Customer Reviews

Malpractice in Maggody: An Arly Hanks Mystery (Arly Hanks Mysteries)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Maggody series is mainly comedy and farce, although there's a serious issue or two, and this book is no exception. We have our usual cast of characters, many of whom are pure stereotypes, such as Mrs. Jim Bob and Brother Verber. There's Kevin and Dahlia and their twins, but also more takes place with Kevin's mother, Eileen, and she's a neat character and her subplot is funny. However, we also get cameos of quite a few more assorted Buchanons in this book, with ever odder first names. We already knew about Diesel Buchanon, up on the ridge; when the old folks' home closes, his brother Petrol joins him in the cave. There's Cinatra Buchanon, and Booker Tee, and Bilious, and Tekeella Buchanon... Anyway, if I weren't wearing a little thin on farce, I'd probably have given this 5 stars.

Some of the highlights to enjoy:
* Ruby Bee's attempts to speak Spanish to the Stonebridge staff staying at her motel
* The snarky diet doctor with an overdeveloped sense of opera (his is some of the best dialogue in the book)
* The occasionally moments of human decency that still peek through the steroid/testosterone poisoning of the football player

There are a couple of things that the reader can see coming waaaaay down the pike: the surprise about Arly at the end, for example, is pretty easy to guess about halfway through. On the other hand, the surprise secret identity of one of the Stonebridge staff is a genuine surprise. I won't give away more than that.

If you haven't read other books in the series, a lot of this one won't make any sense - you have to know something about the characters already to understand WHY we have the alternating plots featuring Kevin and Dahlia, and Arly's boyfriend Jack, and Ruby Bee and Estelle's shenanigans. So if you haven't read others, in addition to this volume in the series, you should also get at least a couple of others - the first volume, "Malice in Maggody" and perhaps the one where Arly meets Jack, "Maggody and the Moonbeams."

I was frankly disappointed in this installment of the series. I read all of Hess' Maggody and Claire Malloy books and was wondering when a new Maggody would appear. Imagine my delight when this book was announced as forthcoming and my dismay when I finished it. It was lackluster without the usual antics of Ruby Bee and Estelle, just some conversation and cooking between the two with a lukewarm spat which didn't have the typical caustic counterattacks. Kevin and Dahlia, Jim Bob and the Missus, Brother Verber, and the usual cast just seemed to have obligatory roles and the newcomers in town did not have the appeal or pizzaz to make the book interesting. Arly's romance could have spiced things up a bit, but it was only mentioned briefly and we were left at the end of the book knowing something that we had suspected for chapters, and for the first time in the whole of the series, I couldn't have cared less. There was no energy in this episode and, with the exception of a few verbal exchanges between Arly and Harve, no spark at all. It seemed that Ms. Hess figured it was time for a new Maggody, so she came up with an unenthusiastic cast of characters and stuck them in a dreary plot. In my opinion, she could have sparked it up by using the regulars and given them a new predicament to deal with in their own hilarious ways. Sorry, this was a dreadful disappointment to me.

The 755 residents of Maggody, Arkansas wonder what is being build at site of the old folks home guarded with a high wire fence and a security person with a mean looking attack dog at his side. The place is going to be a high priced rehab center staffed by Dr. Vincent Stonebridge (who lost his license in California and was forced to relocate), Dr. Randall Zumi (a psychologist whose wife is divorcing him) and Dr. Brenda Skiller (a psychologist who believes in the holistic approach).

The four patients include former child star Dawn Dartmouth who is in for a court ordered psychological examination; Senator Alexandra Swayze who is running for reelection but needs to kick her addiction for painkillers: Toby Mann, a former quarterback who is on a ninety day court ordered psychological evaluation; and diet guru Dr. Dibbins who needs to lose a massive amount of weight so that he can go on a book tour. It is hard to tell who the inmates are as the patients and staff act the same but chief of police Arly Hanks isn't interested in what goes on there unlike the rest of the town until the receptionist is murdered. Then she has to deal with doctors and patients who can drive a sane person crazy.

MALPRACTICE IN MAGGODY is a hilarious police procedural due to the antics of the patients and staff, all of whom have their own agendas that doesn't include getting cured. On the part of the patients, they want what feeds their addictions and the staff wants them to pay for exotic treatments to inflate their profits. Readers will find themselves laughing out loud at some of the activities of the townspeople as their try to find out who the patients are and why they are there.

Harriet Klausner

I've enjoyed all the books in the Maggody series, but some have been a little thin. This is one of the best with plenty of action among the townfolks and the "outsiders" who, as in past book, provide both the victims and the suspects. This book remains a page turner right to the last sentence and leaves you eager for another book in the series.

Visitors to Joan Hess' fictional Arkansas backwoods hamlet of Maggody are served side helpings of satire and slapstick along with the detection. In this book, Maggody's Chief of Police Arly Hanks returns from a well-earned camping vacation to find that mysterious outsiders have bought the old county nursing home. The enigmatic foundation has evicted the old folks, renovated and enlarged the facility, and surrounded it with high fences and tight security. Naturally the locals are agog with curiosity and rumors abound: what the devil is going on in there? Arly's being pushed by some of them, including her own mother Ruby Bee, to find out.

The truth does out, but only after a receptionist is found dead on the grounds. The place is a very hush-hush expensive rehab center for rich celebs who can pay for treatment in deep secrecy. But the folks running the madhouse are about as nuts as the patients and Arly's got plenty of suspects to choose from.

Hess takes a satirical scalpel - well, OK, sometimes it's a blunter instrument - to the American fascination/obssession with celebrities of stage, screen, athletic field, politics, and just about any other walk of life, and I confess to ignoble and catty enjoyment of her efforts in this book. The Maggody locals, including the countless Buchanons with wonderful first names, play mostly supporting roles this time, but there's a nice subplot of one longsuffering wife who finally gets fed up and takes action.

I enjoyed this book. Arly's in love, and it's reciprocated, which makes for nice complications. I'm looking forward to the next Maggody mystery.

I AM A HUGE FAN OF JOAN HESS,AND HAVE READ THE ENTIRE SERIES OF THE
ARLY HANKS MAGGODY BOOKS.SHE DID NOT LET US DOWN,FUNNY,HARD TO PUT DOWN.I READ THIS BOOK WITH A SMILE,LAUGHING AND READ IT IN ONE DAY.
I CAN NOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT.

The Maggody old-folks home has been sold and workmen are transforming it into--something. But nobody in Maggody knows what. They only know for sure that they have some old-folks that aren't being taken care of, but they come up with all sorts of fantastic ideas on what might be happening. To the point that the women in the missionary society arm themselves--with all of the danger that comes from firearms in the hands of the untrained. It isn't until police chief Arly Hanks is called in that she learns what's really going on at the former home--now the Stonebridge Foundation. A doctor has established an exclusive retreat for the rich and famous looking for a place to detox. The last thing Dr. Stonebridge needs is attention--the primary draw of the place is that it's below radar, but murder has a way of wrecking plans and the pretty receptionist was definitely murdered.

There isn't much love lost between the staff and patients. Still, it's hard to imagine anyone murdering the young woman. She seemed something of a favorite with the patients--who could bribe her into breaking the rules, and both of the male doctors were attracted to her. Still, she is definitely dead and Hanks needs to find some motive. Things only get more complicated when one of the doctors dies--an apparent suicide.

The charm of this story, as with the other mysteries in author Joan Hess's in the people of Maggody. From Arly's mother Ruby Bee Hanks who runs the cafe, to the members of the missionary society to the local sheriff and the good-ole-boy mayor (who owns the grocery store) everyone in Maggody is interested in what everyone else in Maggody is doing--and is happy to offer advice on how to do it. Hess manages to mix some real insights into stereotypes. Even when dealing with stereotypes, she recognizes and synthesizes the "ignorant rural hick" with the "noble true-American salt of the earth" into a composite that seems far more true than either of the extremes.

If you're looking for a fun light mystery, MALPRACTICE IN MAGGODY is definitely one you'll want to grab.

I had quite a few laughs with this one.The people who are forced to be together at the rehab center start acting up and it is hilarious.When it comes to showing the childish behavior of spoiled celebrities,Joan really nailed it here.The best dialogue in the book occurs when the 'inmates' start griping.Get your hands on the book.If your down and need a few laughs,this will get it done for you.

I was so glad to see another Maggody book! And, I liked it - but...think it dragged in parts - I almost felt as if this was the "wrap it all up" book - because it seemed every single citizen of Maggody had to be mentioned - no matter how obsurely. I liked the book - just not as much as I've liked the others. The humor was not as sharp.

This read like a transition to a more serious Arly, which I very much hope doesn't actually happen. I found it disappointing that, like every other fictional female sleuth, she suddenly needs a man to solve her problems; the strong and caustic loner is going all domestic. If it's true to the trite formula that applies to Hess's other series, Jack will start complaining about Arly sticking her pretty inept nose where it doesn't belong in the next installment, especially given the ending (which just make me groan -- and why the heck do Ruby and Estelle KNOW this in the first place? That's just gross). And all the discussion about her New York Socialite past was scary -- does the character really need to go there? I could see this going in an interesting direction if Jack is suddenly out of the picture and Arly is allowed to return to character, given the not-too-surprising ending, but otherwise this might be the death of the series.