First book in the Maggody, Arkansas series. Arly Hanks, chief of police (and only officer on the force) of tiny Maggody must find out what happened to a missing state official while investigating the untimely death of a local barmaid. If you like cozy mysteries with lots of local color, you have to try these out!
First in the Arley Hanks series in Maggody! Fun, whimsical, good series; Here, pretty barmaid trying to turn hairdresser ends up murdered....
Pretty funny book.
Patsy A. S. (duetproductions) reviewed Malice in Maggody (Arly Hanks, Bk 1) on + 47 more book reviews
The Maggody series is a hoot! Crazy, wacky mysteries.
The FIRST in the Maggody series. Funny, light enjoyable series. i will be looking for more in this series.
A fun light read!
Great book - I love Joan Hess' sense of humor.
The Maggody series is a hoot! The author is from Arkansas and does some tongue-in-cheeck satire of small Southern towns along with the mystery. Most of the series is out of print now.
Fun, Not predictable...Mountain Folk with murder all mixed up.
This is the first in the Maggody series. Arly Hanks has returned home and taken the job of sheriff in her small hometown of Maggody, Arkansas. This book has amazing rural small-town humor, where finding your clues is often more about overhearing the right gossip rather than forensic evidence. Hilarity ensues when a government representative goes missing before a scheduled meeting over the local river and the concerns over pollution, and amongst the chaos a young woman ends up dead. Arly has her first murder to investigate, and a whole town up in arms. A fun read!
Small town, southern charmer. The Maggody series is a pleasant, easy, fun read. Joan Hess uses her sense of humor to bring this small town of life.
I love the Maggody series of books, and this one did not let me down. You just can't help but love the hapless Kevin and Dahlia, and the rest of those who live in Maggody. This could be catagorized as a cozy mystery.
This book centers around police chief Arly Hanks and her search for a missing EPA official. The story has debauchery, kidnapping, and murder, all wrapped up in a backwoods bow. I'm not exactly sure how "folks" out in the Ozarks of Arkansas actually act, but this story certainly doesn't paint them in pleasant colors. The only two characters that I found myself liking were Arly (the police chief of Maggody), and the state trooper she "worked with" to solve the crimes. The rest of the characters seemed to be over-the-top "Hicksville" (and some were just downright scary and more than a bit offensive). The front of the book states that the author lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas... hmm. It started out slow, and stayed slow up until the last 50 pages or so. It was kind of like watching a train wreck about to happen- you know you should turn away, but you just can't. Eventually Arly puzzles through all the craziness and stumbles (literally) upon both the killer and the kidnapped EPA guy. The very ending eludes to more character development in upcoming books, but I'm not sure whether or not I want to go there...This is a very long-running series (15 books?) and is described as "screamingly funny", so maybe they get better.
This book is screamingly funny - except for the murder. It's about a young woman who is Police Chief of a very small town. The characters are all so entertaining. Don't miss this book if you like funny mysteries! Warning: don't read it if you are offended by four-letter words. Some of the occupants of Maggody have foul mouths.
Definitely funny, cute, and a great tongue-in-cheek presentation of Arkansas "characters!" I did find some of the story line jumpy and confusing ... sometimes it seeemd there were too many characters and I couldn't keep track of everyone. I'm not sure I'll read anymore in this series, since there are lots of good cozy mystery series, out there, which I prefer, and haven't gotten through!
