It’s no secret that I love a good historical mystery.  With the end of the year approaching, I find myself pursuing “best of” booklists hoping for a recommendation for something good to read during those long New England winters.

Wait, what’s that?  It’s 70 degrees in Boston today?  On Christmas Eve?  Oh.  Well, it’s as good of an excuse as any to relax with a good book.

One book that caught my eye these past few weeks, was “Girl Waits with Gun” by Amy Stewart.  It was recommended by several blogs I read and I think there was a write up in the “BookPages” that I pick up when I go to the library.  And of course it hit all my criteria.  Historical fiction, mystery, strong female characters, and a cute sheriff.

Well, imagine my surprise when I find out it was based on a true story too!  The Kopp “sisters” lived and worked on their own farm and had the misfortune one day to run into a disreputable fellow.  Well, he ran into them, but the point stands.  The sisters are threatened through the novel by a group of men after attempting to get monetary satisfaction from their run-in.  This leads to the Sheriff of Bergen County to start to assist and teach them how to protect themselves.

The gentleman doing the threatening is a big wig and belongs to a prestigious family in the Patterson New Jersey area.  This leads to complications with getting justice.  They end of taking their story to the media, and that’s how the term “Girl Waits with Gun” is coined.  It’s an amazing story of these three women and how they come to protect themselves and the farm they live in.  The book drags towards to the end, once everything seems to be resolving, but for the most part I couldn’t put the book down!  I finished it in just about two days, so it’s definitely a nice weekend read.

I figured this would be better to review around this holiday season instead of the other book I’m reading which is about Witches.  I’ve also started the “Alexander Hamilton” biography that was the inspiration for the Broadway show “Hamilton!”.  That will be the read to get me through the holidays I’m sure.

I hope everyone has a great holiday, gets just enough family time, and of course takes some time to relax with a good book!

See you next year!