The Sheriff's Surrender

Title: THE SHERIFF’S SURRENDER
Author: Susan Page Davis
Publisher: Barbour Books
December 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60260-562-6
Genre: Inspirational/historical

Gert Dooley is the best shot in town. She came out west after her brother’s wife died to help him out with his gunsmith shop. Hiram as stopped talking after his wife’s death, and Gert test-fires the guns and does the talking for him. She’s known as the best shot in the town.

When the sheriff of Fergus is found dead, the townsfolk vote Ethan Chapman in as interim sheriff until a new sheriff can be elected. Ethan never wanted this job, but he fills in because he can’t let the town down.

When the ladies in town discover that the old sheriff had been murdered they go to Gert to teach them how to shoot for protection and they form a Ladies Shooting Club. The men in town want this club disbanded—but then another body is discovered. Ethan turns to Gert and her club to help him find the murderer before he strikes again.

THE SHERIFF’S SURRENDER is the first historical I’ve read by Ms. Davis, but I am a long time fan of her suspense books. I found THE SHERIFF’S SURRENDER starting out kind of disjointed, in many different points of view, and I got a little confused. But by the time the sheriff was murdered either I’d gotten used to the storytelling method, or the story had tied together some so it wasn’t as confusing.

Ethan is a man who loves to serve, but he doesn’t like to be in the limelight. He doesn’t want to be sheriff, but there is no one else to do it, so he steps up to the plate. I hoped that he would be able to solve the murders and maybe even fall in love in the process. Gert isn’t so well developed as a character, but the reader can still identify with her. This is a light, easy read with a fun mystery thrown in to keep the pages turning. $10.97. 320 pages.