The Skirt Man: Library Edition [Audio CD]

Shelly Reuben (Author), Anna Fields (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2006

Every small town has an eccentric or two, and Killdeer, New York, is no exception. Morgan Mason attracts more than a few stares when he drives through town on his ramshackle tractor wearing a skirt. His sister is mortified, his neighbor resents the Skirt Man's interference, and a local preservationist is horrified by Morgan's huge satellite dish.

These minor small-town annoyances become more serious--and deadly--when the Skirt Man is killed in a tragic house fire during a benefit ballet performance starring Meredith Bly. Meredith's father, State Trooper Sebastian Bly, and her uncle, Fire Marshal Billy Nightingale, are called in to investigate what some say is a case of spontaneous human combustion. Charred wood and chair remnants at the fire scene lead Sebastian and Billy to uncover clues that reveal hidden conflicts and a shocking discovery that will change the lives of everyone in Killdeer.

Bringing back the brave and imaginative family team from Tabula Rasa, author and fire investigator Shelly Reuben fans the flames of small-town passion and breathes life into an unusual local hero.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this sequel to Tabula Rasa (2005), the house fire that kills Morgan Mason, an eccentric old farmer (aka "the Skirt Man"), in Killdeer, N.Y., is so bizarre that some of his neighbors suspect spontaneous human combustion. State trooper Sebastian Bly and fire marshal Billy Nightingale uncover the more prosaic and heart-wrenching truth, assisted by Annie Bly, a rather ditzy reporter for the local newspaper. Given Edgar-nominee Reuben's two decades working in the male-dominated field of fire investigation, it's baffling to see her write a book almost devoid of independent female characters. Annie, the narrator, is defined by her titles—Sebastian's wife, Billy's sister, mother of teen ballet star Meredith—while avoiding any associated responsibility, from her opening disclaimer of "I don't as a rule write books" to her desperate evasion when her boss attempts to make her editor-in-chief. The details of the investigation are fascinating; Reuben writes what she knows, and it shows. Too bad she doesn't extend that to writing about capable, professional women. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Newspaperwoman Annie Bly lives in an idyllic upstate New York town where good-natured teens always converse brightly with their elders, and the village assessor is "a cross between Mom's apple pie and a Shakespeare sonnet." But evil outsiders soon invade this cozy world in the form of a tabloid TV producer and a sleazy entrepreneur, Domingo Nogales Ramirez, who transforms the Hobby Hills Horse Farm into a rundown "rock resort" that draws "every emaciated, drugged out, boozed up, leftover hippy, beatnik, and teenaged wannabe punk rocker within a radius of 500 miles." (Who knew beatniks could be so menacing, man!) After both men become suspects in the murder of a reclusive farmer (known as Skirt Man for his unconventional sartorial choices), Annie teams with her state-trooper husband and fire-marshal brother to crack the case. Reuben, a certified fire inspector, knows how to craft a realistic, flame-touched crime scene and deliver a competent mystery. And although the rest of the story might not be so convincing, she moves it along at a clean, brisk pace. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged edition (October 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786160381
• ISBN-13: 978-0786160389
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "I'll . . . try to pin the tail somewhere on this donkey", July 10, 2006

By 

Debbie Lee Wesselmann (the Lehigh Valley, PA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Skirt Man (Hardcover)

In the small town of Killdeer, New York, a town celebration is interrupted by the news that a local hermit, nicknamed the Skirt Man for the skirts he insists on wearing, has been found burned to death in his living room. While local television celebrity Creedmore Snowdon prefers to look at the death as a case of spontaneous combustion, state trooper Sebastian and his brother-in-law Billy, who is a New York fire marshal, regard it as a homicide. Told through the words of Sebastian's wife Annie, a local reporter and general busybody, their investigation and the details of the Killdeer inhabitants who knew the Skirt Man are exposed step by step until the truth emerges.

As a narrator, Annie projects the image of a passive, not-very-clever woman. Her interests are rooted in gossip that does not extend beyond her small sphere. In short, Annie is a boring, even annoying, narrator for readers who like their sleuths to have some spunk. She picks up pieces of information mostly through the interrogation techniques of her manicurist, Pam, and through the antics and observations of the slapstick duo of interracial stepbrothers Mo and Sonny Dillenbeck. The result is a frothy, thin mystery that carries the reader's interest mostly because it demands so little from the imagination. The final revelation of the killer is ill-prepared for, although the much fuller picture gained of the Skirt Man is partially worth the wait. If only Reuben had dug deeper into her issues, The Skirt Man could have been a satisfying cozy mystery. Reuben's ideas are interesting, even if she does not fully develop them.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Skirt Man-Shelly Reuben, June 9, 2009

By 

Fran Bishop "Fran Bishop" (Lysander, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Skirt Man (Hardcover)

I have found all of Shelly Reuben's books to be very entertaining, educational and intriquing. This book is well worth reading.

5.0 out of 5 stars Agatha Christie Redux?, June 12, 2006

By 

Robert Rusting (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Skirt Man (Hardcover)

A worthy successor to Tabula Rasa, Weeping, Spent Matches and her other works, The Skirt Man should expand Shelly Reuben's cult of arson murder mystery afficianados to the general reader. It brings back local newspaper reporter Annie Bly, a younger Miss Marple, her state trooper husband Sebastian, and arson investigator Billy Nightingale and the Upstate New York town of Killdeer and its inhabitants. Ms. Reuben, a private investigatior, not only knows her subject, she's a crackajack writer who brilliantly captures what it's like today to live in less than idyllic James Fenimore Cooper country. Both the good guys and the bad guys come alive and the novel keeps you on the edge of your seat until the surprise ( you'll never guess it) and satisfying ending. You not only find out who murdered the Skirt Man, a local farmer, but why he wore a skirt as he plowed his fields on his tractor.