Sassy Cinderella and the Valiant Vigilante: A Ruby Taylor Mystery

by Sharon Dunn

Book Overview

The harrowing adventures of red-headed heroine Ruby Taylor continue in this murder mystery complete with a frozen corpse, midnight intruders, and an unexpected rescue by lab mice. This sassy Cinderella's in for a crash course on university politics, new love, and what exactly it means to be a genuine Christian.

Strong, independent, and memorable leading characterJust the right mix of action and romanceSuspense/mystery is the fastest growing...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082542495X
• ISBN13: 9780825424953
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Kregel Publications
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Scrappy and Solid - not insipid

Good mystery novel, with a solid Christian commitment, but not preachy or (thank you so much!) insipid. Ruby is likable, and unabashedly loves Jesus, but is often wondering how to share the joy without turning people off. Don't we all! Nice subplot(s) and secondary characters. The mystery elements are shared with you (also very Christian) rather than presented at the end and were not entirely predictable! Nice book cover, and the editing seemed solid. Looking forward to reading the prequel and sequel - I found this book at Heaven and Earth!

A well-crafted, fast-paced read.

Starting with a mysterious nighttime intruder and ending with a deadly game of hide-and-seek on a university campus, Sassy Cinderella and the Valiant Vigilante constitutes a literary home-run for the author, Sharon Dunn. Throughout the fast-turning pages, Dunn successfully carries on the lightly woven threads of several storylines, only to tie them neatly together as the story comes to an end. Filled with memorable characters who interact with one another on a realistic level, Sassy Cinderella and the Valiant Vigilante takes the reader inside the mind of spunky, red-headed, relationship battered Ruby Taylor. Armed with a lifetime's supply of biting sarcasm and hilarious one-liners, thirty-one-year-old Ruby continues to hold the torch for her one-time boyfriend, Wesley Burgess. This "six feet of gorgeous," harbors no little attraction for the sassy Cinderella, either, and together, they struggle to put together a relationship they would be "proud to show to God." Sassy Cinderella and the Valiant Vigilante is packed with mystery and perplexing questions. Did Dr. Aldridge really commit suicide, or is there a more sinister plot at work? Who is the strange man lurking outside the Aldridge house? Is the man who suddenly shows up at the Taylor house in the middle of the night claiming to be Ruby's long-lost brother really who he says he is? In short, Sassy Cinderella and the Valiant Vigilante is a well-crafted, fast-paced read and receives full endorsement. Craig Hart (...)

I just have to share

I am in the midst of writing my own book and I do not have time to be writing reveiws, but I loved this book so much, I had to spread the word. I would have never ordered this book. If it had been on display in a bookstore I might have picked it up because the cover design looks fresh. It tells me the book is not going to dull, but edgy. But, I've never heard of the author and I've never seen ads for it or heard it talked about on the morning talk shows. However, I am a judge for the leading awards for Christian fiction: the Christy's. It was sent to me to judge. Right away, the cover caught my eye. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down (which I could not say for previous contest novel I'd read). It is "zippy," almost irreverent, though filled with sound Christian truth-and so fun. It is not a gaggy romance or a pulse pounding mystery. It just made me smile to read it. I kept wishing someone was in the room so I could share parts with them-though when I did read parts to my husband he just looked at me. I guess you had to be there. I hope you'll read it so you'll "be there."

Humor, drama, mystery

I just finished this highly entertaining mystery. It starts off with heart-pounding suspense that hooked me from the start. The drama of Ruby's broken family and broken spirit is interspersed with the clues of a suspected murder, and it really kept my attention glued to the page. Ruby's character is real and flawed, utterly believable and easy to relate to for those of us with past mistakes. She's like anyone who is trying to overcome bad decisions--she whines, genuflects, denies, avoids, rages against, obsesses over and beats herself up for her damaged psyche, but she moves forward with pain, terror, and a tenuous trust in her God. It is both a murder mystery and a diary of Ruby's struggles amidst her growing faith. I could relate to her self-doubts, her guilt, her feelings of unworthiness. She always turned to God for help, but it never came easily or smoothly. It showed with stark realism the difficulty of trusting and submitting. I especially liked the foray into the disdainful attitude of academia toward Christianity, which I had experienced in college. The author handles the subject with no holds barred and no easy answer, but provides a blanket of comfort as Ruby wrestles with the topic in both herself and with her coworkers. There is a bit more sensuality in this novel than in the first Ruby Taylor mystery, "Romance Rustlers and Thunderbird Thieves." I liked how Ruby's push-pull relationship with Wesley is so gritty and full of mistakes and yet so familiar to all of us who've been burned by love, who desire to change and honor God in a Christ-centered relationship. Ruby and Wesley are both flawed people trying to find their way toward each other, trying to overcome the habits and behaviors of the past. The Chick-Lit feel of the narrative kept my attention with Ruby's quirky metaphors and humorous outlook on her crazy life. I think that many Post-Modern Generation readers will like the atmosphere of the prose and relate to Ruby's thinking. Sharon Dunn just keeps getting better. I'm looking forward to the third installment of the Ruby Taylor Mystery series, scheduled for 2005.

Kept me guessing until the end.

When a professor at the local university dies, Ruby Taylor is hired to take his place. She soon finds out that working at the university is not all she dreams it will be. Is Dr. Aldridge's death really suicide as everyone suspects? Suspenseful events soon start Ruby thinking otherwise. Not long after Ruby starts her new job, her long-lost brother shows up in the early hours of the morning. At first, Ruby and her mother are convinced it is a prowler and call the police. The policeman who responds is none other than Wesley-Ruby's long-time love interest. Soon it becomes apparent that things aren't as they seem on the surface. Who is the man who showed up on Ruby's doorstep? Is it really her brother? Who is the person hanging out around Ruby's office late at night - and who breaks in when she is away from her desk? What are they looking for? SASSY CINDERELLA AND THE VALIANT VIGILANTE is an exciting page turning mystery. Readers will want to read the first book in the series Romance Rustlers and Thunderbird Thieves first as this book refers back to some of the previous events. Ruby is an adorably sassy heroine, and I hoped that she would be able to at least earn a date with her hero. Sort of a chick lit type of mystery, the reader is instantly drawn into the story. I am usually able to figure out who the perpetrator is pretty quickly, but SASSY CINDERELLA kept me guessing until the end. --- reviewed by Laura V. Hilton for Christian Bookshelf