The Goodbye Body (Claire Malloy Mysteries, No. 15) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Joan Hess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 12, 2005

Claire Malloy runs a bookstore in the quiet college town of Farberville, Arkansas, providing a verging-on-meager living for her and her deeply sarcastic teenage daughter, Caron. When emergency work forces them out of their apartment for a few weeks, Claire is thrilled to accept a customer's offer to let them stay at her palatial home while she is traveling. But no sooner do Claire and Caron ensconce themselves than disquieting events start to occur.

Available only in Americana 4 & 5.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Why is Claire Malloy such an appealing character? On one hand, she lives what many mystery readers would consider a dream life: amateur sleuth and small-town bookshop owner. On the other hand, Claire is endearing because she is very like most of us: far from rich and even further from perfect, she often breaks things, she messes up her relationship with handsome cop Peter Rosen, and she opens her mouth when she shouldn't. In this madcap entry in the long-running series, Claire and her teenage daughter, Caron, accept a house-sitting invitation from Claire's new friend Dolly Goforth. With her own apartment being fumigated, Claire feels like she has hit the jackpot with Dolly's invitation: a gorgeous home and use of a new Mercedes. The idyll soon turns ugly, though, with the discovery and subsequent disappearance of a dead body. The plot works itself out just fine, but face it, the real attraction here is the opportunity to spend some time with Claire Malloy. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Breezy and delightful . . . Claire Malloy is one of the most engaging narrators in mystery."
-- The Drood Review (UNKNOWN )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 507 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press; 1 edition (July 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786275553
• ISBN-13: 978-0786275557
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,666,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars complex amusing amateur sleuth tale, April 6, 2005

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Goodbye Body (Claire Malloy Mysteries, No. 15) (Hardcover)

In Farberville, Arkansas, Claire Malloy lectures her landlord Mr. Kalker about rats in the kitchen, mice everywhere else, and ants running amuck ever since he rented the downstairs to summer tenants who believe trash is next to godliness. Mr. Kalker agrees to have exterminators clean out the building, but Claire and her sixteen years old daughter Caron will need temporary quarters for the next two weeks. In her bookstore, The Book Depot, Claire vents to customer Dolly Goforth, who offers her lavish home as a place to stay while she is on the road.

After Claire, Caron and friend Inez Thornton move into the Goforth house, the two teens find a corpse near the gazebo. By the time the police and Claire arrive, the body is missing. The cops assume the "victim" is alive while Claire figures her daughter is a drama queen who needs to go to school in Canada or Finland. Soon afterward an assortment of traveling kooks show up asking for Dolly and claiming open ended invitations to stay. When the original body turns up but vanishes again and Dolly is no where to be found, Claire, who prefers not to get involved, reluctantly begins to investigate the case of THE GOODBYE BODY.

Joan Hess is at her amusing best with this complex enjoyable amateur sleuth tale. The story line contains Claire's cynical humor whether the victim is her landlord, her daughter, rodents, her lover, or a vanishing corpse. Fans of the series will appreciate this jocular yet deep tale while newcomers will think of Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry. A relationship decision with the man of her dreams (and several nightmares) adds a surprise twist to a fine regional tale.

Harriet Klausner

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Back on Track, May 23, 2005

By 

suzatm (PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Goodbye Body (Claire Malloy Mysteries, No. 15) (Hardcover)

I have to admit that I did not like her last couple of books. In the last two books Joan Hess wrote in the Claire Malloy series, I found myself more irritated by the characters instead of entertained. Rather than purchase this one like I did the others, I borrowed it from the library. This one would definitely be worth buying. The Goodbye Body is more on the lines of her earlier books. I thoroughly enjoyed this book even finding myself laughing out loud at some of Claire's comments and thoughts. I would definitely recommend The Goodbye Body and I hope her next is as good as this one.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Golden Goodbye, July 8, 2005

By 

Ami Reeves "www_AmiReeves_com" (Tulsa, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Goodbye Body (Claire Malloy Mysteries, No. 15) (Hardcover)

Joan Hess does not disappoint in this latest Farberville installment. I've never read a book by Hess that didn't make me laugh out loud!

Claire Malloy, daughter Caron, and Caron's friend Inez are house sitting for a mild mannered, souffle-making, tango-dancing Book Depot customer. But things at Dolly Goforth's palatial home are not what they seem, i.e. the dead body that keeps popping up in the oddest places. Dolly has warned Claire about the multitude of cleaners/maintenance people coming by, but never mentioned disappearing cadavers, visiting relatives, or her past connections to some unsavory factions of society. The doorbell, true to form, rings and rings. Half the fun of this book is seeing who's on the other side of the door.

With a wacky style that's like nothing else out there, The Goodbye Body held my interest from start to finish. A trip to Farberville is pure escape!