Unfortunately, the husband turns out to be Paul Howard, son of Enid Philpott Howard, who chairs one of the largest grant-providing foundations in the Grantham area. Paul’s wife, former beauty queen Cherilyn Carnahan Howard had been staying at the shelter, although everyone close to Paul insists it must have been to do an undercover news story for the television station she works for.

Although the police department is certain Mike will be cleared of any charges that might stem from the shooting, they are curious where he got his gun, which looks like standard department issue, but isn’t. Mike says he got the gun from the shelter’s stash of weapons (all weapons are checked and secured when residents check-in), but the shelter has no record of the weapon and suspect it may have a connection to Bernie, a resident who recently disappeared from the shelter without a trace.

Cherilyn is found bludgeoned to death the next morning in her parents’ house and the only person she was especially friendly with at the shelter was the mysterious Bernie.

As Nell continues to cover the shelter for her non-profit organizations beat, she fills in her colleague covering Paul’s shooting and Cherilyn’s murder. As she delves further into the shelter, she begins to suspect an underground railroad-like situation that allows and aids battered women to disappear completely. An attempted attack on Nell in her driveway convinces her she has uncovered what the shelter wants to keep secret and someone is willing to kill to keep it that way.

The Smoking Gun is a fast-paced story that takes the reader through many aspects of battered women, including denial and the hiding from the truth that occurs so many times. Nell is a worthy protagonist who struggles with herself to keep focused on her assignments, despite her instincts to become more involved with the shelter.

Nell also struggles with her relationship with Mike on two fronts: first are the misgivings each has over their plans to become engaged; the second is Nell’s keeping her distance from Mike during his difficult time, while wanting to be near him and support him, knowing that he needs to work through this alone.

Eve Sandstrom fans will be pleased that the third installment in the Nell Matthews series gives hope for a future for Nell and Mike. New readers to the series will seek out the first two books while eagerly awaiting the next mystery.

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry