Latest Books Exit Wounds by Shannon Baker

When her mother is assaulted, Sheriff Kate Fox is determined to unmask the mysterious attacker—but the dark family secrets she discovers might be the death of her…

When a stranger breaks into Kate’s mother’s studio and is killed in self-defense, Kate takes the investigation into her own hands.

The attack feels personal, especially when her mother is clearly hiding something.

And then Kate discovers a secret cell phone hidden in the studio…with only one number in the call log.

Enlisting her sister’s help to track the number, Kate embarks on a dangerous journey through her mother’s secret past, where she can no longer trust anything she knows about the woman who raised her.

Now Kate must hurry to track down her mother’s attacker before the secrets she’s buried for decades throw their entire family in grave danger…

Award-winning author Shannon Baker sat down with The Big Thrill to discuss the sixth installment of the Kate Fox series, EXIT WOUNDS:

What attracts you to this book’s genre?

Ultimately, every story is a mystery at heart. What is going to happen or what has happened to whom by whom? I love the puzzle and solving it to bring at least some justice.

Shannon Baker

What was the biggest challenge this book presented? What about the biggest opportunity?

This book has a dual timeline, one taking place in the turbulence of the Vietnam era. I’m old but was only a kid back then, so researching that time was fun and enlightening, and more than a little scary.

Which took shape first: plot, character, or setting?

Setting. This is the sixth book in the series. I always knew I wanted to set a book in the Nebraska Sandhills because it’s a unique place with quirky characters. One day, Kate Fox popped into my head, and I set off to follow her adventures.

Was there anything new you discovered or that surprised you as you wrote this book?

This book sprang from a comment Kate’s mother tossed off in a previous book. I hadn’t known she’d say it until it appeared on my screen, and then it made me wonder about her past. She told Kate, “You’re like me. When you love, you love forever. You never forget that first love.” (Or something like that.) I was shocked when I discovered what that meant.

No spoilers, but what can you tell us about your book that we won’t find in the jacket copy or the PR material?

I may have mother issues I’m still trying to work out in my books!

What authors or books have influenced your career as a writer, and why?

Helen Hooven Santmyer, who wrote And Ladies of the Club, which I read in the early ’80s. This was her first published book, and she was in her 80s. I decided I needed to start writing immediately so I didn’t have to be that old when I first published. And Craig Johnson, who showed me that the high plains can be interesting and funny, and people will enjoy reading about it.

After discovering her husband of fifteen years had been having an affair…in a town of 300 people—and she was the third to the last to know, it took Shannon Baker a while to get her sense of humor back. When she did, the Kate Fox mystery series was born. Set in the Nebraska Sandhills, population .95 people/square mile, Kate keeps law and order amid a cast of a dozen or so locals. Chosen Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2014 and 2018 Writer of the Year and winner of the New Mexico/Arizona Book Award, Shannon makes her home in Tucson, with her good husband and her crazy Weimaraner.

To learn more about the author and her work, please visit her website.