I picked up this book because it won a Malice Domestic Award from St. Martin's press and because it's set in an area where I used to live. It does a nice job of giving the reader a sense of Raleigh, but it fails utterly as a mystery. The characters -- both the villain and the investigator -- lack believable motivation. Prof. Simon Shaw wants to solve a 70-year-old murder case, well, just because he wants to. The author shows little understanding of the academic world in which the book is set. A tenured professor could not be fired for taking anti-depressants. Any college that tried to do so would find a nasty lawsuit on its hands.

The book is riddled with small technical problems. Shaber never met a point-of-view shift that she didn't like, in the middle of a page or a paragraph, it doesn't matter. The editor fell asleep on this one. And at one point the narrator compares a character to "Athena determined to defend Troy from the Greeks." The only problem is that Athena was on the side of the Greeks against the Trojans.

Female investigators are often ridiculed for getting themselves into dangerous situations in the next-to-last chapter of the book, only to be rescued by a friendly policeman. Prof. Shaw falls into that cliched trap in this book.

And this thing won a prize?

This is one of those great books that is fun to curl up on the couch and read. Full of great descriptions and well developed charachters -- not to much a great, twisting plot -- it is no wonder it won Best First Mystery! I recommend to anyone and to the reader who reviewed it before, I would like to see you try and write something of this caliber!

I enjoyed every page of this book. It is a mature mystery written in a very pleasurable style. Funny remarks, deep observations, characters that are alive and personable - all those features are present in this book making it a real LITERATURE. Not just mystery plot which is perfectly shaped but everything else in this book - political, philosophical, ethical observations and thoughts are very deep and valuable and have life and value of their own, while skillfully blended with a double mystery plot. This feature, in my opinion, is an indicator of a great talent. The book is as interesting and valuable in its other qualities as in the sophisticated and spotless mystery line. The college life line is recognizable and enjoyable. The characters are so alive that there is a sensation of their physical presence. They create intense feelings in a reader. Only great masters in every genre could create really alive characters, persons who can stay and live in literature as real people in life, and only great masters could create the literature works which are read with intense interest as to the thoughts expressed. And also the book is very kind. The points of view of various positive and negative characters are viewed kindly, with appreciation of circumstances that helped created "good" or "bad" types of personalities. The evil of prejudice is shown so skillfully that one realizes deeply how fruitless, how small and unimportant prejudices are in the perspective of time while people may see them as big and justified at the moment and how much real harm and desctruction they can bring into people's lives. The book may serve as an instrument of kindness, an instrument of wisdom - how to treat people as they are with kindness. It is a very interesting book and a very good mystery.

Sarah Shaber has created a very likable hero in Simon Shaw. Warm, funny and intelligent, Simon is a wonderful reluctant hero. Simon's sidekick and love interest Julia is also a well-drawn character. The pair interacts very well together and both seem to find their share to trouble. Ms. Shaber works these personalities together with a fun and interesting plot. It this story, the author is much improved over her first installment "Simon Said". Not that I didn't enjoy her first book, it was very enjoyable and recommended, I read the second one didn't I? Ms. Shaber does a very good job in "Snipe Hunt" of weaving the past with the present to tell a tale of mystery. She has also done her homework on events and rumors of the coastal states during World War II and the Civil War. I just love history in my mysteries. The author also does a very nice job of developing the supporting characters in this story. I hope to see more of David and the Clegg family. She does a great job with the children, making them believable, interesting and lovable. These two books are a great beginning to a good series, I recommend "Snipe Hunt" and "Simon Said" to any reader who enjoys a fun read.

SNIPE HUNT is the second book in the Professor Simon Shawmystery series, the first being SIMON SAID. Professor Shaw is knownfor solving mysteries of the past.

Professor Simon Shaw teaches history at Kenan College in Raleigh, North Carolina. In this mystery, he travels to Pearlie Beach, North Carolina to spend Thanksgiving vacation with his friends, David Morgan, an Archeologist, Marcus and Marianne Clegg and their three younger children, and his former crush Julia McGloughlin, a police attorney. Simon is expecting to spend Thanksgiving vacation working and preparing for the finals week that's ahead, but is talked into solving another mystery of the past. Simon, Morgan, and Julia try to find the missing links between a diver's suit that is dredged from the water, a cousin of the Pearlie family that went missing in 1942, a dark family secret, and confederate gold.

I found the plot in SNIPE HUNT to be very educational. The twists and turns were like a complex puzzle that was mind-boggling and a challenge I was ready to accept. The characters were so life-like, setting was perfect, and the historical tie-ins of the book helped keep me interested, not to mention the recipes were mouth watering.

I truly enjoyed this mystery written by a fellow North Carolinian. I could relate to alot of the incidents in the book like going crabbing and eating boiled peanuts!

I also saw the author and heard her read at Quail Ridge Books; it was wonderful. I do thoroughly recommend you read her other book, "Simon Says" prior to reading "Snipe Hunt". "Simon Says" sets the stage for Simon as the sleuth.

I truly enjoyed this mystery because I did not figure it out before the end!