Re-read update: This book did not hold up well on re-read. I had the same issue with the re-invention of the first book's history, and the rest of it, even though I didn't remember who the murderer was, I found extremely tedious and meandering.
Here's hoping the third book holds up better.
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An excellent read - but I have a beef. The last book Mama Does Time, ends with Mace saying she'd had gone on "a date" with Carlos, but that he had needed to move back to Miami to sort things out. A. Date. At the beginning of this book, it's all about how they'd had a full-on relationship and he'd broken it off to move back to Miami. I hate when author's re-invent their character's histories like that. Drives me nuts.
Not that that's off my chest - I'm loving this series so far. As a fourth generation Floridian myself, I thoroughly enjoy this visit to the Florida I grew up in and miss fervently. I get a huge kick out of Mace and her sisters - and I appreciate the reality of family life Ms. Sharp allows when one of the sisters (usually Mace) puts their Mama in her place, and she often needs it! It is a refreshing change of pace from those books where the Mother can act like she out to be riding a broomstick but no one would dare speak a disrespectful word to her. As much as I like Mace, I have to admit to liking Marty just that little bit better. And I love the pacing and dialogue when the three are playing off each other.
The plot was excellently done - a really well crafted mystery with an ending that I didn't see coming.
I've been suffering a string of books lately that have been flat, disappointing, lifeless. Mama Rides Shotgun was a delightful cure and a breath of fresh, slightly horsey-scented, air.