Muletrain to Maggody: An Arly Hanks Mystery (Arly Hanks Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Joan Hess (Author)

Book Description

Series: Arly Hanks Mysteries | Publication Date: December 28, 2004

Away down south in Maggody, Arkansas, Police Chief Arly Hanks, "the sharpest small-town sleuth since Miss Marple" (Kirkus Reviews), must keep the peace when the Civil War -- or a darn good replication -- masks a modern-day murderer!

Muletrain to Maggody

A few dozen die-hard Yanks and Rebs, a dewy-eyed belle, and a general or two have rolled into town...and so has a documentary film crew, to re-enact a piece of Maggody history. Not that the Skirmish at Cotter's Ridge was particularly significant (it wasn't), or that folks care overly about the 1863 scuffle (they don't). But rumors are flying like musket-fire that two saddlebags of long-lost Confederate gold are holed up in a local cave, and frankly, my dear, everyone gives a damn about getting their hands on it. Authenticity goes overboard when the body count starts rising, and Arly must catch a killer to ensure that the people of Maggody can live, not die, in Dixie.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The blend of mayhem and mirth is as potent as ever in Hess's 14th cozy (after 2001's Maggody and the Moonbeams) centered on the backwoods town of Maggody, Ark. The Stump County Historical Society has funded a documentary film on a local Civil War battle, the Skirmish at Cotter's Ridge of 1863. No one seems all that interested until Miss Harriet Hathaway of the historical society mentions that a shipment of Confederate gold was hidden somewhere during the skirmish and hasn't been seen since. Chief of Police Arly Hanks braces herself for the antics that are sure to follow, as various Maggodians devise plans to find the gold and live a life of luxury thereafter. Dedicated reenactors begin to descend on Maggody, along with various experts involved in the documentary. Among them are a well-known writer of historical romances, her shiftless son, his sluttish fiancee, a historian who often dons the uniform of a Union general and a retired accountant with a passion for genealogical research. One dead body turns up, then another, and Arly has to sort out all the comings and goings of the suspects, and the various motives, and collar the killer before he or she strikes again. With a wit sometimes mordant, sometimes gentle, Hess mines the foibles of those obsessed with the past to offer yet another deliciously funny and deviously puzzling mystery.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Break out the moonshine, whoop, and holler--Arly Hanks, chief of police, and the slightly whacked-out denizens of Maggody, Arkansas, are back. After all of the mayhem caused in the past by visiting pornographers, presumed aliens, and ill-tempered ostriches, Maggody followers can't help but wonder what could possibly happen next. Answer: the Stump County Historical Society's discovery of a Confederate soldier's diary describing a small Civil War skirmish fought nearby and the hiding of a rebel payroll (in gold) on Cotter's Ridge--now famous as the location of the feral Raz Buchanon's still. Egged on by the redoubtable Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon--wife of the Maggody mayor--the society has decided to make an educational film of the episode, engaging Yankee and Confederate reenactors, along with the services of Corinne Dawk, a Charleston, South Carolina, belle (or, rather, matron) who writes Civil War romances and acts in historical pageants. As usual, Arly anticipates nothing but trouble as everyone begins scrambling through the scrub hunting for lost gold while assorted Billy Yanks and Johnny Rebs trade insults and occasional fisticuffs. Things get serious when the historical society's treasurer is found dead, pushed over a bluff, and poor old Hospiss Buchanon is found clubbed to death shortly after speaking to the treasurer. And--most shocking of all--Mrs. Jim Bob is driven to drink. Hess aims and fires her comic Gatling gun with reckless abandon and great glee, easily retaining her unofficial title as Queen of Very Funny Mysteries. Stuart Miller
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743443896
• ISBN-13: 978-0743443890
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #598,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars extra fine rural police procedural, February 24, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Muletrain to Maggody: An Arly Hanks Mystery (Hardcover)

Three days before the Battle of Farbersville in Arkansas during the Civil War, there was a skirmish in the small town of Maggody. The Stump County Historical Society has obtained funding to do a documentary on the battle thanks to the donation of the diary of one of the men who fought in that encounter. The diary goes on to say that the confederate troops were carrying gold to pay the soldiers, but when they concluded that they were going to lose, the soldiers hid it in a nearby cove.

The townsfolk go crazy looking for the gold and Chief of Police Arly Hanks has her hands full keeping track of everybody. The treasurer of the historical society Wendell thinks he has a clue where the gold was hidden but he is more interested in his genealogical studies than a treasure hunt. Matters turn very serious when someone kills Wendell. Arly investigates the homicide with plethora of suspects available. A second killing occurs. Once Arly realizes the two homicides are linked, it is only a matter of time before she tracks down the killer.

An Arly Hanks mystery is always a hoot and a holler and MULETRAIN TO MAGGODY is no different. Despite the seriousness of the murders, the storyline focuses on the gold hunt. The characters are funny as they try to outdo each other in searching for the gold while Arly has her hands full keeping everyone in line Joan Hess is in fine form as she produces another extra fine rural police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perkins' Eldest Would Give It Three Thumbs Up, April 17, 2004

By 

MZ (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Muletrain to Maggody: An Arly Hanks Mystery (Hardcover)

The latest hijinks in Maggody, Arkansas, centers around a Civil War reenactment and a pot of gold (not, however, at trailer park of same name).

Joan Hess leads her readers down a dusty path, where Charleston socialites meet Conferedate martyrs...followed closely behind by the regular gang of Buchanons and others.

While the Civil War theme served its purpose, it was not what made me flip the pages hurriedly: the best part of this storyline was, as usual, the number of Maggodians who managed to get swept away (literally) in their quest for the gold. Add to it, Hammet's return...and a little love for our hero Arly, and you've got another great tale of mystery and tomfoolery in our favorite Ozark town.

Will Dahlia ever see her granny again (and will Kevin Buchanon be sleeping on the sofa forever)? Will Hammet convince Arly to take him home for good? Will Harve ever get to watch his poetry in skin-tight clothing? Will Mrs. Jim Bob drink wine...in her own house? To solve these mysteries...and maybe a few murders...you'll have to get on the Muletrain to Maggody.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Slow to get started., January 25, 2005

By 

Jennifer Terry (Columbus, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Muletrain to Maggody: An Arly Hanks Mystery (Hardcover)

This book wasn't difficult to get into, but the action took a long time to get going. The first crime doesn't occur until halfway through the book. And the true hints about whodunit don't happen until the book is nearly finished, so you can't really spend the whole book trying to piece it together. It just happens all at once in the last pages. Arly puts up with way too much and most of the characters are more caricatures. This was my first foray into the Maggody series and it was slightly disappointing, but not an unpleasant read.