Do Unto Others

This book was really fun!  It is told in the first person, in a chatty, cheerfully sarcastic manner that made me laugh.  The author does a really clever job of disguising the villain with misdirection right until the reveal at the end.  

Jeff Abbott catches the atmosphere of small-town Texas to perfection in this, his first novel. His hero is Jordy Poteet, just returned from Boston to care for his mother who has Alzheimer's. In contrast to his job as editor in Boston, Jordy becomes the head librarian in his old hometown. His nemesis is Beta Harcher, a religious zealot who is singlehandedly attempting to censor many of the best books in the library. Jordy and Beta have a loud disagreement, and the next day Beta is found murdered. Jordy's old schoolmate Junebug, now the town sheriff, fingers Jordy as the chief suspect. Jordy sets out on his own investigation as an act of self-defense. He discovers a list of townspeople which Beta compiled and beside each name is a show more scripture reference. Jordy talks to each person on the list and looks up the Bible verses, in an attempt to solve the murder.

A lot of action is packed into these 248 pages. The cast of characters are a diverse lot. You will love some, hate some, and just feel sorry for the clueless ones. show less

After a few years of city life in Boston working for a book publisher,
Jordan Poteet returns to his small hometown of Mirabeau in eastern Texas, to
help his sister take care of their mother who has Alzheiner's Disease. He
takes a job running the Mirabeau Library and settles back into the small
town niche. But the peace is shattered by a religious fanatic spinster
named Beta Harcher, who has decided that some of the books in the library
should be banned. In the middle of their battle over censorship, Jordy
finds her murdered body in the back room of the library with his baseball
bat lying next to her. Working with his old classmate, now chief of police
Hewett Moncrief, Junior (Junebug for short) they discover a mysterious list
of names show more in Beta's pocket, and beside each name is a bible verse.
Apparently, she's been causing trouble for countless other folks, and her
blackmailing days have come to a screeching halt.

This was a light read, a little heavy on the southern dialect, and I have to
admit I could have done without some of the cutsey nicknames for grown men,
but the story was pleasant enough. I didn't figure out
whodunit till just before the reveal on this one. We'll see how the next
one turns out. I'll give this a 3.5 and hope for better in the next book. show less

I have read most of this author's stand-alone books and one other of his series. This is the first of his Jordan Poteet mysteries and the first book he wrote. It was a fun mystery about a Texan librarian but you can tell it was a first novel.

Back Cover Blurb:
After a few good years of city life, Jordan Poteet returns to his small hometown of Mirabeau, Texas, to work as a librarian.. Yet his quiet domesticity is shattered when he locks horns with Miss Beta Harcher, the town's prize religious fanatic, in a knock-down drag-out battle over censorship.
When Jordan finds her murdered body in the library, he learns that Beta dead is much more dangerous than she ever was alive. Not only for poor Jordy, whom the police are itching to throw the show more book at, but for countless others. In fact, thanks to a cryptic list the police find stashed next to her fanatical heart, Beta Harcher has the whole town in a death grip.... show less