Customer Reviews

Murder@maggody.com (Arly Hanks Mysteries)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The newest Maggody book is out and it is a hoot! If you loved the previous books, waited with baited breath for the next installment of life in Maggody, this book does NOT disappoint! The infusion of 21st Century technology in the form of a computer lab in a "temporary classroom" (read trailer) outside the high school makes for a great starting point for mystery, murder, and more craziness from your favorite characters. Updating on the twins, the cafe, the mooshiners, and the rest of the inhabitants of Maggody make the murder and the solving of it much more fun since it "feels like home!" The humor is great -- from Ruby and Estella under the trailers at the trailer park to the sudden disappearance of a load of moonshine! Buckle up! It is a great read!

This is my first visit to the fictional community of Maggody, Arkansas. ....

Things move slow in Maggody, AK (population 755) and when the 21st Century gets ready to move in via a computer lab for the local high school the entire multitude of assorted and sundry Buchanons, as well as all the other good citizens, are in a royal dither. (Which I think is another way of saying an Ozarkian farce.) It seems as if everyone is worried about all the additional evils the internet will unleash - SEX, SIN, SPAM and SATAN hisself! But since the since the computers are already sitting in a storage shed behind the school, and the school is planning special cyber classes for all the adults in town it looks like Maggody will indeed be going online.

But like I said, things move slow in Maggody. (It does takes a while to catch up with all the coming and goings of the myriad Buchanons - how does Hess keep them all straight? By the way, Myriad Buchanon would probably be a good addition to the cast of characters in a future book.) So you're half way through the book before the first body shows up! (Population now 754) About the same time all hell breaks loose - people start receiving evil apparitions with their email, Ruby Bee and Estelle end up in the mud under a Pot O' Gold trailer and maybe Satan is indeed possessing the populace. To top it all off, chief of police Arly Hanks is having as hard a time getting a decent meal as she is find out what's going on.

In Maggody, I've discovered that the fun isn't in finding out "who done it" as much as it is finding out who's doing what and why among the wild and wacky cast of characters. So I'll admit it, while I hated vacationing there years ago, I'm hooked on the books! I just bought two more Maggodies and this one gets my ...!

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Hess' Maggody books have been, until this one, clever and funny. However, this one seems strained; the plot is not well-structured, and the action rambles. If it weren't for the antics of Brother Verber, I would have rated this as 2 stars.

I have read all of the Joan Hess Maggody series books and this was was missing something. The ending was more disappointing than the rest. I usually enjoy her books and i read this one front to end but it didn't have the same kind of keep you reading quality about it that the previous ones have had and I felt that it was kind of a hurry up and finish book.

I have been a Maggody enthusiast for quite a few years and look forward to each new book. Something seemed to be missing in this one. It had a "slapped together quickly" quality about it. The characters were not nearly as well drawn nor fleshed out as usual. If I had not read all of the previous Maggody books, this one sure would not prompt me to become a fan of the series. The murderer and murderee were easy to figure out early on. I felt Joan Hess did not concentrate enough on the quirky characters already established in previous stories. Their endearing pecularities were not explored as in past books. There were many Buchanon names bandied about, but I would have liked more description of them and their kin. The names are certainly unforgettable-"Idalupino" is my all time favorite! Joan Hess has done such a good job with most of the Maggody books, I forgive her for this one which I feel is not one of her better efforts and still look forward to the next one.

The previous Arly-Hanks-in-Maggody mysteries have all rated four or five stars in my opinion. I have read most of them two or three times. Unfortunately, the 12th book in the series does not compare favorably with the earlier books. Arly is still chief of police in Maggody. Ruby Bee and Estelle are still doing their best to be helpful. Raz is still in love with his pig. The regular Maggody cast of characters is in the book, but Joan Hess' magical spark seems to be missing. (Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers had some efforts that don't rate four stars, so it can happen to anyone.) Read this one if you want to keep up with developments in Maggody, but if you have not read any of the Maggody mysteries, don't start with this one; it is not representative of the author's great talent.

I have always enjoyed Joan Hess's Maggody series, starring Chief of Police Arly Hanks, but this one left me feeling that Hess didn't quite put her usual level of effort into it.

As usual the story line concerns the denizens of the town of Maggody in Stump County, Arkansas and their reaction to some newfangled something or other, in this case, the addition of the Internet to the community. Hess has gone out of her way to add extra humor to her descriptions of the very backwards locals (featuring the inbred Buchanons). I laughed out loud at several points.

However, this time out, the mystery plot didn't seem to garner as much of her attention to detail. The story had some plot holes and the ending seemed forced and hastily thrown together. It was the kind of solution I hate the most -- the one where there is little or no evidence beforehand of who the killer is or what the motive may be. Arly seemed to find out all of the pertinent facts with the reader at the denoument. Instead of investigatin as thoroughly as she usually does, she spends the first 7/8th's of the book trying to dodge her mother or unlawfully pestering a new resident of the trailer park. The character seemed to be tired of life in Maggody and in spirit this time, and for the first time, I found myself annoyed with her.

However, the book was an amusing read and a lot went on with developing the story lines of the other residents of the town. For that reason alone it is worth an afternoon. Perhaps,in the future, Hess could give poor Arly something to look forward to other than one of Ruby Bee's sinfully delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. Arly's apathy was disappointing.

In this 12th title in the very entertaining Maggody, Arkansas (pop. 755) series, Sheriff Arly Hanks is faced with a menace beyond bizarre Buchanons, an interfereng mother and a mayor hostile to women in law enforcement. Maggody will be joining the electronc age with an internet lab and classes at the local high school. Warnings of doom and disaster seem to be coming true as unusual images appear on e-mail screens and a teen aged mother disappears. Joan Hess has a great talent for taking a current problem, in this case abuse of the Internet, and crafting a well written, entertaining novel around it.The well devised plot is rounded out by the standard supporting cast of Maggody locals,including a crop of Buchanans from the shallow end of even their genetic wading pool. Note to detail oriented readers: don't miss the e-mail address of the local church!

Any Joan Hess release will make my day, while this one is not on a par with some of her others it was still a fun read, her Maggody series makes me laugh out loud and I find that very rare these days. I will be eagerly awaiting the next installment of the trials and tribulations of the residents of Maggody Ark.

I was about to agree with what some other reviewers said about corny jokes and stereotyped cartoonish characters and farcical plots, but I find I own nine of these so something has me hooked. Compared to other Maggody books this has more emphasis on what a depressing life Arly leads and what a miserable place Magoddy is. Clues are not planted early on, but the solution is logical because the murderer is acting in character. I was reminded of the way PD James gets to her solutions. This is less pretentious than PD James but in some ways the art is as deep. Hess conceals her cleverness. No cat and no dog but an excellent pig.