Snipe Hunt by Sarah Shaber

I last said an extra day on the cruise would've given me time to finish the 2nd Shaber book I took, so I finished it middle of last week.

my last post was about Simon Said and Shaber's reluctant slueth, Professor Simon Shaw. Remember Shaw is a history prof at a small Raleigh NC college. This time he and a couple families and friends are at the NC outer banks for Thanksgiving on a barrier island where the Army Corps of Engineers is doing their routine dredging of the channel. Shaw's archeological buddy has a deal with them to sift through the junk that gets hauled up and in this one load, they find the remains of a body in rudimentary diving gear. The body is an island resident who became one of the Navy's first divers in WWII, thus the old gear. Attached to his belt is a bucket with about a dozen gold Confederate coins. Upon autopsy, the remains contain a knife blade and evidence of a stabbing on the ribs. Prof Shaw, still flush with notoriety from the previous case, wants nothing to do with it, but the coins make him more interested in just what happened. was the corpse looking for treasure from the Civil War, or just what was the reason for the murder? The year round residents all seem to be related, so it's likely one of this family is connected to the death. soon, evidence of another death pops up around the same time so now everyone wonders if the two are connected. Finally, the patriarch of the clan falls off the widow's walk of their house. Falls or was he pushed? is this new murder connected to the earlier killings? and how does the gold fit in? Everyone wants to know because the locals fear an onslaught of treasure hunters ruining their little corner of heaven.

I like Shaber and glad I stumbled across her books. I am reading another now. My 80yo mother in law is here this month and she read this next book in 2 days. Easy reading, interesting views of a unpretentious way of life interrupted by an old unsolved death. She presents hers tales in a lively, descriptive, and cleaver narrative. As traditional mystery writers go, she is pretty good. I said last time that it's too bad because her books might be hard to find being NC regional books. But I accessed my mother in law's local library up in Wisconsin and all Shaber's books are there, so there is hope if you are interested. 5 of her novels are in the San Diego County library system for you on the left coast.

EC Don