Book Review: Ivy Get Your Gun by Cindy Brown (Ivy Meadows #4)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Funny mystery and characters with true heart

Cons: All cons shot away

The Bottom Line:

Ivy and Old West

Are perfect combination

In delightful book

Ivy Finds Herself Acting as PI in a Ghost Town

For a theater junky like me, the Ivy Meadows series has really been a thrill.  Ivy is a part time PI working under her uncle and a part time actress still trying to find a way to make a living on the stage.  The antics she finds herself in are always fun, and Ivy Get Your Gun is no exception.

This book finds Ivy going under cover once again, this time at Gold Bug Gulch.  She’s been hired by her friends Marge and Arnie to find out just what is happening there.  A son Arnie didn’t know he had has shown up and gotten the couple to invest in this ghost town turned tourist attraction.  However, one of the two actors who participates in the gun fights for the tourists was really shot.  So Ivy goes in to attempt to figure out if it was an accident or if someone wanted to kill the man.

Not that Ivy’s life is simple outside of this case.  She’s auditioning for a roll in Annie Get Your Gun with a regional theater company, something that would be a huge step forward in her career.  Of course, she’s also learned the truth about the real Annie Oakley, which means her feelings about the musical are mixed at best.  Her boyfriend, Matt, is anxious to take their relationship public, putting extra pressure on Ivy.  Can she deal with these problems in her life and still find out what is going on in Gold Bug Gulch?

Ivy is quite obviously facing quite a bit in this book, but the focus is on the mystery.  The sub-plots pop in and out and help develop her character, but they are never the focus of the book.  The mystery provides us with many good clues and suspects before the ultimate showdown.  Ivy is still a little slow piecing things together at times, but that is a minor issue, especially since she recognizes this flaw in herself.

Those who have been reading this series since the beginning will be pleased to know that the main cast is back and as wonderful as ever.  We get quite an eclectic group of suspects out at Gold Bug Gulch, and as we get to know them, we begin to see the human side of them as well.

Which is quite an accomplishment since this is a comedic mystery.  The comedy comes from the situations Ivy finds herself in as well as the characters she meets.  Not only is author Cindy Brown balancing the laughs with murder and the very real danger Ivy is facing, but she is also walking a fine line with comedic characters who are funny yet come across as real.  She pulls it off perfectly.

This is obvious at the end of the book as we see some real growth in many of the characters.  Some of these scenes will mean more if you’ve been reading the series from the beginning, but that’s no burden at all.  All four of these books are a worth reading.

So if you haven’t started this series yet, do so today.  Time spent in Ivy’s presence is always a delight, as Ivy Get Your Gun proves once again.

Looking for an encore?  Here are the rest of the Ivy Meadows Mysteries in order.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

I'm reviewing this book as part of a blog tour.  Check out the rest of the stops.