Martians in Maggody (An Arly Hanks Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]

Joan Hess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1995

Anticipating a normal, uneventful summer in the sleepy town of Maggody, police chief Arly Hanks is stunned when hysterical reports of strange lights, crop circles, and a hairy creature precede the arrival of tabloid reporters. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With a gusto sure to please Hess's multitude of fans, the 755 residents of Maggody, Ark., flock to Raz Buchanon's corn fields to speculate about the crop circles that have appeared there overnight. Soon TV crews, tabloid reporters and rival UFO scholars join the ranks, finding evidence of otherworldly visitation in the crop circles and a rash of cattle mutilations. Raz, whose close companion is a cantankerous pig named Marjorie, raises his admission charge from $1 to $5; a silver-suited alien is spotted walking on water across a creek. But then the assistant to one of the leading ufologists is killed. Police chief Arly Hanks, whose most recent case was chronicled in O Little Town of Maggody, has her hands full as Maggody's inhabitants pursue the possibility of alien life forms and prominence in tabloid headlines. While Arly questions Maggody's citizens and visitors, one of the ufologists is also murdered. Hess aims her barbed (and good-natured) sense of humor at tabloid journalism as well as at the foibles of her rural cast in this spirited mystery, the eighth in a series that gets tauter and funnier with every new episode.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Life in Maggody, Arkansas, often seems akin to a particularly lurid tabloid expos{‚}e, so what could be more appropriate than the appearance of crop circles in Raz Buchanon's cornfield, obviously the work of extraterrestrials or intraterrestrials, depending on which of two leading UFO experts is bending your ear. The experts, assorted true believers, and a gaggle of tabloid reporters are all checked into Ruby Bee's Flamingo Motel and are spending their days measuring the crop circles, reporting cattle mutilations, and spotting what appears to be a local incarnation of Bigfoot. Of course, none of this is good news for Arly Hanks, the town's beleaguered police chief, who must cope with hysterical citizens, too much traffic, and, eventually, the murder of one of the UFO experts, found dead of carbon monoxide asphyxiation with no car nearby. With appearances from Maggody's collection of notables--including Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon, on her usual crusade to uplift public morals, and Dahlia Buchanon, now convinced she was abducted by aliens--this eighth Maggody adventure combines Hess' signature mix of murder, mayhem, and just plain ludicrousness. Don't miss it. Stuart Miller --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Onyx Books; Reprint edition (November 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451405927
• ISBN-13: 978-0451405920
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #892,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Close encounters of the Maggody kind, August 12, 2000

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Gray (midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martians in Maggody (An Arly Hanks Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

Each of the Maggody mysteries by Joan Hess is a delight. In Martians in Maggody, an enterprising moonshiner bolsters the local economy by creating a tourist attraction in a corn field. This field of dreams (or nightmares, for the local police chief)becomes a murder scene. As always, Police Chief Arly Hanks is bothered more by her meddlesome mother and by the characters who populate the strange world of Maggody than by the Martians and the murderer who are only passing through.

5.0 out of 5 stars Martians in Maggody - Joan Hess, November 25, 2008

By 

Pat Sahlin "For all things under the sun ther... (Oklahoma USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Martians in Maggody (An Arly Hanks Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a typical Joan Hess novel, and a pure romp from start to finish. She captures the local personalities to a tee, and has a wicked sense of humor when it comes to creating plots and outrageous situations. If you want a good laugh, Hess is one of the best. Her Maggody books always deliver.