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When a woman is shot in a cannabis patch, Arly Hanks must restore order to her Ozarks community, in this sharp-witted mystery by an Agatha Award–winning author.When small-town police chief Arly Hanks returns to Maggody, Arkansas, after vacation, she finds the population has risen to a booming 802. Among the newbies: Madame Celeste, the psychic who's holding locals in thrall with her predictions of doom; a handsome new high school guidance counselor; and a gaggle of mantra-chanting hippies show more who have turned the old general store into the source for cosmic harmony. Unfortunately, life in Maggody is anything but harmonious.
Robin Buchanon—a member of Maggody's most abundant family—has been murdered. The moonshiner, prostitute, and mother of four foul-mouthed little bad seeds was found shot to death in a booby-trapped marijuana field. Assuming the weed harvesters are sending a message to trespassers, Arly decides to hold vigil and set her own trap. But when another, seemingly unrelated, murder catches Arly off-guard, even Madame Celeste can't predict where this case is headed.
An Agatha Award finalist, Mischief in Maggody is just the kind of "bawdy, cheerful entertainment" that has brought countless fans to Joan Hess's quirky, long-running Maggody series (Kirkus Reviews).
Mischief in Maggody is the 2nd book in the Arly Hanks Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
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Raw. Very raw. The good ol' boys of Maggody drink, fight, cuss, chew, impregnate their sisters, and hypocritically attend church while doing all of this. Come up with a stereotype of southern white rednecks and it'll be in this book, and probably attached to one of the main characters. I had a hard time buying into the murder victim, though. A moonshiner-slash-prostitute? How do those fit together? Perhaps she was the star of the opera Susanna in her youth?
On top of that, the stereotypical hippies enter the picture with their stereotypical Vietnam veteran buddy. All that said, the book moves along at an interesting pace, and Arly is an interesting character that I wouldn't mind reading more about. She's not stereotypical white trash, show more although I'm not sure how she managed to escape it. The Buchanon bush colts are pretty neat characters too. A dollop of mysticism threw me off as I tried to solve the puzzle, which was annoying, but not a bad way to spend an afternoon. I'll pick up more Maggody books if I find them cheap enough. show less
On top of that, the stereotypical hippies enter the picture with their stereotypical Vietnam veteran buddy. All that said, the book moves along at an interesting pace, and Arly is an interesting character that I wouldn't mind reading more about. She's not stereotypical white trash, show more although I'm not sure how she managed to escape it. The Buchanon bush colts are pretty neat characters too. A dollop of mysticism threw me off as I tried to solve the puzzle, which was annoying, but not a bad way to spend an afternoon. I'll pick up more Maggody books if I find them cheap enough. show less
It's all because of a Ginseng patch (or I guess more specifically what replaces that patch). It's what causes the biggest parts of the problems with the plot and I had weirdly forgotten that part or the plot since the first time I read this book. (I also think that I liked it better this time weirdly enough).
Robin, the curator of said patch is killed. That leaves her five children as orphans, and they coming to town plunges that into chaos. A fortune teller named Madam Celeste (and her brother) as well as some new hippies add to the twisty turney craziness of this book too. Oh, and of course Arly has to solve who killed Robin.
There's also a new counselor at the high school. He is set up with Arly by her mother Ruby Bee and Ruby Bee and show more Estelle get into some trouble of their own as well.
It's an all around cool book and a really captivating mystery too.
I got this book through Netgalley on behalf of Open Road Integrated Media. show less
Robin, the curator of said patch is killed. That leaves her five children as orphans, and they coming to town plunges that into chaos. A fortune teller named Madam Celeste (and her brother) as well as some new hippies add to the twisty turney craziness of this book too. Oh, and of course Arly has to solve who killed Robin.
There's also a new counselor at the high school. He is set up with Arly by her mother Ruby Bee and Ruby Bee and show more Estelle get into some trouble of their own as well.
It's an all around cool book and a really captivating mystery too.
I got this book through Netgalley on behalf of Open Road Integrated Media. show less
very light reading
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54+ Works 9,446 Members
Joan Hess was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas in 1949. She received a bachelor's degree in art from the University of Arkansas in 1971 and a master's degree in education from Long Island University in 1974. For several years, she taught art in a private preschool. Her first book, Strangled Prose, was published in 1986. She was the author of the show more Claire Malloy Mystery series and the Arly Hanks Mystery series. A Diet to Die For won the American Mystery Award for best traditional novel of 1989. A short story, Too Much to Bare, received the Agatha Award in 1990 and the McCavity Award in 1991. She also wrote the Theo Bloomer series under the pseudonym Joan Hadley. She finished the final Amelia Peabody novel, The Painted Queen, using the notes of Elizabeth Peters and their conversations to finish the book. It was published in 2017. She died on November 23, 2017 at the age of 68. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Mischief in Maggody
- Original title
- Mischief in Maggody
- Original publication date
- 1988
- People/Characters
- Arly Hanks
- Important places
- Maggody, Arkansas, USA (ficitious town); USA; Arkansas, USA; Ozark Mountains, Arkansas, USA
- Dedication
- For my editor, Michael Denneny, who returns my calls,
and my agent, Cherry Weiner, who had more faith than I did. - First words
- Carol Alice Plummer clutched her teddy bear to her post-pubescent chest.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Everybody knows that nothing, and I repeat, nothing ever happens in Maggody."
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Statistics
- Members
- 255
- Popularity
- 126,603
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.45)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 4
