cover image No Gun Intended: An Annabelle Starkey Mystery

No Gun Intended: An Annabelle Starkey Mystery

Zoe Burke. Poisoned Pen, $26.95 (212p) ISBN 978-1-46420486-9

Burke’s zany sequel to 2013’s Jump the Gun takes screwball rookie sleuth Annabelle “Bea” Starkey from New York City to Portland, Ore., to visit her parents. Unfortunately, at the airport baggage claim, somebody walks off with Bea’s backpack, and Bea goes home with her foul-mouthed mom and sanguine dad and an identical-looking backpack containing a gun—which turns out to be a murder weapon. The plot thickens when a young woman phones, claiming she has Bea’s backpack, wants to meet, and is quickly dispatched into a coma by a mysterious mugger. Boyfriend and Asta Investigations partner Mickey Paxton, who’s working a case back in New York, can’t get away to help out, so she’s on her own. With Bea’s quips, Mom Starkey’s expletives, crazy plot twists, red herrings, and copious movie references, this is one mad, mad, mad, mad mystery. Agent: Anna Olswanger, Liza Dawson Associates. (Jan.)