Barnburner

Jennifer Pierce Maine Mystery #1

by Sharon Lee

"With obvious affection, Sharon Lee introduces us to Wimsy, Maine, where a timeless and timely contemporary mystery leads us and transplanted flatlander Jen Pierce into a world containing witches, internet bulletin boards, an antique electric railroad, and murder--a world built with the same attention to character, story, and setting that we have long expected in the Liaden Universe(R) books. Like all of her books, this one's a keeper. . ."
-- Modean Moon, author of RWA Rita award winner The Covenant

Genres: Mystery

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Sharon Lee has been married to her first husband for more than half her lifetime; she is a friend to cats, a member of the National Carousel Association, and oversees the dubious investment schemes of an improbable number of stuffed animals.

Despite having been born in a year of the dragon, Sharon is an introvert. She lives in Maine because she likes it there. In fact, she likes it so much that she has written five novels set in Maine; contemporary fantasy trilogy Carousel Tides, Carousel Sun, Carousel Seas, and mysteries Barnburner and Gunshy.

With the aforementioned first husband, Steve Miller, Sharon has written twenty novels of science fiction and fantasy — many of them set in the Liaden Universe® — and numerous short stories. She has occasionally been an advertising copywriter, a reporter, photographer, book reviewer, and secretary. She was for three years Executive Director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., and was subsequently elected vice president and then president of that organization.

Reviews

[Estara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this glimpse into life in a small town in Maine, which I feel fairly confident is life-like as the author and her husband have been living there for some years now.

It's also a look at the time of computer bulletin boards as the only lifeline to the outside for computer geeks and a time when a mobile phone was an advanced machine and quite cumbersome (around 1989).

The heroine herself is a grown-up woman nursing the physical and mental wounds of her past, and I'd say the story is as much about her integrating more into the small town community that she happened to inherit a house in, as it is about the murder mystery. There's a slight touch of the otherworldly via a very friendly witch's vision - necessary to the fast resolution (the book is 175 pages on my e-reader when I set the standard font size at 12 points).

The real appeal is the description of the town and its inhabitants, though - everyone met is a real personality. My favourites are Harry, the friend of the aunt that Jennifer has inherited the home from, Jasper the cat, Marian the 13-year-old computer geek girl, the midwife cum herbal specialist cum witch that sells Jennifer some tea for her migraines and the bulletin board sysop with a sad past.

I don't usually read mysteries, so I can't judge the story on that basis. But if you've enjoyed the author's voice and especially if you have enjoyed her recent Carousel Tides, this would be a great addition (if without the magic) to her world set in Maine.

1st read 10.12.10-13.12.10
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I just reread this today to get the taste of a rather bland short novelette out of my mouth. This book was about 75 pages longer on my e-reader and just went wooooosh when I started. Sharon Lee just writes exactly the way I want to read, obviously.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good short story. I am hoping that there will be more!

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable!!

[Katharine Kimbriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice period mystery set in 1980s rural Maine. This is one of those more believable mysteries, where the transplanted heroine gets caught up in events around her life (she's a small town reporter) and things spiral into danger in ways all too believable. When people have secrets to protect, you never know how far they are willing to go to protect them. Don't want to give things away, but the supporting cast is good, and have the heft of real people to them -- the private, longtime residents who are slowly accepting the new resident, the bright handicapped child who feels freed by the presence of a BBS (that's very early Internet chat for those unversed in Internet history), the geek running the BBS who is Very Good with computers...and finding out things about people...pagans seeking acceptance as the just-the-folks-next-door -- I enjoyed it, and got Gunshy as soon as I could.

[Charlyne DeMonnin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. I have been to Portland, Maine and to Bangor. I did the channel Island tour. I liked the small town information. My mother grew up in a small town. It was similar to this one where every one knows everybody. I just moved out the city I lived in all my live to a smaller city. It has 150,ooo people. I met the same people every where. I can see that I would hate living in a small town. I am not a people person.

[Dlora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Maine dialogue and flavorful characters. Enjoyed newspaper reporter Jen Pierce learning to fit into the small-town community of Wimsy, Maine. When the detestable right-wing advocate, Reverend Stern, takes on the Wiccan newcomers Merry and Scott Ash, Jen knows whose side she’s on. Sharon Lee has deftly crafted really detestable characters, truly scary bad guys, and complex goodhearted protagonists as well as a town full of funny, quirky old-timers.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I've read (and enjoyed) all the Liad stories and Ms. Lee's "Carousel Tides" series, I finally worked my way around to this little gem. The story and the characters engaged me from the start, and the small-town Maine setting was lovingly detailed like a real place. The good guys and bad guys were pretty clearly delineated, but the mystery was still intriguing to the end. The refresher on what was state-of-the-art computer tech back in the day was entertaining for me as a geek myself; for others, just accept it as a part of the background like light sabers, time travel, or flying cars. Off to read the second story in the series!

[Tina Tessina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jennifer Pierce mysteries are great!

Sharon Lee has written a gem here. Set in rural Maine, with endearing, complex characters and a compelling story line, Barnburner and its sequel are highly entertaining and endearing. I so wish that this were a bigger series. I'd love to see the relationship between Jen and Fox develop.

[Doreen Farrar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Justly Famous Series

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are well-known in the science fiction world, but not enough people know that Sharon has written a series or two of mysteries set in Maine. Barnburner is the first book of one of those mystery series, and it's worth revisiting. Or, visiting for the first time. Excuse me, but I've got a date with the rest of the series!

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nostalgic for the old dial-up days.

[Violet Catte · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5. I adore the Liaden books so I wanted to try this out. I liked Jennifer a lot and I enjoyed the cast that I'm guessing will return in book 2. The mystery in this was a bit oddly paced. It took a while to get to the crime and even longer to try to solve it. It also has some pretty dark content in it. Lots of discussion about abortions, trauma from car accidents, and some pretty unsettling physical abuse. It's not quite as light as I expected, but I still had a fairly good time.

This felt a bit like a pilot episode, so I'm intrigued to see how book 2 goes with all of the characters in place.

Content to be aware of: homophobic slur, abortion discussions, slight domestic abuse. I think these were all handled perfectly fine.

[Ita · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've liked her Liad books, but this was too easy, too obvious.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting background, but the mystery itself is ... basic. Unfortunately, the attempt at building tension once the murderer is uncovered wasn't that successful.

[Bill O'Driscoll · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maine murder mystery set in the early 1990s, with computer geek heroine investigating.

[Li · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the retro contemporariness of this book (yes, I just made that phrase up)... it's set in the late 1980s and you have dial-up modems! Local BBSs! Cameras with actual film! Old-style computer menus!

Okay, I'll stop now. That aside (though those details really made the book for me), this was an enjoyable mystery and I loved the fact that Jennifer was not a TTSL heroine. The resolution sort of snuck up on me - I was not expecting the (e)book to finish when it did as I was so busy taking in - and just plain enjoying - the small-town Maine setting and the characters.

And yeah, I bought its sequel Gunshy as soon as I finished.

[KA · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. The e-book version of this *badly* needs to be re-edited; the constant typos alone reduced my enjoyment considerably. Formatting and typos aside, this was a pleasant, extremely quick read. Much of it doesn't reflect my own experiences of Maine or northern New England in general, but that may be because it's set in 1989. Be prepared for early internet nostalgia and lingering depictions of chat rooms and dial-up modems, a lack of depth--especially where characterization is concerned, and the book being over long before you expect it. Oh, also, Lee tells you whether every man in the book has a wedding ring or not.

[Miki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was surprised to find out that the author of this book is also the author of "Carousel Tide" and "Carousel Sun" - I had no idea she also wrote mysteries.

I read the Nook editions, which were very badly edited. Exclamation marks were consistently shown as question marks, and there were lots of typos. Other than that, it was mildly entertaining.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, semi-cozy mystery set in 1980's Maine. Our heroine works for the local paper and gets caught up in a murder investigation.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written little mystery.

[Simba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sadly dated but moves briskly along. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this, and moved right along to Gunshy.

[SarahBeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is dated due to the numerous computer references, but otherwise it was a fun light read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little mystery. The description of veryday-life-in Maine was as entertaining as the mystery.