Cow Crimes and the Mustang Menace (Ruby Taylor Mystery ... (ISBN 0825424909)

What a read!:
Cow Crimes and the Mustang Menace is a great read! Sharon's colorful characters and crazy plot make this book a page turner! Even without reading Sharon's previous books, I was able to jump right into the story and get involved. Sharon has spun another tale of fun, excitement and drama, all wrapped up with a ribbon of laughter! I can't wait to read other books by Sharon Dunn.

Ruby Taylor--real heroine, real fun:
Ruby's world involves stolen property, from a beloved cat to a pet steer, from farm equipment to a belt buckle and a vintage Mustang. Wesley, her deputy-love interest vanishes, blood appears in his pick-up and a trailer home burns down. Whether seeking purloined Pernicious the steer or a prize in a potato recipe contest, Ruby Taylor is up to it. Or maybe not: "You get to ride in a parade," she enticed. My mother is about as subtle as an ice cream headache. ... "Mom, don't push. I know I'm domestically challenged.".... "Domestically challenged? Ruby, you wrote 'over-achiever' in red ink a hundred times by Proverbs 31."... "That commentary was for God's eyes. We're working on it." "She tried so hard. What a curse to have me as a daughter. She needed someone who could turn old socks and fabric scraps into a duvet cover. I had only a faint notion what a duvet cover was.... " God comes through and Ruby, as real and flawed as you or I, does, too. But where's Wesley??? With her dry wit, Sharon Dunn weaves a tight mystery around eclectic characters and escalating problems, much tension for Ruby and many chuckles for the reader, to reach a satisfying ending.

Irrepressible Ruby Enchants Again:
The feed and supply store where Ruby Taylor works has been robbed several times. So, Ruby and Georgia, the owner, decide to hide in the darkened store and catch the thief, or thieves. But the women are caught by surprise anyway, and the strangest thing stolen that night is Her Majesty, Georgia's cantankerous Siamese cat. Ruby's sometime boyfriend Wesley is missing. She's found his pickup abandoned not far from an ostentatious house built by new arrivals in town, and there is blood on the seat of the cab. In typical Ruby fashion, she decides to launch her own investigation because local authorities are less than cooperative. First thing is to meet the new folks in town who own that house and the Ruby way to accomplish this is to climb through a window. Elementary. Meet Lance Kinkaid and his wife Starlight. Lance? Starlight? You've gotta be kidding. Now a prize bull has disappeared, Her Majesty is still missing, a drugstore is robbed and somehow Ruby is tangled up in the middle of it. An ancient family dispute brings more questions than answers, but Ruby believes there's a clue in there somewhere. It is time for the Potato Queen competition and Ruby and Starlight concoct an interesting recipe for potato chips and decide to enter. They arrive at the fair but before the judging, Ruby is kidnapped. This is a rollicking, fun read. But don't be fooled . . . there is mystery and tension here, too. You may be able to connect the Cow Crimes part of the title with the aforementioned missing bull, but I'll leave the Mustang Menace part for your discovery. Our Ruby is an irrepressible spirit endowed with a natural instinct that too often leads her beyond common sense and straight into danger. Her tenuous, newborn faith is tested time and again, and her romantic relationship with Wesley and his reluctance to commit drives her crazy. Sharon Dunn has a knack for telling a good story filled with surprising insight and lots of just plain fun. I really like Ruby.

Father Knows Best? Maybe not.:
Ruby Taylor is at it again. In her third book, as she and Wesley are trying to figure out their relationship, Ruby stumbles across a string of robberies targeting her work. This leads to her finding out a town's shady history involving a murder. Amid a missing bull and a county fair involving potato recipes, Ruby tries to find out who is committing all the robberies and how it somehow connect to that story from yesteryear. Her attempts at sleuthing lead to comical and scary situations. This was such a great book. I like Ruby more and more with each book in the series. I liked her friendship with Starlight and I was glad that Ruby kept trying to point out to Wes that he needed to stop suspecting them just because they were new in town. The whole scentless hairspray made me curious as well as to how it works. I don't want to spoil the ending but the reasons for all the "activities" happening in the area had a sad story behind it. You almost feel sorry for the perpetrators. It's intersting to think how much a father's acknowledgment means to someone. I am glad that Ruby had realistic reactions to the way Wesley reacted in the beginning of the story. He doesn't tell her where he's gone so of course she's worried and angry when she does find him. I also want to know if they ever have a talk about the letter that Ruby found. If Wesley feels that he has to be a perfect Christian, this might hinder their relationship. I was also glad that Ruby found the Proverbs 31 woman slightly frustrating as well. As good of a role model as that passage is, sometimes I think some Christian women strive too much to attain that status. While Ruby's faith is tested many times, she doesn't lose it instead it helps her to grow. I hoping there's another Ruby Taylor mystery in the future.

A Rolickin' Good Read!:
Ruby Taylor is one of those unforgettable people I love knowing. In this entertaining tale, the self-proclaimed "domestically challenged" heroine takes on a thief, a murderer, a tribe of lively children and the Potato Festival cooking contest. With a wit that matches her fiery red hair, Ruby kept me hooked from the first page all the way to the end. As long as Ms. Dunn wants to write `em, I'll keep reading `em - and recommending `em!