Customer Reviews

The Maggody Militia: An Arly Hanks Mystery

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As a long time Maggody reader, I found this book to be a welcome addition to an already entertaining series. Reading Ms. Hess is like eating peanuts - one always leads to another until the bag is empty. In this book, large events in the news are portrayed in the small scale frame of Maggody, Arkansas. Her ability to find humor in life's most frustrating of circumstances is a gift I'm glad she is willing to share. Many times series books get stale after a while, but Ms. Hess' books just get better. It seems she is getting to know these people as long time friends, just as I am. Please write more! I'm waiting!

I love all of Joan Hess books and each one allows me to reunite with "friends." Some whom reminds me of my relatives -- no lie. This book however does also take on a heavier issue with humor of militias and how dangerous they are. Very good book -- as usual -- I have turned many people on to her.

Joan Hess and Janet Evanovich are the two most enjoyable mystery writers in America. If humor in a mystery novel offends you, avoid them like the plague. But if you read for fun, if you read to escape for a few hours from the drudgery of a job or the drivel of television, read a Joan Hess mystery set in Maggody, Arkansas, or a Janet Evanovich mystery set in New Jersey. These two ladies have a way of putting words on paper that is simply and purely entertaining. In The Maggody Militia, a few paranoid members a rightwing militia decide to hold exercises in the woods near Maggody. As usual, Chief of Police Arly Hanks has to solve a murder while dealing with the strangest set of characters ever to appear in a mystery.

The Maggody Militia takes some uncomfortable subjects (murder and home grown terrorism) and makes it hiliarious. The entire Maggody series is one fun roller coaster ride. The most recent addition is no exception. From the eccentric Buchanon clan to the wily Ruby and Estelle, the characters are living, breathing people. I never laugh so much as when reading a Joan Hess book. I can only hope she learns to type faster so that there will be more books to read.

This is just what police chief, Arly Hanks, needs. A militia of homegrown super patriots have camped in Maggody, trying to recruit new members, and playing war games up on Cotter's Ridge. With deer hunting season about to begin, guaranteeing drunken, brazen good old boys shooting at any and everything that moves out there in the woods, she figures it's only a matter of time before somebody will end up getting hurt. And that's exactly what happens. Not only does militiaman, Dylan Gilbert, get shot and killed on the first day of maneuvers, but it seems that the bullet is not what did him in. Add to that the disappearance of the ever-creepy, Brother Verber, a very pregnant and missing Dahlia Buchanon, a rash of burglaries in and around Maggody, and a couple of wayward ostriches wreaking havoc, and you could say that Arly has her hands full in a very big way..... Joan Hess is back with another hilarious, manic romp through Maggody, and this is a series that just gets better with each new installment. The story line is entertaining, the writing, crisp, witty, and engaging, and the dialogue, irreverent and full of down-home colloquialisms and backwoods humor. But it's Ms Hess' unique cast of wacky and quirky characters that make this book stand out, and once you've gotten to know Arly and company, you'll be hooked for sure. With an ending that brings all the plot lines together, and ties up the loose ends into a nice, neat, satisfying package, The Maggody Militia is a delightful and humorous mystery that shouldn't be missed. For those new to Arly Hanks and Maggody, Arkansas, start at the beginning with Malice In Maggody, and read them all. For those of you who are already fans, Joan Hess definitely doesn't disappoint this time out.

'Magoddy Militia' is the kind of book that is a chocolate bon-bon. You can't stop at one. If you read one Maggody mystery, you gotta read them all. Joan Hess and Janet Evanovich are the grand dames of the humorous murder mysteries. If you like Southern-type humor with backwoods colloquialisms and a smathering of Ellery Queen, Dragnet and Mayberry R.F.D. then you'll just love Hess series of Maggody mysteries. Joan Hess has written eleven Maggody mysteries, as well as twelve Claire Malloy mysteries. she is also the current president of the American Crime Writers League. The series is set in Maggody, Arkansas a peaceful little town snuggles somewhere in the heart of the Ozarks. These are the best laugh-out-loud whodunit of pure rollicking fun.

Start with this one and then follow with:
Malice in Maggody
Mischief in Maggody
Much Ado in Maggody
Madness in Maggody
Mortal Remains in Maggody
Maggody in Manhattan
O Little Town of Maggody
Martians in Maggody
Miracles in Maggody
Maggody and the Moonbeams

Hess credits her information in writing 'The Maggody Militia' from the 'Armed and Dangerous: The Rise of the Survivalist Right' by James Coates. And pretty much what this story is related to. Our sleuth heroine of Maggody, Arkansas is Chief of Police Arly Hanks. It isn't until a group of camouflage-clad patriots march into town with practice maneuvers-and mayhem and murder. It starts when the widow Kayleen Smeltner lets a group of demented miliants use her pastures for paint-ball war games during the first week of deer hunting season. Then all of a sudden all mayhem breaks loose. Burglars are breaking into houses. The Mayor Jim Bob turns up missing. And, Dylan Gilbert a survialist has been killed or so it seems. If that isn't enough two unpredictable ostrichs have the town up in arms. Arly Hanks has her hands full to find a motive, a means and a murderer. With her wise detective instinct she reckons there isn't a secret government conspiracy behind all this,nope just your average human evil-doers of blind ambition, greed, and deadly obsessions. The story is hiliarious and entertainingly engaging. The dialogue makes for alot of that down-home flair and much humor. I've had fun reading 'Maggody' and look forward to reading further episodes. You're sure to have a good time with the 'Maggody' gang.

Like all the Maggody mysteries, this one was wonderful. The mystery part may not be that hard to solve, but the laughs are on every page. Joan Hess never fails to write a fantastic Maggody mystery--I just wish she would write more of them. The people who inhabit Maggody are wonderful. The Buchanons, Brother Verber, police chief Arly Hanks. I want to stop at the Dairy Delicious and get to know all of them!

Maggody, Arkansas has a population under 1,000 people, yet it seems that every group under the sun (change that to under the universe) has just about made an appearance in the small town. Things have finally calmed down for the sheriff, Arly Hanks, who spent the past month chilling out by keeping teens in line and giving out an occasional traffic ticket. Her mellowing seems to have come to an end when newcomer Kayleen Smeltner allows a militia group to train on her property for the upcoming United Nations invasion of Arkansas.
.....Arly, worries about her townsfolk being hurt. Ironically, instead she suddenly finds herself investigating the murder of one of the militia. She wonders if it was an internal job because a rumor spread that the deceased was a paid government informer? Or was it a local, spooked by the strange goings-on of this seemingly Keystone Cops-like para military group. As Arly tries to learn the truth, the bumbling militia, her kooky townsfolk, and a couple of cantankerous ostriches seem to get in the way. Only someone as rational and strong as Arly can find the right path to travel for the answers in the midst of chaos.
..... The tenth Maggody, Arkansas book is a humorous and crazy as the preceding nine novels. The books are all humorous and fun to read due to the Lou-Costello-like characters and the author's satirical obvious delight at poking fun at all segments of society. Joan Hess also throws in four recipes to boot. Readers who enjoy jocular who-done-its will love THE MAGGODY MILITIA, all the other Joan Hess Arkansas based books, and everything else that Ms. Hess has written. No one today is as creative or imaginative as this author.

.....Harriet Klausner

I HAVE READ SEVERAL OF THE MAGOODY SERIES NOW AND I WAS NOT CRAZY ABOUT THIS ONE. THE OTHERS WERE FUNNY AND LIGHTHEARTED WHILE THIS ONE WAS TOO SERIOUS. HOWEVER I'LL KEEP ON READING MORE OF THE SERIES.