"No Mercy"

"No Mercy" is Lori Armstrong's first mystery in the Mercy Gunderson series.  She's also the author of the Julie Collins mystery series.  After reading the first book in both these series, I'm hooked and have the second book in each series downloaded on my Kindle for an upcoming long flight. 

Mercy Gunderson, the heroine in "No Mercy," grew up on a ranch in South Dakota but she left a long time ago to serve in the military in a special unit with orders to kill specialized targets.  She's good at her job but an injury sends her home to recuperate shortly after her father's death.  Old family tragedies rear their ugly heads and interfere with present day living and family secrets Mercy was unaware of come to light.  Investors are trying to buy the family ranch and the pressure is on to sell from one side and not to sell from another.  As if that weren't enough to complicate her life, murders occurring on the ranch bring everything in Mercy's life to a head and she finds herself dealing with Sheriff Dawson -- the man who took over her father's job and exudes a sexual attraction that Mercy must not give into if she doesn't want to complicate her life further.  In the meantime, she has some murders to solve despite the objections of the Sheriff and her friends and family.  Attempting to solve them will put Mercy in harm's way but, given her military background, she's used to that.  pazt