Customer Reviews

The Old Buzzard Had It Coming

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Simply stated, I loved reading this book -- I didn't want it to end! It has everything a really good novel should: well developed characters, a great setting, and heart. In fact,it has lots of heart, more than most novels and certainly more than most mysteries, which is what this book is. Unlike myself, my wife doesn't enjoy reading mysteries, but she loved this one because of its heart.

Being a third generation Oklahoman like the author, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about what it was like to live on a family farm in my home state shortly after it achieved statehood in 1909. My maternal grandparents were farmers not far where the story takes place. I sent a copy of the book to my mother, and she vouched for its accuracy. And, just in case you're wondering, she loved reading it, too.

I know from attending a recent reading by the author in Tempe, AZ, where she now lives, that this is the first in a series of at least three mysteries centered around Alafair Tucker and her family. I very much look forward to the next one, which is scheduled for release in the summer of 06.

In 1912 Oklahoma, Harley Day works a hard scrapple farm barely making ends meet and beating up his wife and frightening his children. They wouldn't have the farm if it wasn't for their oldest son John Lee who knows that his father owns a still and sells moonshine. One night, Harley doesn't come home but nobody worries because that is his norm. John Lee finds his father dead in the snow and at first thinks he froze to death.

When the women prepare the body for burial, neighbor Alafair Tucker finds a .22 bullet from a lady's derringer in his head. She soon learns that John Lee is in love with her daughter Phoebe and she with him. Alafair's .22 is missing and she fears that her daughter gave it to John Lee, the sheriff's number one suspect, making Phoebe an accomplice. To ease her own mind, Alafair decides to investigate and discovers that every person she talks with has a reason to want Harley dead.

Readers get a taste for early twentieth century frontier living in THE OLD BUZZARD HAD IT COMING. Alafair is a delightful character; a tigress, who will protects her cubs and doesn't care if she puts her life in danger while questioning lowlife customers of Harley. The historical research that serves as a foundation to this work makes the storyline believable and earns Alafair her own series.

Harriet Klausner

I usually don't care that much for mystery books but the time period & the title drew me to this book. I wasn't disappointed. I loved the family & all the children. A little romance mixed in makes this book really good. Don't miss the next one by this author with the same family & another good mystery.

This is a great story. The characters become real immediately. Interesting. Smiles. Real life. Surprising, but reasonable, ending. I first checked this book out from the library, scooping up a bunch of new mystery books. I got a kick out of the title. Liked this one so much, I bought it. Looking forward to this author's subsequent books as well. My mother at first refused to read this book (she didn't like the title). Later, after I'd purchased it, she started to read it, became engrossed in it and hardly put it down until finished.

The title caught my eye first as did the great cover. It was a good story and had enough twists and turns to make me read to the end. Don't try to guess the ending. It is a surprise.

I put off reading this book because for some reason I did not think I was going to enjoy it. Boy was I wrong!! Great book, well written, excellent characters. I enjoyed it immensely.

I loved the very real characters in this book. From page two I was so hooked I knew I had one wonderful book in my hands. And it was! I'll be reading all the Alafair Tucker mysteries by Donis Casey. Life is too short to miss out on such an enjoyable experience.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the genuine seeming characters and accurate historical (1911) setting of this mystery novel. The book's unique title and Oklahoma setting (where I once lived) attracted me to the book. Farm wife and mother Alafair is a very appealing heroine and though I never quite got all of her nine living children totally straight most of the other minor characters are also well developed. The book has an authentic flavor of rural Oklahoma from the "down home" cooking to the speech patterns. The mystery is solid (though my eyes may have glazed over a bit when it concerned guns) and though I guessed the real murderer well before the book's end I didn't predict the full circumstances surrounding it. I am glad to see Ms. Casey has all ready published the second in the series of Alafair's detective adventures (HORNSWOGGLED) and according to her web site a third will be published this fall.

The Old Buzzard Had It Coming is set in a 1912 Oklahoma farming community. Donis Casey returns us to a time when family and community were respected and embraced. In this, the first of the Alafair Tucker Series, we are introduced to Alafair and Shaw Tucker, along with their nine children.

As it is in all large families, Shaw rules the farm, but Alafair rules the household. Alafair is a strong, opinionated woman who'd fight the world to protect her children.

Alafair's neighbor, Harley Day, a drunkard and wife beater is found in a snowdrift, frozen to death. The family may not be overjoyed at his death, but it is apparent no one will miss him. Alafair goes to help Harley's wife lay out the body and as she washes the mud from Harley's hair she discovers a bullet hole behind his ear. It is quite apparent that Harley Day's death was no accident.

Phoebe, Alafair's 17-year-old daughter is in love with Harley's son, John Lee. Alafair fears for Phoebe's happiness when John Lee becomes the main suspect in his father's murder. As Alafair discovers more about what led up to Harley's death she begins to fear for more than Phoebe's happiness. Could Phoebe be an accomplice to Harley's murder?

Donis Casey writes a colorful story of farm life in 1912 and spices it up with a "scratch your head" murder mystery. At the end of the book she includes some mouth watering recipes from Alafair's kitchen. The Old Buzzard Had It Coming: An Alafair Tucker Mystery

Alafair Tucker is an energetic rural mother of nine with a loving husband. In spite of her busy family-centered life, when necessary she applies her insights into the moods, gestures and glances of others, as well as a skillful gathering of town gossip, to investigate crimes. When the drunken, abusive man in the neighboring farm is found murdered, Alafair fears that his son and her seventeen year old daughter may have been involved. Convinced of their innocence, she is determined to find out "who really done it." The old buzzard, after all, had dozens of folks who would welcome the opportunity to do him in.

Alafair's investigations are carried out around the physical work demanded by the large family farm. In fascinating detail, author Casey describes Alafair's daily chores, from the way clothes were washed each Monday to the preparation of food for the heavy mid-day meal, Still, the family has come a long way from living in the "soddie"- the original dwelling thrown up when they first bought the land - to being able to enjoy the amenities of the nearby town, rapidly built on Creek Nation land after it was privatized. They now can educate their children in town. allowing the daughters to pursue well-paying jobs in business as an option to farm life.

The author's solid familiarity of place and Oklahoman speech patterns enriches this warm story. Recipes of food used in the story with historical information about their preparation are provided.

This is the first in the Alafair Tucker series.