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Summary
Summary
Maggody, Arkansas, is a peaceful little Ozarks town snuggled in the heartland of America...until a group of camouflage-clad patriots march in with maneuvers and murder. Suddenly, Chief of Police Arly Hanks has her hands full: burglars are breaking into houses; the mayor is missing; and a survivalist has just been killed. Which leaves Arly hunting for a motive, a means, and a murderer. Wisely, she reckons there isn't a secret government conspiracy behind this homicide-- just the usual human evils of blind ambition, big money, and deadly obsessions!
Author Notes
Joan Hess was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1949. She received a bachelor's degree in art from the University of Arkansas in 1971 and a master's degree in education from Long Island University in 1974. For several years, she taught art in a private preschool.
Her first book, Strangled Prose, was published in 1986. She was the author of the Claire Malloy Mystery series and the Arly Hanks Mystery series. A Diet to Die For won the American Mystery Award for best traditional novel of 1989. A short story, Too Much to Bare, received the Agatha Award in 1990 and the McCavity Award in 1991. She also wrote the Theo Bloomer series under the pseudonym Joan Hadley. She finished the final Amelia Peabody novel, The Painted Queen, using the notes of Elizabeth Peters and their conversations to finish the book. It was published in 2017. She died on November 23, 2017 at the age of 68.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
YAAnother romp through the small Arkansas town populated by the quirkiest characters in fiction today. This time the problems are caused by a group of camouflage-clad survivalists tramping through the woods during hunting season. One of them is killed and Sheriff Arly Hanks is called in to solve the murder. This is the tenth title in this comic mystery series. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
When a small town of eccentrics (Maggody, Ark., pop. 755) meets the right-wing militia, strange things are bound to happen. And in this offbeat adventure (the 10th in the series, following Miracles in Maggody), town sheriff Ariel ("Arly") Hanks seems the only calm and rational creature afoot. Arly, divorced and returned home from New York City, has had a relatively calm month issuing speeding tickets, watching for teenage miscreants and keeping an eye on her mother Ruby Bee, the garrulous and relentlessly nosy bar and motel owner (who contributes four recipes to this adventure). But a recently arrived right-wing survivalist group, led by brusque "General" Sterling Pitts, has embarked on maneuvers on property recently purchased by newcomer Kayleen Smeltner. Arly is worried about stray bulletsDafter all, it is deer hunting season. She also worries about the local bootlegger and town hermitDboth easily excited. But she is not prepared for the murder of one of the militia men, and is further disturbed when it appears he might have been an FBI informant. And does the militia have any connection to a recent spate of burglaries? Everyone gets into the act, including a hugely pregnant teenager, a lecherous preacher and two irritable ostriches. Arly, a strong-willed and straightforward woman, turns this wacky chaos into an agreeable and engrossing lark. (Apr.) FYI: Joan Hess, who also writes the Claire Malloy mystery series, is current president of the American Crime Writers League. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved