No Gun Intended: 4 Stars

Hi everyone! It's been a minute. I took a little break from my book reviews but I'm back and will be using a different review style from now on.

I had a few comments that my previous reviews gave a little too much of the story away. So, to avoid unexpected spoiler alerts, I will be using the following format...

1. Summary

2. Who I would and would not recommend this book to

3. Trigger warnings

4. My opinion and reason for the rating (Psst...This part could have some spoilers so read at your own risk)

Sound good? Let's get going!

Summary

No Gun Intended, a mystery/comedic novel by Zoe Burke is the second book in this series. Our protagonist, Anabelle Starkey seems to have a knack for being in the wrong spot, at the wrong time. In the first book, Anabelle gets swept up in a mystery involving her grandmother, murder, and a missing hatpin. Fast forward a few years, Anabelle is living in NYC with her boyfriend and opened up a detective agency with their partner.

On a trip to Portland to visit her parents, Anabelle mistakenly swaps a bag at the airport which once again sweeps Anabelle into yet another investigation.

To find out how one little bag led to kidnapping, assault, and murder, read No Gun Intended by Zoe Burke.

Who should and shouldn't read this book?

If you're someone who enjoys mixing mystery with comedy. This is for you. If you're someone who likes each category to stay in its lane, I would not recommend reading this book.

Anabelle is a bit sarcastic and there are a lot of "witty" one-liners. It could be in the middle of an extremely serious/dangerous situation and Anabelle will spout off something that makes it seem like she's at a casual dinner with her friends. So, if that's not your style, don't read it.

Trigger Warnings

As mentioned earlier, there is assault, abducting, and murder. None of these situations go into much detail and they are all a bit glossed over.

On more of a minuscule scale, there is a lot of swearing. Particularly from Anabelle's mother who drops an f-bomb every sentence. This is something her mother is known for so it's supposed to be funny.

My thoughts

I think this book is an easy and quick read. The story moves quickly and the author does a good job of making it seem realistic. I think my biggest issue with the book was Anabelle. I have a feeling if I met her in person I wouldn't like her. It's like she's trying too hard to be witty or funny. Like, we get it, you use humor in difficult situations, let's move on. Now that I think about it, all the action scenes and investigations are more realistic than a family that is constantly using witty humor as their means of communication. It just wasn't for me.

Lastly, Anabelle is the only person in their detective agency who has no experience solving cases or with police work and she still refuses to listen. She's majorly offended when someone tries to give her advice or feedback on her actions. This ultimately leads to putting herself and others in danger. She's just a frustrating character for me personally.

Anyway, now that I've finished my rant about Anabelle, overall, I did like the book. and I recommend giving it a read and drawing your own conclusions.

Thank you for reading my review of Zoe Burke's novel, No Gun Intended. For more reviews, visit my profile and let me know what you think!

Thank you,

Leah Lawrence