Bill Crider (1941–2018)

The last book in the Professor Sally Good Mystery Series titled A Bond with Death opens with a familiar theme to readers of this series. Instead of a painting that may or may not have a satanic image (Murder Is An Art) Dr. Sally Good stands accused of being a witch. According to an e-mail that has been shared far and wide, Dr. Sally Good is following her ancestor, Sarah Good, down the road to witchcraft. Therefore she needs to be dealt with appropriately and that would include losing her show more job.

Sarah Good was hung for her alleged crimes on July 19, 1962. The only way Sarah and Sally Good would be related would be by marriage as Sarah Good was a distant relative of Sally’s late husband. The man passed away eight years ago so it is not possible to have him come forward and speak on the matter or provide love and support to Sally Good. The fact that Dr. Sally Good was never a blood relative of Sarah’s is one of those facts that some people choose to ignore because it kills their argument or claim.

Beyond the whole ancestor relation deal, there is the matter of the notion of witchcraft itself. The fact that anyone would believe such stupidity, even well educated men who should know better such as her boss, President Fieldstone, of Hughes Community College is annoying. Fieldstone is all about image and what people might think regarding the small college in deep Southeast Texas. This news coupled with recent events and an upcoming bond election for the school has him greatly concerned.

He ought to be more worried about the fact that someone else linked to the college has once again been murdered. Harold Curtin, decisively nicknamed by many, “The Garden Gnome” used to teach at HCC. He’d been there for years, was a lousy teacher, and finally the new department chair, Sally Good, recommended his dismissal. Of course, throwing a stapler at a student had something to do with his dismissal.

Gone for several years and off doing other things including being part of the anti-bond movement, Curtain has now gone and gotten himself dead. From what is coming out of the rumor mill it definitely sounds like a murder. Rumor has it that he choked to death on his own blood. Reminiscent of the curse that allegedly Sarah Good put on her enemies three hundred years ago that allegedly caused deaths then. Despite the fact that Sarah and Sally would only be related by marriage some have leaped to the conclusion that Dr. Sally Good is a modern day witch capable of murdering her enemies. If true, one would have to ask why it took so long for her to start as one can easily think of a few targets in earlier books.

Published in 2004 by Thomas Dunne Books (Minotaur Books), this tale by Bill Crider is another occasionally funny and always twisting ride into the dark waters of academia. Along with having to deal with students and bureaucracy, Dr. Sally Good is forced to look for answers to the identity of her e-mail accuser as well as the identity of the killer. Both threads gradually come together in a complex case that puts her in real life danger far beyond being forced to hear Seepy Benton sing.

Like the earlier ones in this series A Bond with Death: A Professor Sally Good Mystery understates the violence while occasionally inserting some laugh out loud moments. Those readers that enjoy the current trend of there must be a murder in the first three pages of the work and in the first paragraph if at all will be disappointed as the murder occurs a few pages later. In addition to plenty of clues and complexity, the family atmosphere where one quickly feels like old familiar friends with the characters is present here as it is in just about any book by Bill Crider. A solid and enjoyable tale the final book in the series is another good one.

This is a series that should be read in order starting with Murder Is An Art followed by A Knife In The Back.

A Bond with Death: A Professor Sally Good Mystery
Bill Crider
http://billcrider.blogspot.com/
Thomas Dunne Books (Minotaur Books)
http://www.minotaurbooks.com
2004
ISBN# 0-312-32296-8
Hardback (eBook version available)
218 Pages
$22.95

Material supplied by the good folks of the Plano Public Library System who do not care whether my review is objective or even if I review it. They just want me to bring it back undamaged and to always wear pants.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016 show less

Bill Crider writes my favorite blog, but despite having picked up a book or two of his used over the years, I have never actually read him until now. I guess I was afraid it might spoil my enjoyment of the blog if his actual books weren't so good. On the basis of this Kindle collection of two short stories, I don't have anything to worry about--and I have been missing a lot.

In the first story, Crider tells the story of an unwilling police informant's foray into a Texas meth lab. The show more characters and the situation ring with truth and Crider tells the story exceptionally well, right up to its exciting conclusion. It was great to flip the electronic page and see that the second story takes up where the first leaves off, and in its weaving together of three threads, it is even more intense and entertaining than the first. The best comparison might be the Texas stories of Joe Lansdale, except that Crider doesn't go way over the top as Lansdale tends to do.

Absolutely, unreservedly recommended. I have a feeling I'll be picking up a lot more Crider books from here on out. show less

Reading the Dan Rhodes books by Bill Crider is always like a visit with a few old friends: comfortable, warm and friendly, people you know and like, familiar setting. If you're from Texas, it's even more familiar. This volume of the series has a few interesting twists, including an ownerless cat, a metal detector club, and a new understanding of women's clubs in small town America. Dan Rhodes is just one small man trying to understand and make his peace with the universe, and I find I like show more him a lot, and smile at his predilection for Dr. Pepper and cholesteral. show less

If a sheriff's investigation into an elderly lady's death could be said to be a cozy mystery, this would be the one. A black cat shows up on Sheriff Rhodes' doorstep, striking fear into the heart of Yancey the Pomeranian and silencing his incessant yap. Rhodes' wife Ivy immediately recognizes it as the cat belonging to Helen Harris, former elementary school teacher, member of the Rusty Nuggets (a metal detecting club) and member of the OWLS, the Older Women's Literary Society (it should be show more clarified that Ivy only went as a guest, not being qualified by age). The sheriff discovers poor Helen lying dead on the floor, apparently victim of a faulty footstool, although something about the scene doesn't seem right. A missing will seems to hint at a possible motive for murder. Was it cousin Thorpe, general hell-raiser and trailer park denizen looking to make some fast cash?

I gave this series a try at Karl's suggestion, essentially pre-screening it for my mother, who believes she is always looking for another series (she reads much slower than I do). Strangely, though Bill Crider has a number of books in this series, my (northern) library system only has a few, leading me to pick this one on the strength of the owl association (we have a thing for owls here, along with birds in general). I wasn't feeling up to the demands of anything serious, and I must say this fit the bill nicely. Though Sheriff Rhodes isn't going to set any investigation aflame with speed, being the ambling sort of dude that he is, he is generally kind, funny, and not above tweaking the dispatcher's nose by being stingy with gossip or information. It's only fair--the dispatcher isn't above twitting Rhodes about a new book series or a dust-up at the local McDonalds (this clearly took place in the time period before the all-day breakfast menu).

To be honest, the dynamic between Sam the cat--who may or may not be moving in--Yancy the dog, and the sheriff kept me as entertained as the investigation. Would Yancey resume barking? Why did Speedo the dog live outside? Will Rhodes offer Sam to everyone he encounters? Is Rhodes' cat allergy real? Will Sam and Yancey ever make peace?

You can see there are a lot of important questions here, but I suspect I'm going to have to go back to an earlier book to get answers about Speedo.

And the mystery, you ask? It was fine. Solving it was more a matter of sudden inspiration than methodical detective work, but it was entertaining enough along the way. Totally appropriate for moms. show less