The Old Buzzard Had It Coming

The death of a cruel and drunken ne'er-do-well opens Donis Casey's The Old Buzzard Had It Coming. No one's sorry when Harley Day is found dead in a snow drift -- not his neighbors, not the sheriff, not the town folk of Boynton, Oklahoma, and especially not the wife he beat and the 19-year-old son he bullied and who had to bear the brunt of the farm work his inebriate father neglected. However, when neighbor Alafair Tucker discovers a tiny bullet hole adjacent to Day's ear, the case becomes a murder investigation.

Day's son, John Lee Day, goes missing soon after the grisly discovery, drawing suspicion on himself. Alafair likes the boy and can't bring herself to believe him a murderer -- even of a blackguard like Harley Day. But she show more redoubles her effort to prove John Lee innocent when she discovers that her daughter, 17-year-old Phoebe Tucker, and John Lee have long been in love and that her daughter knows more about Harley Day's death than she's telling.

Donis, a Tulsa native, has written that she came up with the idea of a mystery set in 1912 Oklahoma while investigating her own pioneer ancestors. Donis has clearly done her homework into Oklahoma, lacing the tale with details of farm life in an Oklahoma only recently minted as a state: the dire cold, the loneliness, the backbreaking and unrelenting work. She also evokes the first stirrings of the industrialization that would convert a country that was 90 percent rural into an industrialized powerhouse of a modern nation when eldest daughter Martha takes up the new field of secretarial work -- much to her grandparents' horror! The historical detail, beautifully rendered, brings rough-and-tumble Oklahoma, which had only gained statehood in 1906, to life.

However, Donis falters in The Old Buzzard Had It Coming when it comes to spinning a compelling mystery. From the first, the reader knows Alafair, unsophisticated and barely educated by our standards, will succeed where Sheriff Scott Tucker (a cousin by marriage) does not and will unmask the real killer and allow the two lovebirds to proceed into their lives together. That's what you expect from a cozy, whether written by Agatha Christie and set in 1930s St. Mary Meade or by anyone else and set at any time. No crime -- pardon the pun -- in that. However, Donis' debut novel in the Alafair Tucker series doesn't provide any suspense about anything else, either. Alafair simply ambles into and out of Boynton in a rather ham-fisted investigation. Yes, you're mildly curious about who plugged the old buzzard who most assuredly did have it coming to him, but you won't be staying up late into the night, eager to find out. The Old Buzzard Had It Coming isn't a bad book; at $2.99, I certainly felt I'd gotten my money's worth from the Kindle Edition. However, I'm not sure it's good enough to bother with the sequel, Hornswoggled -- even though the Kindle Edition is priced at just $4.99 -- unless I run out of favorite authors to tide me over. show less

Very good book. Set in about 1908 it depicts a slice of life in Oklahoma that is long gone yet is fascinating to take a peek at - through the eyes of the people living there. The mystery surrounds two farm families, one fairly well-to-do, the other dirt poor with a vicious drunkard for a family head. When "the old buzzard" from the title ends up dead the two families find out how entwined they are with each other. Part of the mystery is how he died, did he freeze to death after falling asleep in the snow? Or was the 22 shot to his head the guilty instrument? Today the forensics could tell if it was the bullet or the cold that killed him, but in the early 1900's the best they could tell is that if he wasn't already dead from the cold, he show more was almost dead from the bullet. The lives of two families are affected and it is a fascinating journey to find the shooter. I'll be looking for the next in this series to see how things develop. show less

I tried this book simply because I loved the title. This is the first book in the Alafair Tucker mystery series. And what a protagonist Alafair is. She's a 35 year old mother of nine children! The setting is 1912 Boynton, Oklahoma. Alafair and her husband Shaw are farmers in the thriving town of Boynton when we meet her. She rules her large household with a firm, but fair hand. Everyone in the Tucker family pitches in to help in the never-ending job of raising such a large family. When a drunken obnoxious neighbour is found frozen to death in the snow, Alaifair finds herself drawn into to trying to figure out what happened to the old buzzard. His name was Harley Day and he was a vicious, mean man who no one will mourn, least of all is show more long-suffering family. Alaifair discovers that her 17 year old daughter Phoebe is sweet on young John Lee Day. The setting and the plot delineations are spot-on with the time frame and with the place of rural Oklahoma. I found the mystery fun, different and I absolutely lovely feisty Alafair. We even get early 20th century recipes at the end. This book was a whole load of fun. show less

Set in the 1910s in Oklahoma, this is as much a chronicle of the work of settled homesteaders as a mystery story. Alafair Tucker, a pioneer mother with nine living children, an adoring husband, and a reasonably prosperous farm, just can't sit back when a puzzle presents itself, especially if it involves one of her offspring. I was as entranced by the portrayal of farm life as I was by the mystery - maybe more so, since I suspected part of the answer early on.

This is the first in a series of 9 books, and I'll surely look for the next one.

Note that having grown up in the suburbs and lived in a city, I have no idea how closely this book portrays farm life in 1910, but it feels real, right down to the endless cooking the women do. I don't show more think the language is too contrived, either, but I'm not from Oklahoma. show less

Alafair Tucker was a 1912 Oklahoma farm wife and mother to 9 kids. Her daughter Phoebe has fallen in love with a young man who is a next door neighbor. the problem is that the young man's father is a vicious evil drunk, who beats his wife and children. One day the old buzzard is found dead next to his barn under a drift of snow, and Phoebe's boyfriend has disappeared. Alafair wants her daughter to be happy and she wants to figure out who was responsible for the horrid old drunk's death. There seemed to be no lack of suspects. I really enjoyed this mystery. Although, I don't know how Alafair found the time to look into this death, as life on a 1912 Oklahoma farm didn't allow for much free time for a hardworking farmwife and mother.

I loved this story and enjoyed the homespun details of 1912 Oklahoma smalltown life. Alafair Tucker is a little too good to be true, but the mystery was a good one. I read one of the latter books in the series a few years ago and was glad to start over with this one. I don't read a lot of cozy mysteries but this time period interests me. Lots of characters but Casey made it easy to keep track of them. The audiobook was narrated by Pam Ward, who did a super job with the accents.

Not quite a 4 star listen as it dragged on a bit, but close enough. I had some issues with timing a couple of times, but that was fairly minor compared to the setting. The time is 1912, the heroine a mother of most of a dozen, Alafair, & the mystery is figuring out who killed a man that everyone thought better off dead, anyway. With so many willing & able, the mystery winds around opportunity & who had the means.

The characters were well done, but what really grabbed me was the setting & how well it was handled. A common complaint of mine is that authors don't understand farm life, but Casey is an exception. In this time before the automobile was common, she handles transportation quite well. She also gives a pretty good feel for the show more amount of labor that was involved in keeping a home. It reminded me very much of Aunt Affie's, an old family friend who was of my grandparents' age who had a farm in the boonies. My mother used to drive a team of horses while helping Uncle Kendall. (There's a picture of her driving them while standing on their rumps around somewhere.)

Best of all, the end of the book has a bunch of recipes, all of which were quite authentic sounding to me. Since I listened to them, I can't swear to it, but the cobbler & cornbread recipes sure sounded just like those I make based on recipes from Mom & my grandmothers. I only keep bacon grease in my drippings jar & keep it refrigerated as Mom taught me. (The dogs get the rest on their kibble.)

Since everything seemed so real, I wondered how much of this was based on reality. Apparently it's a common question & Casey has answered it to some extent on her website here:
http://www.doniscasey.com/?page_id=530

When I started this book, I thought I'd really want to read the next & soon. Unfortunately, it dragged on a bit too long, so I'm no longer in a rush, but think I will get back to the series at some point. I'd certainly recommend reading at least this one. There's no sex, cussing, & only a little bit of violence, so it should be suitable for anyone. show less