Jump the Gun: An Annabelle Starkey Mystery - Softcover

Zoe Burke is the author of two children's books, but Jump the Gun is her first mystery novel. She is also vice president and publisher of Pomegranate Communications, an art book publishing company, and she enjoyed a brief singer/songwriter career as Katie Burke in the 1990s. She lives in Oregon with her husband.

What starts as a wacky romantic caper soon turns more dangerous in this relentlessly readable debut. Seconds after Annabelle Starkey and Mickey Paxton connect at the close of a national book convention in Chicago, he’s invited her to Las Vegas. Thus begins a chase from Vegas to the San Francisco area involving some bad cops, a resident at the nursing home where Annabelle’s grandmother recently died, and a lawyer who volunteered at the home, all of them after Annabelle, as it turns out, with only a suspended cop who’s moonlighting as a cab driver to help Annabelle and Mickey. When Annabelle’s cat-sitting friend is killed at Annabelle’s apartment, things get really serious. If the underlying premise here is a little convoluted and far-fetched, it doesn’t matter a lot when the action is nonstop and the sparks fly between Annabelle and Mickey, who seem to be kindred, movie-loving souls despite a certain lack of full disclosure between them. Impulsive Annabelle, speaking her mind sometimes in CAPS, is a winning protagonist, and this smart, snappy, whirlwind romantic mystery kicks off what promises to be an entertaining series. --Michele Leber