Mad Season: A Mystery (Paperback)

~ Nancy Wright (Author)
Key Phrases: barn money, New York, Carol Unsworth, Ann Arbor (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nancy Means Wright, who teaches at the Writer's Digest School, obviously learned her lessons well; her first novel is a polished, moving mystery about a community of Vermont farmers who have to add a barn-burning arsonist to their long list of troubles. Wright's central character--a strong woman struggling to hold her family together after her husband has abandoned them--is both an American icon aand a believable modern heroine. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In a debut mystery boosted by a vivid setting, Wright masterfully combines dark doings with a moving portrayal of the plight of small Vermont farmers trying to maintain their way of life. Lucien Laroque and his wife, Belle, are elderly, fiercely independent farmers in Branbury, Vermont. Lucien is known not to trust banks and to keep large sums of cash in his pockets. He and Belle make an easy target for the thugs who come in the small hours of the morning to savagely beat and rob them. Neighboring farmer Ruth Willmarth finds Lucien, then Belle. It is her anger, her heroism and her strength that lifts the book above the norm. Ruth's husband, Pete, has left her and the farm for New York City and another woman. The youngest of her three kids, Vic, 10, is having a tough time coping with a bunch of bullies and his father's absence. One of her daughters, Emily, is involved with a boy Ruth has doubts about. Trying to cope with the demands of the farm and the needs of her family is enough without a murder, a series of suspicious barn fires and the escalating pressures to sell farmland to eager developers. Enlisting old high-school beau Colm Hanna, Ruth perseveres even when her son's disappearance seems the final blow. This is fine storytelling, mixing some rural folksiness with both big-time and small-time misdeeds.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (February 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595169589
• ISBN-13: 978-0595169580
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,209,380 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a view of the other vermont, May 14, 2001

By	Deborah Straw "author" (Burlington, Vermont United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the first in the Ruth Willmarth series of mysteries, and it will make you want to read the rest. Nancy Means Wright is exceptionally good at capturing the spirit, dialect and values of rural Vermont. She loves her state but does not paint it out to be all idyllic, as do many other writers. This novel starts out with the shocking murder of an older woman and a dog and goes on to develop her personable characters that will reappear in the subsequent mysteries. Left by her husband to care for a dairy farm and two children, Willmarth is a gutsy, intuitive protagonist. This is a must read for those who love Vermont and for those who admire strong women protagonists.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice to see a farmer in a book like this, October 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Mad Season (Hardcover)

but take the details about farming with a large grain of salt. There's some pretty screwy stuff in there that is just plain wrong, or else done in ways that no farmer would ever do for labor or economic reasons. For example, a milking machine catches on fire when not being used. There's no way a milking machine (singular, you notice) can catch on fire. That's like saying your electric frying pan can catch on fire when it's not plugged in and is sitting on your kitchen counter waiting to get used. The wiring for the system could catch on fire, but that's more than just one machine. It's mistakes like this that prove the author doesn't quite get it. And yes,I'm a dairy farmer. But it's a nice attempt and I'll probably read others in the series just because it does feature a farmer.