Hard Headed Woman

by

Howard Gimple

Mystery, suspense, and murder at a Long Island nature preserve.

Hard Headed Woman by Howard Gimple is a suspenseful, original murder mystery set in New York and centered on a Long Island nature preserve called Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. When Hannah Johansson’s marriage crumbled, she’d come home to her parents’ home in Rocky Point, New York, to rest, recover, and reflect on her future. Instead, she discovered her father, the former Superintendent Emeritus of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a birders’ paradise he’d singlehandedly built from its swampy ground up, in dreadful condition, weak, and almost at death’s door. 

Hannah herself was struggling with an unknown illness that would randomly strike, making her lose control of her legs and collapse. While suffering one of her spells of weakness, as she called it, she accidentally knocked her father down some stairs, causing him to experience a fatal stroke. On top of everything else going on in her life, Hannah now believes she’s killed her own father. However, her cousin, a physician experienced with stroke patients, is skeptical of the diagnosis and decides to look further into her father’s death. And Hannah, while spreading her father’s ashes at his beloved wildlife refuge, observes some very shady goings-on, and when she asks questions, she quickly discovers someone is willing to kill to keep the truth of what’s happening there a secret. 

While Hannah is a vulnerable and sympathetic character because of all she’s gone through, her love for her father helps her get her act together to seek the answers she craves about his death and the suspected shenanigans at the wildlife refuge. She starts out so scattered and filled with pain and anger, it is easy to root for her healing and gradual transformation into a stronger person. 

The plot moves quickly, with the heroine encountering unusual stumbling blocks in her investigation. The author does a wonderful job crafting exciting, shocking, and unexpected scenarios and consequences for Hannah’s snooping. I couldn’t stop reading until I understood what all was going on and was surprised by who was behind her father’s death. I really enjoyed the New York and Long Island settings, and the mentions of street and road names, the businesses, and vivid descriptions made these locations come alive for me. I liked “meeting” Hannah’s family and friends, especially her bestie, Bette, who was going through some major life changes of her own. 

I recommend HARD HEADED WOMAN (a perfect title, by the way) to readers who enjoy mysteries and thrillers with interesting female protagonists. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.