In her second Arly Hanks mystery, Joan Hess introduces us to the seamier underbelly of Maggody, Arkansas, population 755. After mountain woman/part-time hooker/bootlegger, Robin Buchanon disappears, her four older kids are taken in by the Mayor’s wife (known as “Mizzoner”) and her baby is taken in by Arly’s mother, Ruby Bee. Of course, since none of the children know how to read, or keep clean, or how to live in any dwelling built after 1900 in a place not in the middle of an unpopulated mountain, (Dogpatch from the L’il Abner comics is modern compared to their cabin), their antics cause Mizzoner to have a nervous breakdown while the men of Maggody worry that they may be exposed as one of kids’ “pappys.”
After Hanks finds Robin’s body alongside a booby-trapped marijuana patch, she sets out to find the murderers. Meanwhile, her not-all-there police department janitor, declares himself a “deputy,” steals the sheriff’s jeep and disappears into the mountains with his not-all-there girlfriend, claiming he will solve the mystery. Not to be outdone in the outrageous acts department, Ruby Bee manages to lose the baby; the new-in-town psychic, Madame Celeste, manages to create hysteria with her predictions; and a bunch of hippies, also new-in-town, generate their own brand of chaos by meditating in the nude.
Entering the world of Arly Hanks is always a treat, and it’s comforting to know there are at least fourteen more novels in the series. Thank you Joan Hess!
(In return for an honest review, I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.)
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