2, Dark Signal soon.

*Borrowed from Amazon Prime Reading

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intelligent mystery driven by unique relationships, colorful/relatable characters, and small town charm. Pieces of the novel may be hard to swallow, however a relevant plot pushed reader to a satisfying climax. Superior gem incorporated for book two. Three and ½ stars for Baker’s Stripped Bare.

[Andria Potter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've tried this book twice and it's just not for me. I was hoping to get through the series as I have an arc for book three but I'm going to have to say "not reviewing this book" which I hate doing. The writing isn't bad but the story itself didn't appeal to me in the slightest. I managed the first three chapters and I'm calling it. My apologies to the author. Bit this just isn't for me.

[Tony Hisgett · Rating 1 out of 5]

The start of the book was very frantic and it was difficult to workout who all the characters were and the relationships with each other. Also very early in the book I couldn’t decide if the author was trying to imply Sheriff Milo was incompetent or was it just poor writing. How can he decide to arrest an unconscious man for murder after a few minutes at the crime scene without any witness statements or any forensic evidence? This wasn’t particularly important, but it set the tone for the book and coupled with a tendency to over describe things, I never became comfortable with the author’s style.
I quite liked Kate at the start of the book, but in the main the rest of the cast of characters were either irritating or obnoxious and by a quarter of the way through I was fed up of Carly and we hadn’t met her yet. By the end of the book I disliked all of them.
If possible I would have given 1.5 stars.

[Coleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprise! I liked the ending, which is actually unusual for me.

The story of Kate Fox, married to the Sheriff in Grand County, Nebraska, is an interesting one, and moves right along in the mystery of a murder and shooting. The problem for me was that I couldn't keep track of all of the folks and their various alibis and their relationships and their motives for or against having been involved. Even towards the end, where it looked like there might be some unveiling of what had 'really' happened, things got downright confusing!

Nevertheless, there was an explanation of sorts, and that was that! As noted, however, there was a 'bit' more, and I liked the ending.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

[Bryngel · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Like a worn guitar string, I vibrated ready to snap"
"I fidgeted like a horse in a starting gate"
"Sid's head hung low as a hound on a hot august afternoon"
"Her face closed like a window in a storm"
"...as limp as a pile of dirty laundry"

And with that I rest my case.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 3 out of 5]

STRIPPED BARE
(Kate Fox: #1)
Written by Shannon Baker
September 6, 2016; 288 Pages
Forge Books
Genre: romantic suspense, mystery

(I received an ARC from the EDELWEISS in exchange for an honest review.)

★★1/2

Kate Fox, call me Kate Connors, loves working and living on Nebraska Sandhills cattle ranch. The heir, who is also her husband and the Sheriff, is the love of her life. To complete their family is her orphaned teenage niece. Things are going well...till her husband is shot and may also be the one who killed her niece's grandfather. With the election for Sheriff coming up she also has to step up for at the debates. With everything on her plate can she solve the murder too?

This novel tries to be a "western" Stephanie Plum series. Right from the beginning you kind of know things are not what they seem to Kate. You want to feel sorry for her but she just doesn't evoke sympathy from readers. I also found this book a bit confusing at times...she mentions the name "Elvis" but don't know who that is right off...and people in the town also gets a bit muddled as everyone seems to be "tied" to everyone at some point. It caused me to reread many passages and get a bit frustrated with the book. I found some things to be a bit unrealistic as things do not get explained. The ending of the book does set up the book but unfortunately, I am going to pass on rest of the series. I was able to finish the book and did feel better that I figured out the killer. I see there are quite a few positive reviews so this may just be my opinion. You may want to give it a two chapter test as it stays the same throughout the book.

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I went into this book with the wrong expectation. I read somewhere that this was like the Craig Johnson Walt Longmire series but set in Nebraska. It is not anything like Walt Longmire! It reads more like a cozy mystery with an amateur sleuth. I wish I would have known that going in, as I think it may have changed my impression of the book. I really liked the setting, which is the Sandhills of Nebraska. The population is sparse and most are related to the protagonist Kate Fox. She is married to the county sheriff, and works his cattle farm and helps him with an investigation if one happens. The book starts with Kate's husband being shot at the Bar J ranch, along with the owner of the Bar J. Kate sets out to find out who shot her husband and Eldon.

[Lydia Fahey · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this book used one more cliché or personification I would have thrown my whole kindle away

[Savannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lord this was hard to get through. What a God awful, convoluted book with too many names thrown around and ridiculous overused cliches.

[Barbara Q · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, the author has promise and I DID finish this book. The milieu (Nebraska's Sandhills) is beautifully described; the characters pretty good; the plot OK. But there are too many hyperbolic verbs and too many sentences like this (not a direct quote but you get the idea):

I put on my old leather gloves, walked across the faded linoleum floor, grasped the doorknob, pulled open the door and walked onto the wooden back porch.

A lot of unnecessary simplistic wordiness, but I will try at least one more Kate Fox novel as I liked her character.

[jolyn Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too Many Characters

I just couldn't keep up with who was who in this book. Way too many characters and who was related to who. Storyline was ok and it might be an ok book if writer had limited the number of characters. I just stayed confused and wasted time trying to go back to find out who someone was.

[Lynette Ackman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I grew up in Nebraska. My parents still live there. My mother shares my love of reading. I told her I’d started this series, and the main character lived in Nebraska - raised cows and was married to the county sheriff.
Mom said it sounded boring.
Yeah, kind of was. 3 stars.

[Wisterious Woman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The biggest problem with this book for me was that I read 'Dark Signals' first. This series needs to be read in the correct order otherwise you read along feeling like you know all the surprises. I enjoy reading about Nebraska so much! It is so refreshing to hear about a place I've never been to. The big family background is interesting and the artistic mother with bipolar adds a bit of fun.
One thing I like about the main character is how she contrasts with Roxy the woman her husband is sleeping with. It is easier for me to respect someone who gets up at all hours of the night to check on her birthing cows than someone who uses a portable curling iron when her hair gets a bit mussed up. Often when I think about my appearance being less than stellar I ask myself, 'would I care if I was out on a ranch?'

I felt a bit uncomfortable about the situation with the niece--Kate always talks about her but I would have liked to get to know her as a character. The plot wasn't that interesting and I didn't think the ending was satisfying because there were too many characters that are brought into the story without the reader getting to know much about them.

The 4 star rating is because I like the gutsiness of the main character and the feeling of living in the Sandhills that the book portrays including insightful sayings by Kate's mother and father.

I look forward to reading more about Kate Fox. Like that gal!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Fox believed she was living the dream, her marriage to Sheriff Ted Conner was wonderful and running the cattle ranch kept her invigorated. When Kate is called to a shooting and murder that involved her husband, she is immediately by his side. Finding out Ted has survived she can breathe again, but she is worried about Carly who is missing. Carly is under her care and close to moving out in the world, but with a murder and Ted becoming a suspect Kate is reeling. As the dominoes fall, secrets are revealed and Kate is not sure she will ever be the same again.

Fast paced action packed suspense story. There are moments in this book that you feel for Kate and just want to give her a hug. I like how the story unfolded had me guessing who done it until the very end. I am not sure if this will lead to to more books with Kate Fox as the star, but I could definitely see more books in the future.

[Stacy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kept wavering between 2 and 3 stars for this one. It's really more of a 2.5 for me. There were some things I enjoyed but the downsides outweighed them.

Positives:
- absolutely loved the small town setting and depiction of ranching life
- highly amused by the fact that Kate and her siblings were all named after the Best Actor/Actress winner the year they were born. The fact that she was named after Katharine Hepburn made me smile.

Negatives:
- way too many characters and most of them were annoying
- Kate really isn't that great of a detective. Yes, she asks questions but gets everything wrong until the end when confronted with the actual killer.
- Carly - I never understood this character or why Kate was so protective; she was basically a brat
- There's a big reveal that seems important and then absolutely nothing is mentioned about it again. Maybe it's going to be part of the next book.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shannon Baker did a great job in describing the location in the story. The characters were hard for me to like or to associate with on an emotional level. I liked the strength of the h on many levels but got really frustrated at how she allowed the in-laws and some of the community to judge and criticize her. I do not like the 'f' word but the mother-in-law certainly deserved a few. The H was loser. He got caught, shot and showed very little remorse for his behaviors. The only emotional reactions was when he realized his wife was his opponent in an upcoming election.

The overall tone was flat. The H seemed to care very little about anything but himself. His family only cared about themselves. Roxy was a plastic Barbie with no soul. The h's only support was her brother and family and that seemed limited. Her niece was a question mark that was never fully developed.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just couldn't get into this book, skimmed through it and guessed the murderer. It seemed like a novel I should have liked, but there were too many of the obnoxious characters that seem to be a feature of so many US "cosy"* mysteries - I'm always puzzled as to why the other characters put up with them. Kate had promise and the ending sets things up for more in the series, but I'll probably not bother.
* This isn't marketed as a cosy, but it has many of the hallmarks.

[Antigone Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

More Soap Opera Than Suspense

Although I liked Kate the main character this book was more soap opera than suspense. Kate's husband the sheriff is suspected of murder. Kate's world is upended as she investigates.

There are too many characters, irritating dialogue and family drama. The mystery pales in comparison. Not fun .

[Dewey Carroll Brackett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many characters!

There were so many characters in this book I stayed confused most of the time. The ending was disappointing. The shootings are solved but one main thing went unanswered. It just stopped, hoping you would buy the next book. I hate it when an author does that.

[Shannon Parsons · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've never read a book with so many characters, most of which are never spoken of again. It was odd to have that many names and descriptions of people and very confusing to figure out who was who, and then of those people, who were even relevant to the story.

I always enjoy a good mystery. There were elements of this books at times that were good. But overall, it was a tough book to finish.

[Kevin McInerney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like reading books set in different regions. This was the first story I've read set in Nebraska. The opening setup was simple, and as the story progresses a number of sordid details were revealed. Almost seemed like it could be a plot from the TV Series Dallas. The big reveal was well telegraphed. I'm not sure I would read another book in this series (this was #1).

[E.A. Briginshaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should have been a good story because it got off to a great start, but then it really got bogged down with extra description and unnecessary side-stories. I just skimmed to the end because I lost interest.

[Mike Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-done murder mystery set in the rural west.

[Ferne (Enthusiastic Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

WoW! I was captivated by the opening!

“I’ve never trusted happiness. Just when you think you’ve corralled that mustang, she busts through the fence and leaves you with splinters. I should have seen it coming.”

I loved the author’s descriptive writing! Another top favorite was...

“Afternoon was punching its time card while evening waited to take the next shift.”

I truly saved one of the best selections until last as I traveled from sea-to-shining-sea for my 50 States Fiction Challenge! Looking over a list of novels set in Nebraska, the title caught my attention, and then the description reeled me in

“A Nebraska county sheriff’s wife investigates a murder—and her husband is the prime suspect.”

The sheriff’s wife, Kate Fox came into her family home expecting to see her niece Carly working on a term paper, and perhaps her husband Ted might already be home. But the house is dark and minutes later a phone call turns her world spiraling out of control.

The action keeps a steady pace but it is the descriptions and dialogue that keep the reader riveted from chapter to chapter. There is a large cast of secondary characters fitting for life in a small rural town in the Midwest where not only does everyone know everyone else’s business but some have that inside track because they are all related.

It is the authenticity in capturing the setting and the descriptive writing that moved this novel from 4 to 5 Stars for me. In signing up for the author’s newsletter, I received a link to download the short story “Close Enough” which takes place between Book 1 and Book 2. As the story gives additional insight into Kate Fox's next steps after Book 1 and insight into her character's choices and feelings for the path ahead, I highly recommend the novella. I hope you enjoy Shannon Baker’s writing as much as I did. I’m looking forward to reading more of the author’s writing.

[Jeannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

This book has a good story line. Full of mystery, twist, and turns. It could use less information about every single subject. Every thing mentioned in the book has a full description. I skipped over a lot of those.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked the characters in this series outing! Looking forward to the second that comes out in October!

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cheating husband, but luckily the wife didn't just forgive him an move on. There was actual discussion 😮