Customer Reviews

The Devil's Hearth

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

DePoy has become my favorite author with his two books in this series. I know a bit about folklore and the people of the mountains and they are portrayed accurately and with great compassion here. The mystery is a real one, the characters alive and complete, and the insight into a hidden world -- the world of shape note music, Melungeons, hidden travelers, and front porch conversations -- make this book a warm, inviting place to be. I can't wait for the next one.

Rich characters and setting are enriched by, well... rich writing and imagery, which only occasionally becomes a bit too flowery and overly descriptive. I enjoyed being dropped into an area of this country not done to death in other stories; the Georgia Appalachian region is a very interesting place. The mystery story itself is pretty good; like a lot of good mysteries, the story effectively ties the mystery story into the history and dark secrets of the story's setting. The diverse characters and the colorful banter between them are also very enjoyable.

When Burrison University English Department shut down his folklore section, Dr. "Fever" Devilin knew it was time to go home to the Georgia Appalachian Mountains. Fever figures that the time is right to write about his home lore yet also put to rest the past that he fled when he first went off to college.

He moves back into his family's cabin on Blue Mountain where Fever plans to reacclimatize from the academia think tank world to the more mellow isolated environs. His best friend from childhood, now Deputy Sheriff Skidmore Needle, arrives at the cabin to greet his old buddy, but finds a corpse just outside the edifice prior to the professor's arrival. They quickly learn that the deceased is Fever's half-brother, a blood relative he never knew he had. Fever wonders if perhaps he was the intended victim and if so why. Unable to heed Skidmore's advice, Fever begins making inquiries into who would want either he or his sibling dead.

THE DEVIL'S HEARTH is a discerningly written regional amateur sleuth that employs some police procedural elements to enhance the feeling of realism. Fever is a delightful lead protagonist who keeps the story line focused. The secondary cast including his buddy, a university colleague, and locals embellishes a powerful plot that delivers a wonderful look at Appalachia folklore interwoven within well designed who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner

Mystery fans, please remove your hats and bow your heads for the passing of a great detective - Flap Tucker, Zen detective, seems to be no more. After four charming, funny and intriguing mysteries(and one alarmingly ill-tempered and pissy one), starring the mysterious and easy-going finder of lost things and set in Atlanta, Georgia author Phillip Depoy seems to have laid Flap to rest.

But enough of the boohooing, boys and girls, because Depoy has rewarded those of us who stuck around after the lights went down with a new hero, one who is much like Flap, but somehow more mature and insightful, while maintaining the former detective's flummoxed charm.

Fever Devilin hails from another part of Georgia, the beautiful and spooky Appalachian Mountains. Fever has been living in self-imposed exile in Atlanta, which is physically only a few hours' drive from the mountains, but is on another planet ideologically. In this first adventure we find him returning home to find a corpse on his front porch, one that turns out to be his half-brother. Fever decides to investigate, but has been gone from his tight-knit and close-mouthed community that he is now considered an outsider and can barely get an answer from his friends and neighbors.

Depoy's characters, as always, are delightfully complex. They are true to themselves and their motivations, even as they are sometimes frustratingly obtuse. The relationship between Fever and his best friend, Skidmore, is a realistic portrayal of two friends, long separated, picking up where they left off, with warmth, trepidation and eventual trust. Fever himself is a worthy successor to Flap.

Depoy writes the Appalachians like he lives them, bringing life to the dark, smoky woods and guiding us through with a tracker's eye. I look forward to the next Fever Devilin mystery.

Phillip DePoy's THE DEVIL'S HEARTH had my full attention from the first word. Few mysteries begin with such power or are told in the lyrical manner of many Appalachian songs. The mountains are ancient, the culture is ancient and the characters are molded from the same fabric.
His use of the fogs in the mountains is so vivid I remembered every step I took in front of our car to guide my husband along Butterfly Gap in Tennessee to reach a friend's house. As a metaphor of the fog in Fever Delvin's mind, the ghostliness of the past; it is perfect.
This is a later read, as I've previously read the others in the series, but it makes an impact on the reader who can't lay the book down.
Read and enjoy every reference, word, allusion of the Fever Devlin stories as he is a master storyteller.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS and QUALIFYING LAPS.

Readers who insist on action-packed car chases and hair-raising gun battles, beware. Although there are a fair number of dead bodies in THE DEVIL'S HEARTH, DePoy manages to heighten suspense using subtle interplay between believable, albeit tight-lipped characters.

This is often done with what I would call rocking-chair drama -- played out against the fascinating backdrop of a dying culture, with a thoroughly satisfying coming together of the various plot lines at the end.

Grab yourself a mug of tea -- or a jug of moonshine -- to savor along with this good story. Linger over your reflections. They're bound to crop up as you read this one.

With a mix of music, craftsmanship, food and moonshine, we are given a wonderful sense of life in Fever's Appalachia. But DePoy also includes the dark side of folklore and secrets. Fever is an intriguing protagonist supported by interesting secondary characters and a few stereotypes to lighten the mood. Since I've already ordered the next in the series, I'd say that's a definite recommend.

Mystery fans, please remove your hats and bow your heads for the passing of a great detective - Flap Tucker, Zen detective, seems to be no more. After four charming, funny and intriguing mysteries(and one alarmingly ill-tempered and pissy one), starring the mysterious and easy-going finder of lost things and set in Atlanta, Georgia author Phillip Depoy seems to have laid Flap to rest.

But enough of the boohooing, boys and girls, because Depoy has rewarded those of us who stuck around after the lights went down with a new hero, one who is much like Flap, but somehow more mature and insightful, while maintaining the former detective's flummoxed charm.

Fever Devilin hails from another part of Georgia, the beautiful and spooky Appalachian Mountains. Fever has been living in self-imposed exile in Atlanta, which is physically only a few hours' drive from the mountains, but is on another planet ideologically. In this first adventure we find him returning home to find a corpse on his front porch, one that turns out to be his half-brother. Fever decides to investigate, but has been gone from his tight-knit and close-mouthed community that he is now considered an outsider and can barely get an answer from his friends and neighbors.

Depoy's characters, as always, are delightfully complex. They are true to themselves and their motivations, even as they are sometimes frustratingly obtuse. The relationship between Fever and his best friend, Skidmore, is a realistic portrayal of two friends, long separated, picking up where they left off, with warmth, trepidation and eventual trust. Fever himself is a worthy successor to Flap.

Depoy writes the Appalachians like he lives them, bringing life to the dark, smoky woods and guiding us through with a tracker's eye. I look forward to the next Fever Devilin mystery.

This book introduces Fever Devlin who is a prof. at an university in Georgia. This is a unique book as it is not the usual formula type mystery. This story takes place in Appalachia. Depoy want us not to forget the type of life that exists there. He reminds us of the importance of folk tales. Fever gets together with two other guys to find out who killed his half brother. It is a different story and I plan to read the next book in the series when I find the time.

If you like folklore, this is a book for you. History is written from the stories or folktales told from generation to generation. Sometimes as is human nature the tale is twisted to serve the needs of the story teller and the truth gets blurred.
Set a murder mystery in the Georgia Appalachians and you get a colorful and fascinating story. Just the main character's name draws you in, Fever Devlin. DePoy makes us realize how many sub cultures there are in America. An intriguing read.