Member Reviews

Hemmingway! Yes previously unknown and or stolen manuscripts are incredibly valuable but do they warrant murder? Sarah finds herself in the middle of quite a bit of excitement when she takes on a job offered by Belle, a wealthy local widow who wants to sell her large collection of books (and make a good donation to the local library as well.). Belle knows her late husband had some important books in his collection but she thought hers was less important. Hah! This nicely done cozy has Sarah coping with changes in her personal life (her ex is finally gone from the scene and a stalker is on trial) as well as raising funds to bring a veteran's dog home from Iraq- and investigating the murder as well. Not too twisty and just enough emphasis on the non-mystery aspects. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. You'll be fine reading this as a standalone if you haven't read the series.

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This is a great page-turner. It’s a fantastic whodunnit with everyone’s motives under suspicion. If you want a cozy you can’t put down, this is it.

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I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not paid for this review.

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Sarah Winston is retained by Belle Granville to inventory her massive collection of mysteries and hold a garage sale to benefit the Ellington Free Library. Things get interesting when Sarah finds original Hemingway manuscripts in an overnight case among an attic full of boxes, trunks and luggage.

In quick succession, Belle is knocked out by her assistant Kay who steals the case of manuscripts and makes her getaway through the woods surrounding the house only to be killed by a man who manages to steal the case and get away.

Word leaks out about the manuscripts creating a media frenzy and then rare book dealer Roger Mervine’s life is threatened if Belle does not give his captor the very limited edition of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises he insists she has hidden in her house. Belle fires a shotgun at the kidnapper scarring him off and after the ordeal wonders what the heck is going on since she has never heard of the book.

Belle, Roger and Sarah are besieged by media, thieves and hundreds of folks representing the League of Literary Treasure Hunters, all trying to find the manuscripts or the elusive book.

Sherry Harris has fabricated a wonderfully complex mystery with lots of twists, plenty of red herrings and an engaging community of characters. Thanks to the author’s imagination this is a fun read and moves at a steady pace. The sixth adventure in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mysteries the story is captivating and fresh.

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The Gun Also Rises by Sherry Harris is the 6th book in the Garage Sale Mystery series. I love this series, and this book is no exception. Sarah Winston is a well developed main character, who I really like. Sarah makes a living by organizing sales for people and businesses. Sarah has agreed to sort through wealthy Belle Winthrop Granville's books, and price for the library benefit sale. While sorting she find Hemingway's stolen stories, that have been missing since 1922. No sooner did Sarah tell the owner about the stories, they were stolen and the maid was killed, and Sarah was shot at. This mystery has it all, a great plot that is well developed along with great characters. I strongly recommend this book for all cozy mystery lovers, To get the most out of the books read them in order, you won't be disappointed. I can not wait for Sarah's next adventure. Strongly recommend.

I received this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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The Gun Also Rises is the sixth installment in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series set in Ellington, Massachusetts and featuring garage sale organizer, Sarah Winston. Sarah has been invited to the home of Mrs. Belle "Miss Belle" Winthrop Granville III in order to help organize a sale for the woman's vast collection of mysteries.

Working alongside Sarah to handle the rare and valuable books in the collection is Roger Mervine, a snobby rare book collector from Boston. Roger rubs her the wrong way so Sarah decides to begin her work in the attic, where she uncovers original manuscripts written by Ernest Hemingway hidden in an overnight trunk. Taking her find downstairs to share with Miss Belle, the elderly woman appears to be visibly shaken by the find and asks Sarah to give her a few minutes alone.

Shortly after returning to the attic Sarah is startled by a cry from downstairs and hurries to find Miss Belle lying on the library floor and the overnight case missing. Running to the open door Sarah spots the live in maid Kay, running through the woods, a brief chase, a gun shot and Sarah finds the woman lying dead on the forest floor with the overnight case no where in sight.

Determined to find the killer and track down the missing manuscripts and a rumored first edition of The Sun Also Rises, Sarah sets out against the advice of Officer Scott Pellner, and soon finds herself a prime suspect in the case. Helping Sarah are series regulars; her landlady Stella, district attorney Seth Anderson and the reputed mobster Mike "The Big Cheese" Titone.

A fast paced plot that will draw you in from the start. It appears the author has finally ended the dreaded love triangle between Sarah, ex husband CJ and Seth so it will be interesting to see how Sarah's personal relationships evolve in the upcoming additions to the series. The secondary story line in this book features Eric Hunt, a war veteran deep in the throes of PTSD who is desperately trying to raise the funds needed to bring home King, the street dog he'd bonded with in Afghanistan.

I received an advanced copy of The Gun Also rises from NetGalley via Kensington Publishing. While not required to write a review I am more than happy to offer my honest opinion.

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Really great book! I was so happy to see Luke back. Loved all the twists and turns and unexpected surprises. Very enjoyable!

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I'm not sure what the title has to do with the story but the story is good. There's a lot of running around and I thought the ending was a bit wimpy, as the manuscripts aren't recovered or all the bad guys, but it's an enjoyable story. #TheGunAlsoRises #NetGalley

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Loved it! It is always a delight to be involved in a garage sale with Sarah Winston. Her interactions with friends, family, police, suspects, ex, and all the others involved are a pleasure to follow. I look forward to reading the next one in this charming series.

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A very enjoyable mystery. The characters were so real...and the twists and turns were great. Thank you Sherry Harris for this great book. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

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A true murder mystery after a literary lover's heart!! Each story in the Sarah Winston series keeps getting better! I loved the premise of this new mystery, with Sarah helping out one of our older community members with sorting out her mystery book collection. Unbeknownst to all, a rare and collectible Ernest Hemingway manuscript is discovered. And just as quickly as it's been discovered, it disappears and Kay, the housekeeper has lost her life while a new murder mystery unfolds. Sarah is quick to involve herself in finding out who-done-it, and meets a few Indiana Jones type literary treasure hunters who have slowly infiltrated her town once word is released about the manuscript. This story is a fast read and is as hard I tried to savor each page, I just couldn't put it down. The action always keeps me on my toes and I truly enjoy the characters in this series! You don't want to miss the next book in this series!

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The Gun Also Rises is the sixth book in Sherry Harris’ Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery series. I enjoy this author’s writing style and ability to paint vivid pictures with her written words. Ms. Harris provides enough character background that this book can be read as a standalone. The storyline is well plotted, the characters well developed and affable. The book moves at a fast pace, and there are plenty of viable suspects and twists and turns to keep the reader engaged.

Sarah Winston lives in Ellington, Massachusetts and loves garage sales. She manages a virtual garage sale website, provides professional services to people having garage sales, and does volunteer work for several organizations. Sarah and her ex-husband, CJ, had been trying to work out their differences, but he recently took a job in Florida, and Seth Anderson, the District Attorney she dated briefly, would like to pursue a relationship with her. Sarah’s in charge of organizing a fundraiser to help Eric Hunt, an injured veteran with PTSD bring, King, a street dog he’d bonded with, home from Afghanistan. Eric’s wife, Tracy, is having a tough time cooping and Sarah hopes she can find a way to help her. Sarah was quite surprised when she received a formal invitation to meet with Belle Winthrop Granville, III and couldn’t imagine her having any interest in her garage sale services. When Belle told her it was time to do some downsizing, Sarah suggested Sotheby’s would be better suited to handle her items, but Belle explained that she was interested in selling her large collection of mystery books to raise money for the Ellington Library. As Sarah begins to sort the books in the attic, she finds a battered overnight case with travel stickers from European cities, and when she opens it, she discovers manila file folders of unpublished manuscripts written by Ernest Hemingway that were stolen from his wife as she traveled by train to meet him in Switzerland in 1922. Belle says she’s never seen the overnight case and has no idea how the manuscripts came to be in her attic. Later, Sarah hears a commotion downstairs, finds Belle on the floor, learns Kay Kimble, the maid, attacked Belle, and the manuscripts are gone. Sarah chases after Kay, but when she catches up with her, she’s dead, and the overnight case is missing. Rumor has it that Sarah took the manuscripts and that she has a rare limited edition of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Mayhem breaks out, and she ends up being stalked by reporters, the League of Literary Treasure Hunters, and others.

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

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I had an internal struggle while reading this book. Half of me wanted to devour it and satisfy the mystery-solving part of my brain. The other half of me wanted to savor it, reading it slowly to make it last longer. The first half won, and I found myself at the end of the story way too quickly! I enjoyed my visit with Sarah and her friends in her adopted home of Ellington, MA. In The Gun Also Rises, Sarah has taken on a job to prepare part of a client's personal library to sell. Sarah ends up embroiled in a mystery involving some extremely valuable items, a hoard of literary treasure hunters, and two old-money Boston households. The conclusion was satisfying, and left me a combination of floored, happy, and content. If you haven't read any books in this series, you can certainly read this book as a stand-alone, but I always recommend starting from the beginning and read along as the characters develop. This is a great series for any mystery lover!

I received an advance copy of this book. This review contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

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Well done characters with a few quirks that have grown along with the series has always made this authors work a fu e read with interesting tidbits woven in. Being a history biff, the twist in this one surprised me and I through,y enjoyed it.

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“The Gun Also Rises” features a clever mystery, engaging characters, and a top-notch creative plot. Sarah Winston is asked to inventory a massive mystery book collection for a wealthy widow to benefit a fundraiser for the local library. Sarah finds much more than a bargain in the attic when she unpacks several priceless manuscripts written by Ernest Hemingway. As the story begins to unfold, past misdeeds join ongoing deceptions, and a sudden death occurs.

Author Sherry Harris never disappoints with her strong, witty writing voice and her ability to use the surprise effect just when you think you have it all figured out! The history of the missing manuscripts and a copy of “The Sun Also Rises” by Hemingway is very interesting and woven seamlessly into the plot.

The regular cast of characters in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale series are some of my all-time favorites plus some new, quirky characters are introduced in book six. Protagonist, Sarah Winston, is independent, fiesty, and practically fearless in her search for treasures. I loved this story, you’ll love this story, and I highly recommend this entire cozy series!

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing. Thank you.

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Sarah Winston is hired to pack up and price books for a library sale by a wealthy local. But as Sarah is going through the books, she comes across an older trunk with long lost writings from Ernest Hemingway. After leaving the find with the home owner, Miss Belle is knocked down by her housekeeper who runs off with the case of Papa’s works. But no sooner did the housekeeper run off with the goods, when she is found dead in the woods behind the house. To add more icing to the literary cake, it looks like there is a copy of The Sun Also rises that should be in the house somewhere.

With the books and murder, Sarah isn’t quite sure who to trust and no one seems to know where the book or case of writings is. But will Sarah be able to identify the murderer before she someone closes the chapter on Sarah’s life?

I have read a few other boosk in this series and each one is better than the last one. Solid character development and a story that keeps you thinking and wondering who done it until close to the end. A great read and fantastic setting for this series.

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small-business, Massachusetts, cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths, law-enforcement

Two of my favorite things: murder mystery and garage sales! Good mystery plot filled in with sleuth's personal history and adjustments (like divorce, no longer an Air Force wife, previous murder involvements, and knowing a mob guy). The publisher's blurb is pretty good at gaining reader interest, but the book is better than that. Sure, there are the expected twists and red herrings, but the characters alone would save the day if that was necessary. Loved it! Now I have to go find more by this author!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

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As a cozy mystery lover, I am a big fan of author Sherry Harris. In, The Gun Also Rises, Sarah Winston is called in to inventory a large book collection for a library fund-raiser. Sarah is astounded to find stolen Hemingway stories in the lot. The owner of the lost manuscripts is assaulted and robbed and the individual who did it is found murdered. Suddenly mobsters, a rare books dealer and a nosy League of Literary Treasure Hunters appear on the scene. Hemmingway’s words, “courage is grace under pressure,” become all too real for Sarah as she tracks down the culprit amongst the chaos. The Gun Also Rises kept me turning the pages. I highly recommend this book and the entire series.

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I received an advanced digital read copy of The Gun Also Rises by Sherry Harris in exchange for an unbiased review. This is the sixth book in the Sarah W. Garage Sale Mystery series and is a complete mystery on it’s own. There are some secondary characters and storylines that carry through from one book to the next, so readers may prefer to read the series in order, but it isn’t necessary.
This book is a light, cozy read, one that is easy to pick up and put down as time permits. Most readers will have no problem following along with the cast of characters and with the action as Sarah Winston, who is the protagonist, seeks to solve the murder. There are some clues and red herrings offered as the book progresses and the solution has a nice twist that may be anticipated by the seasoned mystery reader, but may come as a surprise to many who are new to the genre.
There is a strong secondary theme that talks about the life of a military spouse and the particular stressors that can be involved. Although Sarah is divorced from a former Air Force officer, she is still involved in the community serving military spouses and on several occasions veers off into explanations of what life is like, what stressors there are, or what unique problems as well as benefits a woman might encounter being married to a career officer in the military.
The premise of the book is based on the discovery of some previously unknown drafts of stories by Ernest Hemingway. As the story progresses, Sarah and others discover the possible existence of another Hemingway novel, a personalized version he had printed in limited quantities just for a few friends. These missing literary works offer lots of opportunities for Sarah to investigate while giving rise to all manner of problems for her to overcome. In the end, there is an unexpected observation that puts her on the right trail of how the Hemingway novel came to be in the possession of its current owner and then Sarah draws together a variety of facts to realise the identity of the culprit.

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Even though this is the first book I've read in this series, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, starting at the beginning of the series would be best I still had a wonderful time with Sarah and company. As an antiquarian bookseller, I soon found myself engrossed in this mystery. Definitely would recommend this book. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

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With characters who are variously readers, collectors, and sellers of mystery fiction, not to mention its punny title, this book sounded like just the right kind of diversion. A stash of Hemingway documents is discovered and then stolen. Cue the mayhem as a body is found and a large group of tweed-wearing literary treasure hunters invades the town. The cozy plot is interspersed with snippets of information about flea markets and also a number of incidental observations about the sense of community on a military base. There were moments when I would have preferred for the author to let the action speak for itself instead of having the protagonist explain too much. Of course, we know all the loose ends will be neatly wrapped up by the end, so we can relax and enjoy the ride.

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