Merciless (Mercy Gunderson #3)

Merciless by Lori Armstrong is the third book in her Mercy Gunderson series - an ex-sniper who has moved back to South Dakota and is readjusting to civilian life while solving crimes in and around the local reservation.

Mercy is now FBI Special Agent Gunderson. She is newly minted and assigned to Rapid City. Her first case begins when a young woman is murdered on the Eagle River reservation and tribal police ask for FBI help. A clue leads Mercy to research previous cases and finds that there is a large number of unsolved cases involving murdered women, in sets of three, in the fall/winter for the last few years. Each case was written off as some other cause. But this years murder could be nothing else - the young woman was tied to the ground and staked with a wooden spike.

With three different police forces potentially working together, things will either run smoothly or protocols and rivalries will keep the case from being solved. Mercy works on the case while dealing with changes in her private life and life around the reservation.

Armstrong has created a great but flawed character who readers will follow for many more books. Mercy is strong but fragile at the beginning of the series, but her progression back into civilian and family life after twenty years in the military is as fascinating to watch as a train wreck. Great mystery series that will appeal to a wide swath of readers.

Armstrong, Lori. (2013). Merciless. New York: Touchstone.

Mercy Kill (Mercy Gunderson #2)

Mercy Kill by Lori Armstrong is the second book in her Mercy Gunderson series. Mercy is a retired Sergeant Major in the Army - retired due to an eye injury that ended her sniper career.

After a bout with too much whiskey, Mercy has left the day-to-day running of the ranch she and her sister inherited to her foreman and has taken a job as bartender at Clementine's, a bar owned by her friend and frequented by the rougher crowd of Southwest South Dakota.

When an old army buddy show up working for the oil company that wants to put a pipeline through the center of the county, he is not the most popular visitor. When he is killed outside of the bar the sheriff, Dawson, doesn't seem to be trying to find the murderer.

Mercy vows to find the killer, even if she has to agree to run for sheriff herself. She soon finds out that the case is much more complicated that she first thought, and that sometime the sheriff has his hands tied.

Armstrong's characters are flawed and endearing. Her snapshot of life in South Dakota makes readers to explore the middle of our country. And her mysteries will keep readers up late to find out who done it.

Armstrong, Lori. (2010). Mercy Kill. New York: Touchstone Books.

No Mercy (Mercy Gunderson #1)

No Mercy by Lori Anderson is the first book in her Mercy Gunderson series. Mercy is a soon-to-be-retired Army sniper in a society where the general public is not comfortable with women in combat.

Now Mercy is back on her family's ranch in South Dakota. She did not make it back from the Middle East in time for her father's funeral, but she is now in charge of the ranch. But the Gunderson curse is still going strong - a body is found in one of the fields. The new sheriff who took over for her father is not moving fast enough and the locals ask for Mercy's help in finding a killer.

Armstrong has created a flawed but intriguing character in Mercy and a plot that will have mystery fans following the series.

Armstrong, Lori. (2010). No Mercy. New York: Touchstone Books.