"A whimsical cozy"
Maggody, Arkansas Chief of Police Arly Hanks feels that her
current task is probably the worst assignment of her
career. She, accompanied by the mayor's self-important
wife Mrs. Jim Bob, despicable Preacher Brother Verber, and
shop teacher Larry Joe Lambertino, is chaperoning teens at
the Camp Pearly Gates. The teens are a tough enough crowd,
but her companions make for a long weekend. All that becomes moot when one of the kids finds a corpse
of a woman. The victim turns out to be a member of the
Moonbeam sect, a bunch of space cadets who refuse to
cooperate with Arly on the investigation. To make matters
even more pressing, a local person is missing and though
probably safe could be a second victim. Then there is the
usual demands of her position involving pigs, family
members, and a suspect who seems to spend more time out of
jail than in a cell. The latest tale in the long running Maggody series, MAGGODY
AND THE MOONBEAMS, retains its freshness, something not
usually seen by book fourteen. The story line is light,
but quite amusing as readers watch beleaguered but
competent Arly deal with a crowd of misfits. In some ways
this tale satirizes its own series and other regional who-
done-its, but does so in a kind reverent manner as Joan
Hess provide her audience with a fun to read tale in which
the laughs keep on coming. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 27, 2001
|
