Plains Crazy (Mad Dog & Englishman Mysteries) [Large Print] [Paperback]

J M Hayes (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mad Dog & Englishman Mysteries | Publication Date: November 1, 2004

Spring bursts into bloom-and a whole lot more-as murder-by-arrow rattles Benteen County, Kansas.
Nothing ever happens in Benteen County, Kansas. Then, on a perfect spring morning, a member of the reality TV program filming in a local pasture dies with a Cheyenne arrow in his back. Sheriff English's brother, Mad Dog, the county oddball whose Amerind heritage has produced a born-again Cheyenne, is a prime suspect. Murder is a bad way to start the day. Explosive action follows. Notes left for authorities hint at a terrorist assault on the heartland.
If the sheriff, known as Englishman, doesn't have enough to worry about, his wife has begun acting strangely. She insists he fly off on a Paris holiday with her before sunset - or else. As Mad Dog swings between suspect and target, he encounters his long-lost high school sweetheart, and a secret that just may explain the unlikely mix of arrows and bombs.
It's Murphy's Law squared, as Mad Dog and his pet wolf, Hailey, test a shaman's powers, and Englishman struggles to balance his duties to family and community-enough to drive anyone Plains Crazy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hayes's third mix of crime and farce (after 2003's Prairie Gothic) set on the Kansas prairie will amuse some and irritate others. Soon after a randy teenage boy is fatally impaled by an ancient Cheyenne arrow during an outdoor tryst, the town of Buffalo Springs is plagued by a series of bombings that may be the work of al Qaeda. The top local lawman, Sheriff English, finds himself pulled in multiple directions as evidence suggests that his flaky mystic half-brother, known as Mad Dog, was the intended victim instead of the teenager. There's no shortage of people who would benefit from Mad Dog's death, ranging from town supervisors who want to use his land for a lucrative wind-power venture to the psychotic son he never knew existed. English races from crime scene to crime scene, mindful of his wife's deadline to show up at the Wichita airport for a trip to Paris that could save their marriage. While Hayes displays some satirical gifts (as shown in a TV reality show called This Old Tepee), the story is longer on action than suspense or deduction, and the trivializing of the very real threat of al Qaeda can be offputting, especially since it's unnecessary to the plot.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The wacky denizens of Benteen County, Kansas (Mad Dog & Englishman, 2000, and Prairie Gothic, 2003), are back with enough action to keep readers on the edge of their seats. Just as the residents of the sleepy county are beginning to wonder when something will happen, a crew from PBS pulls into town to film a new reality show, This Old Tepee, which involves a group of Native Americans trying to re-create the ancient tribal lifestyle on the plains. Then one of the participants winds up with a genuine Cheyenne arrow in his back. Everyone assumes that the murder is the work of Mad Dog, the born-again Cheyenne half brother of Sheriff English. As if that weren't enough, a series of bombs goes off in Buffalo Springs, leading the good citizens to believe that al-Qaeda has invaded. Then there is Sheriff English's wife, Judy, who seems obsessed with taking a trip to Paris, by sunset, or else. English, Mad Dog, an old sweetheart who just happens to show up, and various deputies of varying competence have their hands full trying to figure out why all this chaos has erupted on the prairie. Readers may need to make a chart to keep track of the characters and plotlines, but they will be laughing so hard they probably won't take the time to consult it anyway. This is the best madcap cozy to hit the genre since Joan Hess' Maggody series debuted more than 15 years ago. Barbara Bibel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 410 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press; Large type / large print edition (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590581520
• ISBN-13: 978-1590581520
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,425,756 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:

4.0 out of 5 stars plain great!, June 25, 2005

By 

Mystery Mom - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plains Crazy (Mad Dog & Englishman Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This book is a hoot! The minor characters are a scream, especially Deputy Win Some who mistakens plastique for cookie dough. A bit more editing and this author will steal the heart and soul of the fans of Janet Evanovich (Stepanie Plum series). Several scenes are laugh-out-loud (with a few more that were mightly close). For a good read, give as a gift , take on the airplane, or bring to the beach, run, do not walk, to buy Plains Crazy.

5.0 out of 5 stars Plains Crazy Is Great, June 17, 2009

By 

Elise Lewis (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Plains Crazy: A Mad Dog & Englishman Mystery (Mad Dog & Englishman Mysteries) (Paperback)

What do you get when you mix Mad Dog, bombs, reality tv, crooked land dealers, and Sheriff English? A thoroughly enjoyable and very funny addition to the Mad Dog and Englishman series.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun, Frantic Adventure!, February 21, 2007

By 

Liz at reviewedbyliz.com "Because life is too... (Cedar Springs, Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plains Crazy (Mad Dog & Englishman Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Plains Crazy is a fantastic book about a day when all hell breaks loose in a small town in Kansas. Sheriff English starts off the day with the death of a young man who has been shot in the back with an authentic Cheyenne arrow. But the sheriff is called away from that scene to an apparent bank robbery and then to various locations around town where pipe bombs have exploded or been found unexploded. Add in a mad motorcyclist, two girls named Heather, a lost love, a wolf, a fast car, a loose grenade, and a make-or-break deadline, and you have a tremendous story.

Plains Crazy is funny, well plotted, and well written. As I was reading this book, I was reminded of the great old movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. The characters in Plains Crazy aren't on a treasure hunt, but they are working at a frantic pace to figure out what is going on and find those responsible. Hayes has the reader follow different characters around town (many of whom have been pressed into service by the seriously understaffed Sheriff) to see the unusual and sometimes outlandish events from different perspectives - and they all have their own interpretations of what is going on in their little burg.

But this book isn't all a light-hearted adventure. Hayes expertly mixes in serious, and even tragic, elements that sneak up on the reader and wrench you in a new direction. But he doesn't belabor these moments. Instead, he expresses them in the most concise and meaningful way and then moves on.

My only criticism of this book is the impossibly neat bundle the ending was tied up into. I don't buy it, but it didn't diminish my love for the book by much.

Favorite character? Tough choice between Mrs. Kraus and Deputy Wynn. Did I guess it? This is more of an unraveling than a guessing book. I'll go with no. Will I read another? Absolutely! I may read this one again before it goes back to the library. [...]