Customer Reviews

Arkansas Traveler (Benni Harper Mysteries)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked up Arkansas Traveler while on vacation. Having read all the books I packed, I went to the hotel lobby store to pick up something quick and easy. I found Arkansas Traveler, and it sounded like the perfect book for vacation. What I didn't know is that the book was part of a series. I settled down to read and became quickly enraptured with Benni, her lovable and quirky friends and family. Unfortunately for me, now I will need to start the series at the beginning!
The mystery almost seems like a side event to the cooking, visiting, church going and interaction among all the family and friends presented here. I love 'Southern' flavored books, and this one does not disappoint. Lots of local color and eccentric people to keep one entertained. There is a murder, of someone it appears nobody liked. Toby Hunter is a wanna be white supremacist, and the son of Sugartree's mayor. When Toby is found dead, and the suspicion seems to be aimed at Benni's friend Amen's nephew, Benni decides to investigate. The final revelation of the murderer and the motives seem almost a sideline to everything else. The issure of race in the South is shown from both sides, and no simple and satisfactory conclusion is given to the complex questions raised, and for that I am thankful. I loved the writing, and the reverence for both small town life, and places like the Dairy Queen and Piggly Wiggly, and the love of good cooking. I cannot wait to start this series from book one!

Ms. Fowler doesn't sugar coat the racism issue and the ugliness of it angered me. I say to live and let live. It's sad to think that such treatment of people still happens today. There is so much more to focus on than race. There are no answers found in her book but we can only hope that it will make people think before acting. Words can be more hurtful than physical abuse. With each book Earlene Fowler got better and better. I thought I might get tired of them by the time I read all 8 books. But that didn't happen. I've grown attached to Benni and will miss her antics...but not for long, Ms. Fowler is due to release, Steps to the Altar, in April 2002. I look forward to reading it. Though Mariner's Compass won the Agatha Award for Best Novel in 1999 I believe this last book, Arkansas Traveler, proved to be her best. I felt the emotions, the good and the bad, and the end brought tears to my eyes. Ms. Fowler, keep up the great work!

Arkansas Traveler is a wonderful addition to the Benni Harper series. The author has branched out with a bold statement about racism and the heart of people. She twists in a murder while two churches are attempting to merge. The characters are wonderful. The reader gets a new understanding of Benni's best friend Elvia and Benni's husband Gabe. The rest of her family comes to life too. There is a delightful Southern charm to Arkansas Traveler. Growing up in the South made all of the references to food and stores a lot of fun! From Piggly Wiggly to the Waffle House- I was completely entertained. Yet again, I love how Earlene gives credit to the Lord in her novel. Once again, He has blessed her with the gift of writing!

Earlene Fowler has dealt with the thorny issue of bigotry throughout her Benni Harper Mystery Series, but usually as a subplot for the main character's Hispanic husband, Gabe. In "Arkansas Traveler" she faces traditional Southern bigoty head-on and does not flinch. No wonder it made the L.A. Times Bestseller List!

She deftly juggles numerous characters and their individual stories, both new and established. Now I can't wait for the upcoming weddings!

Write faster, Earlene!

The books in this series are all named after real patchwork quilt patterns. Benni Harper is the curator of a folk art museum in San Celina, California who was raised by her father and grandmother on a ranch. She married at a very young age and ranched with her husband for 15 years. After her husband was killed, she moved to town, where she met and later married her second husband, police chief Gabriel Ortiz. I like the way the author explores class and cultural differences through relationships: Benni's husband is a Latino man who can be very macho; her best friend Elvia is a sophisticated Latina bookstore manager; Elvia is dating Benni's wealthy cousin Emory, who moved from Arkansas to San Celina so he could woo Elvia.

Arkansas Traveler is the eighth book in the series. Benni, Emory, Elvia and Gabe travel to Benni's hometown of Sugartree, Arkansas for the Sugartree Baptist Church?s Homecoming. The book is an excellent exploration of life and race relations in a small Southern town, but it is not strident. Benni is angry and embarrassed by the hostility and prejudice some of the townspeople show toward Gabe and Elvia; a black church and a white church need to merge to survive but both congregations are against racial mixing; Benni's childhood friend Amen, the first black woman to run for mayor, is having trouble with white supremacists, one of whom is her opponent's son. The son is killed, Amen's nephew is arrested and Benni gets involved in trying to solve the murder. Secrets and lies abound, but leavening the mix is a comic subplot involving a long-simmering feud between Benni's grandmother and the grandmother's sister that erupts into a cooking battle.

This is a thought-provoking book and it's the best in a good series. You will want to run out and get all the other Benni Harper books.

This was a great book for anyone who likes a good puzzle. You don't need to be quilter to appreciate or like this book. The way the book comes togeather is lke the making of a quilt, piece by peice and ittle by little. Although maybe not a classic I would read again, I am certianly glad I read it once and would certainly read it again, as well as others in the series.

The author has provided pure reading pleasure in Arkansas Traveler. The character backgrounds are complete. Really like the tie in with the E.R. missing quilt. I was glad Benni was able to see Gabe do his job so well. The homecoming was a wonderful setting for the book. I felt the author did a wonderful job with Amen and her family. You can feel the love throughout the whole book with all that were involved.

This is the eighth story in the Benni Harper mystery series.

Benni and Gabe return to Sugartree, Arkansas with her family for a long overdue visit. Benni's thrilled to be back home and delighted because her best friend, Elvia Aragon is also along for the trip. The romance between Elvia and Benni's cousin Emory is at a turning point, but which way will it go? Gramma Dove is still fighting with her sister Garnet and they drive the entire family crazy by their dueling. The kitchen is their battleground. All foods are made twice.... Dove's version of a pie versus Garnet's version of the same kind of pie and so on.

Sugartree also seems to be changing. Two popular churches are considering a merger, but the church members are divided about having a racially mixed congregation and various instances of racial violence take place. This does not seem to be the lovely and sweet small town that Benni has kept alive in her memories. When a young white supremacist is murdered, the residents of Sugartree are forced into seeing that more potential problems could be facing the town.

Benni is heartsick over the turn of events. She wants to help, but is afraid of what else might happen in her hometown. Gabe is understanding and very helpful to his troubled wife and he's not acting as macho as he has been in the previous Benni Harper Mysteries. After two years of marriage, maybe they're beginning to understand each other.

The author makes her characters so interesting that the stories seem to be about people whom I've actually met. It's also fun to see the characters grow in different ways.

Earlene Fowler caught the spirit, good and bad, of the Arkansas I love. Her descriptions of people, scenery and the food of my native state were wonderful. I liked the honest way she dealt with race relations and that the book did not have a fairy-tale ending. The mystery was well paced and written. I have to read the rest of her novels, now!

This most recent Earlene Fowler takes us back to Benni's roots and lets us in on the childhood secrets. Ms. Fowler does an excellent job of revealing Benni and her family slowly through all her books, dripping out little tidbits of their earlier life. In this most recent book we get to know what Benni's Arkansas life was like all while she is yet again using her intuition and gentle prying to solve yet another unfortunate murder. I can't wait for the next Earlene Fowler book and I hope this is is Wedding Rings to celebrate the marriage of Elvia and Emory, can't wait for their nuptials to take place.