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The Country Club Murders #15
Big Shot
Ellison and Anarchy Jones are looking forward to a relaxing weekend in the country. Time spent skeet shooting, fishing, and horse-back riding with friends. Hours spent swaying in a shady hammock without friends.
But when Ellison walks into a murder scene, her friends become suspects. And each of them has an excellent motive for murder.
Can Ellison sift through the lies and unmask a killer, or will a weekend away cost her everything she holds dear?
But when Ellison walks into a murder scene, her friends become suspects. And each of them has an excellent motive for murder.
Can Ellison sift through the lies and unmask a killer, or will a weekend away cost her everything she holds dear?
216 pages, Paperback
First published October 25, 2022
140 people are currently reading
302 people want to read
About the author
Julie Mulhern
41 books1,657 followersJulie Mulhern is the USA Today bestselling author of The Country Club Murders and the Poppy Fields Adventures.
She is a Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. She spends her spare time whipping up gourmet meals for her family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep her house spotlessly clean--and she's got an active imagination. Truth is--she's an expert at calling for take-out, she grumbles about walking the dog and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions.
She is a Kansas City native who grew up on a steady diet of Agatha Christie. She spends her spare time whipping up gourmet meals for her family, working out at the gym and finding new ways to keep her house spotlessly clean--and she's got an active imagination. Truth is--she's an expert at calling for take-out, she grumbles about walking the dog and the dust bunnies under the bed have grown into dust lions.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 140 reviews
January 11, 2023
This series just keeps getting better. I’m so grateful for two books each year. Yay!
I can’t wait for #16 Fire and Rain. I listen to the audiobooks so I have to wait a little longer for the new release, but it is really worth it. Callie Beaulieu brings each story to life.
I can’t wait for #16 Fire and Rain. I listen to the audiobooks so I have to wait a little longer for the new release, but it is really worth it. Callie Beaulieu brings each story to life.
December 22, 2022
Ellison (formerly Russell, now Jones) and new husband Anarchy Jones are invited to spend a long weekend at a rustic campground in rural Kansas with several other couples. This 15th entry in an unfailingly clever and humorous series would not be a Country Club Mystery if one of the participants didn’t end up dead. I won’t give away anything else except to say that I read it in a mere two sittings. Highly recommended.
October 25, 2022
This was perhaps the best one since "The Deep End". Loved every moment. It was nice to have Ellison and Anarchy in a different setting without too much family drama, but just enough of "Mother" and Grace. Of course, I started it this morning and finished this afternoon, so now I'll have to wait for the next one! I love how their marriage is settling in and each gives in. Perfect escape. And it's so nice to know Ellison has a real weakness...fear of snakes. I laughed and worried. Yep. Perfect. Thanks, Julie.
December 6, 2022
Ellison and Anarchy are on a back-country weekend away with Libba, Charlie, and several other couples – acquaintances rather than good friends. It doesn’t start well:
There is a rather surreal scene in the book, where Ellison starts talking to a number of coloured packing crates. I shouldn’t really have been surprised, as she has previous with inanimate objects – Mr. Coffee anyone?
In the absence of Mr Coffee, Ellison goes out in search for her early morning fix – and finds a dead body. The honeymoon is well and truly over, and the corpses start appearing. While Anarchy is incapacitated, Ellison takes over his job of observing and questioning the suspects – of which there are many. Everyone (except Libba, Ellison and Anarchy) has a motive for the murder. The dead man was a particularly obnoxious lawyer, who revelled in upsetting and shafting people – especially his colleagues and supposed friends. Of the suspects, there is one just as heinous, Thatch. As the reader, you so want Thatch to be the murderer. Is he the guilty party? Or is he just so arrogant and objectionable because he knows he can be.
Ellison comes close to losing Anarchy, and has to call in the heavy guns (aka Frances Walford) to get news on his progress from the hospital.
Most people come out alive and with their reputations intact – or only slightly sullied. The murderer and motive are not readily apparent, and you are kept guessing till near the end.
Another great episode in the Country Club murders, I look forward to the next one.
“Friday afternoon, and the weekend was already off to a rocky start. I’d sensed this weekend was a bad idea. Too many men with outsized egos. Throw in guns and alcohol, July heat, hunting cabins not meant to house people in high summer, cicadas loud enough to make shotgun blasts seem quiet, and my propensity for finding bodies, and the whole thing spelled disaster.”
There is a rather surreal scene in the book, where Ellison starts talking to a number of coloured packing crates. I shouldn’t really have been surprised, as she has previous with inanimate objects – Mr. Coffee anyone?
In the absence of Mr Coffee, Ellison goes out in search for her early morning fix – and finds a dead body. The honeymoon is well and truly over, and the corpses start appearing. While Anarchy is incapacitated, Ellison takes over his job of observing and questioning the suspects – of which there are many. Everyone (except Libba, Ellison and Anarchy) has a motive for the murder. The dead man was a particularly obnoxious lawyer, who revelled in upsetting and shafting people – especially his colleagues and supposed friends. Of the suspects, there is one just as heinous, Thatch. As the reader, you so want Thatch to be the murderer. Is he the guilty party? Or is he just so arrogant and objectionable because he knows he can be.
Ellison comes close to losing Anarchy, and has to call in the heavy guns (aka Frances Walford) to get news on his progress from the hospital.
Most people come out alive and with their reputations intact – or only slightly sullied. The murderer and motive are not readily apparent, and you are kept guessing till near the end.
Another great episode in the Country Club murders, I look forward to the next one.
January 2, 2023
Uh oh, Ellison has done it again! She's found another dead body and mother is going to be fit to be tied! LOL, I absolutely love this series. It is on my absolutely must listen list of audiobooks as the narrator totally brings the characters to life, especially Ellison. Unfortunately Mr Coffee doesn't make an appearance, but an even funnier conversation between inanimate objects will be sure to have you rolling in laughter! When I need a fun step back into the 70's with fabulous characters and lots of laughter, the Country Club Murders series never lets me down! I am so ready for the next book to be available in audio!
July 22, 2023
This was definitely my least favorite, largely because the joy of these books is how snappy and shippy they are and this didn't really fulfill that for me on either level. One more to go and then I can rest.
November 4, 2024
Changing things up was fun. I also liked the closed cast of suspects which led to lots of theorizing amongst everyone. I missed Aggie and Grace, but honestly I did not miss Max, who stresses me out more often than not. And a break from Frances' criticisms was welcome as well. I wouldn't go so far as to say I dislike Frances, but she can certainly wear me out.
October 29, 2022
This is my favorite cozy mystery series, and this was another great addition! Highly recommend!
June 17, 2024
3.5/5 stars
My least favorite in a while. Good, but just not as good as some of the others! While I liked some aspects of this (the remote location/closed universe was fun), I also thought parts of the mystery didn't work as well.
I can't believe I only have two more of these left until I'm caught up. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself after.
My least favorite in a while. Good, but just not as good as some of the others! While I liked some aspects of this (the remote location/closed universe was fun), I also thought parts of the mystery didn't work as well.
I can't believe I only have two more of these left until I'm caught up. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself after.
September 10, 2023
This was probably my least favourite of the series (which really is mostly just a comment on how GOOD the other books are)
November 2, 2022
A different setting made for a nice change.
November 16, 2022
Wow! I didn’t read this immediately because I was in the middle of another book, and boy am I mad at myself! I told myself that these books were becoming formulaic… so Julie Mulhern does a 180 on me and switches up EVERYTHING in Ellison and Anarchy’s world in this newest outing!
No, I’m not giving you any more than that because I don’t do spoilers! Just read it yourself and you’ll see what I mean. Kudos to you, Julie, for breathing new life into one of my favorite series!
No, I’m not giving you any more than that because I don’t do spoilers! Just read it yourself and you’ll see what I mean. Kudos to you, Julie, for breathing new life into one of my favorite series!
March 24, 2023
Ellison and Anarchy are invited to a weekend getaway with “friends”. Looking forward to some quality time together, Ellison is stunned ( okay not really) to discover the body of friend’s husband the next morning in the cabin next door. Anarchy is roped into helping with the investigation and Ellison at first is upset that he will be investigating their “friends”. However will he fit into their “set” 🙄🙄 luckily she comes to her senses pretty quickly ( I was getting pretty steamed at her - no way was Anarchy going to give up his job for those backstabbing “friends”) Anyway. Everyone’s a suspect and Graham. The victim was universally disliked by most of the attendees. When another murder occurs, and Anarchy ends up in the hospital. Ellison is left behind to finish up questioning their friends and hopefully solve the mystery. This book was a big shift, Anarchy was actively involving Ellison in his investigation instead of keeping her out; Ellison also had to come to terms with her own snobbery and realize that, as Libby said, Anarchy doesn’t care about status. He cares about, Ellison. Grace, and his job. I think Ellison is realizing that she’s becoming to much like her mom in some ways and that scares her enough to change her thinking. Overall another very enjoyable book and mystery.
October 25, 2022
Great, Awesome, Wonderful! I stayed up until 6 AM to finish Big Shot because I literally could not put it down. I love, love, love this series and Big Shot is a perfect example of how the Country Club Murders draws me in every time and refused to let me go until the end. Elison's approach to investigating murder is intelligent, her approach to life is great and sometimes hilarious, and her still evolving relationship with Anarchy is awesome. I love that he has grown in his acceptance of her life, her friends, and her sticking her nose in his business, homicide.
Barely back from their honeymoon, the couple is pressured to attend a shooting weekend with a group of friends that turns into a time of backbiting and murder. The weekend that she was dreading turns even worse than she expects when a member of the group is murdered. Based on his skill as a homicide investigator, Anarchy is loaned out to the local sheriff's department who have limited experience. Elison's knowledge of the people allows her an in with the investigation and when near disaster strikes, places her right in the middle.
The book deserves a better review than this but this is what I have.
Barely back from their honeymoon, the couple is pressured to attend a shooting weekend with a group of friends that turns into a time of backbiting and murder. The weekend that she was dreading turns even worse than she expects when a member of the group is murdered. Based on his skill as a homicide investigator, Anarchy is loaned out to the local sheriff's department who have limited experience. Elison's knowledge of the people allows her an in with the investigation and when near disaster strikes, places her right in the middle.
The book deserves a better review than this but this is what I have.
December 13, 2022
The change of location was nice for a series that's been going this long - Ellison & friends rarely feel boring but just because it's been going so long does lend towards a similar "oh we're going to the club, and back to her house, maybe the bank, back to the club..." type of trajectory. This was nice detour and I liked the way it turned it into a bit of a "locked room" mystery.
Also it was great to see Mother aiding things for a change and I continue to love how Anarchy and Ellison are growing in their relationship.
Also it was great to see Mother aiding things for a change and I continue to love how Anarchy and Ellison are growing in their relationship.
February 17, 2023
Absolutely adore this series. The 5 stars are not for literary superiority. They're for the joy following this series has given me. Callie Beaulieu's narration of Julie Mulhern's superlative capturing of life in the 70's added to her polished craft for characters and plot have kept me smiling (and cringing). Just saw there's a new one coming in April! 🎉
November 8, 2022
At this point in this series, I don't even care much for the murders. The dialog between characters is the best part and I'll keep reading them just for that.
May 11, 2023
Great cozy mystery, fun characters and terrific narration.
June 22, 2023
No spoilers
I absolutely love Ellison and Anarchy. This one kept me guessing until the reveal. I thought I had it figured out...then SURPRISE!
I absolutely love Ellison and Anarchy. This one kept me guessing until the reveal. I thought I had it figured out...then SURPRISE!
March 31, 2024
After the highs of the last few books, this one was a bit of a disappointment. I liked that the setting was switched but the mystery itself was meh. I also felt like Ellison and Anarchy didn't spend nearly enough time together on page.
April 30, 2024
Picked up toward the end. Love it when the mom does a small sweet thing, like at the very end. Laughed that I read some books that take place after this one first, so some things were quite predictable.
June 22, 2024
Love this series. Cozy mystery set in 1970s Kansas City area amongst the country club set. Humorous and clean read.
October 27, 2022
Loved it!
October 28, 2022
another hit. camp shirts return, bridge is out! did i miss it? sort of lol. i also very much missed Jinx!!
October 28, 2022
This One Hits the Mark
There’s something different about Julie Mulhern’s “Big Shot”. I still can’t quite express it, but it feels a bit more mature in the mystery genre. Julie is still a master at character development. Her old recurring characters keep adding interesting layers and her new ones appear with you feeling like you know them. (Although I did create a sort of “cheat-sheet” listing who was married to whom at the beginning of the book … which wasn’t necessary at all once the story got going with all the interactions.)
Once Ellison and Anarchy discover a body this mystery really gets going because literally everyone at this weekend get-away has a pretty good reason to have wanted the victim dead. This book is loaded with so many intriguing and plausible red herrings that it will keep you jumping … and not just up on tables. (I agree with Ellison, there are good reasons to hate snakes !!!). Will this murderer actually “get away”?
Thanks, Julie, for another great read … now I have the frustration of having to wait until April, 2023 to read “Fire and Rain”, book 16 in this terrific series.
There’s something different about Julie Mulhern’s “Big Shot”. I still can’t quite express it, but it feels a bit more mature in the mystery genre. Julie is still a master at character development. Her old recurring characters keep adding interesting layers and her new ones appear with you feeling like you know them. (Although I did create a sort of “cheat-sheet” listing who was married to whom at the beginning of the book … which wasn’t necessary at all once the story got going with all the interactions.)
Once Ellison and Anarchy discover a body this mystery really gets going because literally everyone at this weekend get-away has a pretty good reason to have wanted the victim dead. This book is loaded with so many intriguing and plausible red herrings that it will keep you jumping … and not just up on tables. (I agree with Ellison, there are good reasons to hate snakes !!!). Will this murderer actually “get away”?
Thanks, Julie, for another great read … now I have the frustration of having to wait until April, 2023 to read “Fire and Rain”, book 16 in this terrific series.
November 18, 2025
This is my stress relief series. I can laugh at the characters and still enjoy watching the mystery get resolved.
October 26, 2022
Hard to keep everyone straight (Who was married to who) but still loved it!
May 16, 2023
Only three stars this time. I still liked it, but lots of names to track and… talking milk crates? Mr. Coffee is one thing, but milk crates? Is this series going to end with Ellison in a mental hospital? Okay, just t kidding a bit. But now I’m curious how the series will end… hopefully with book 100 and Anarchy and Ellison are retiring to Italy…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2023
I actively track the calendar for when the next Country Club murder book comes out. This one just wasn’t the same level of excitement as the other books…it just kept circling and circling around one suspect.
July 14, 2023
This was not as good as the other books. Maybe because of lack of time with some of the regular supporting characters? I kept thinking this may be the authors nod to Agatha Christie’s style of “whodunnit” - but she didn’t quite pull it off. Still enjoyable, if a little lackluster.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 140 reviews