Rating: 
Summary: Pleasant Diversion
Review: Generally I read pretty heavy murder mysteries (James Patterson, John Sandford, etc.). But now and then I like to take a
break from novels that are of course fiction, but are close enough to reality to make you uneasy. The Maggody books are
murder mysteries but they are also little gems of cartoon like comedy set in a one stop light town on a not so busy highway. If you're looking for an easy read and a pleasant diversion you should spend a little time in Maggody.
Rating:
Summary: Great Little Book
Review: I found this book in a box of old paperbacks that my grandfather had in his basement. The only reason I read it was because I liked the cover (never judge a book by its cover) and it was not as thick as most paperbacks and fit easily into my purse. This event turned into an absolute love for Joan Hess and Maggody. I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud while reading this book. Cute plot twists and the characters are classic.
Rating:
Summary: Great Little Book
Review: I found this book in a box of old paperbacks that my grandfather had in his basement. The only reason I read it was because I liked the cover (never judge a book by its cover) and it was not as thick as most paperbacks and fit easily into my purse. This event turned into an absolute love for Joan Hess and Maggody. I can't tell you how many times I laughed out loud while reading this book. Cute plot twists and the characters are classic.
Rating: 
Summary: Okay, I had mixed feelings....
Review: I live in the Ozarks myself (albeit a ways north of the border from Ms. Hess), so I can vouch for the fact that yes, people like the inhabitants of Maggody, Arkansas, do really exist. But it was a bit painful to see so many of them concentrated in one spot. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I hope Hess wasn't going for total realism in this book. (But if I have to wonder, I suppose it's a moot point.)So, some of it was just a tad too far over the top to be comfortable. But the puzzle was done well, and I did enjoy it a great deal, in spite of myself.
Rating:
Summary: How did I miss this????
Review: I must say, I really got more than a few chuckles reading this, the first installment in the Arly Hanks Ozark mystery series. After the failure of her marriage in New York, Arly moves back to Maggody, Arkansas her hometown she was always trying to escape and takes a job as the local sheriff. She gets very little, much-needed relaxation when a local EPA person who was about to release a report okaying the dumping of sewage in the town's favorite fishing hole, suddenly disappears. Believe me, it just gets crazier from there on. The town is populated with a ton of wacky locals who add charm and humor to the intriguing mystery. The ending is completely madcap and wonderfully entertaining. Not a book to read in public if you're embarrassed about laughing out loud! Somewhere between the realm of cozy and soft-boiled, this is the first in a series you shouldn't miss. Kudos to Joan Hess!
Rating:
Summary: Wacky and raunchy!
Review: I must say, I really got more than a few chuckles reading this, the first installment in the Arly Hanks Ozark mystery series. After the failure of her marriage in New York, Arly moves back to Maggody, Arkansas her hometown she was always trying to escape and takes a job as the local sheriff. She gets very little, much-needed relaxation when a local EPA person who was about to release a report okaying the dumping of sewage in the town's favorite fishing hole, suddenly disappears. Believe me, it just gets crazier from there on. The town is populated with a ton of wacky locals who add charm and humor to the intriguing mystery. The ending is completely madcap and wonderfully entertaining. Not a book to read in public if you're embarrassed about laughing out loud! Somewhere between the realm of cozy and soft-boiled, this is the first in a series you shouldn't miss. Kudos to Joan Hess!
Rating:
Summary: These characters are REAL
Review: I swear the characters in all of the Maggody books are REAL--Joan Hess has done an absolutely AMAZING job of populating Maggody with delightfully human and real people with a flawless eye towards their foibles, their inadequacies, and their sensitivities. Those readers from anywhere else may scoff, but I grew up in a small town near the Ozarks, and I KNOW the characters in these books are real. They are the people I grew up with and the relatives that show up at my family reunions. I could easily let myself get homesick if I weren't so busy laughing at their antics.
Rating: 
Summary: Solving a mystery Green Acres Style.
Review: Maybe I'm missing something here. This is my first book in this popular mystery series and I just don't get it. All the characters represent some type of Southern stereotype, the detective work is haphazard at best, and the ending is reminiscent of something out of the Dukes of Hazzard, where everything just happens to fall into place. Wow! This was the third book book in the series, if they are all like this I am amazed it has continued.
Rating:
Summary: Murder and Mayhem in the Ozarks.....
Review: Meet Chief of Police, Arly Hanks. She's back home in Maggody, Arkansas, population 755, recovering from a nasty divorce. She wanted some quiet time to decompress and gather her wits about her, and that's just what she got. Life in Maggody is slow, really slow. There's no crime to speak of, and about the only action she ever sees is a car wreck out on the highway, once every month or so. Her biggest chief of police decisions usually involve where to set up the speed trap, in the school zone, or at the signal light. So it comes as a big surprise when two real crime cases fall her way on the same day. First a former Maggody resident, now housed at the state correctional institution escapes and looks to be heading home. Then an EPA contract specialist sent to sign the paperwork for an unwanted sewage treatment plant that the residents of Maggody are sure is going to pollute their swimming and fishing holes, goes missing. Add to that the murder of a local, and it looks like Arly is going to have to buckle down and get busy, fast. With the whole town tight lipped and stonewalling her investigation, it's going to take all her cunning and training to sort out all this mayhem and madness, and get to the truth..... Sit down and get comfortable, Joan Hess is about to take you on a roller coaster of a ride through the Ozarks. This is a light, comical mystery, easily read in one sitting, that will have you smiling, chortling, and laughing out loud. Her entertaining story line is well paced and clever, and her writing is crisp, witty and full of irreverent dialogue and back-woods southern humor. But it's Ms Hess' well drawn, engaging and original characters that really make this novel stand out, and once you've gotten to know Maggody's finest and not so finest, you'll be hooked for sure. Malice In Maggody is the first of a marvelous and delightful series. Do yourself a big favor, start here at the beginning, and read them all.
Rating:
Summary: Murder and Mayhem in the Ozarks.....
Review: Meet Chief of Police, Arly Hanks. She's back home in Maggody, Arkansas, population 755, recovering from a nasty divorce. She wanted some quiet time to decompress and gather her wits about her, and that's just what she got. Life in Maggody is slow, really slow. There's no crime to speak of, and about the only action she ever sees is a car wreck out on the highway, once every month or so. Her biggest chief of police decisions usually involve where to set up the speed trap, in the school zone, or at the signal light. So it comes as a big surprise when two real crime cases fall her way on the same day. First a former Maggody resident, now housed at the state correctional institution escapes and looks to be heading home. Then an EPA contract specialist sent to sign the paperwork for an unwanted sewage treatment plant that the residents of Maggody are sure is going to pollute their swimming and fishing holes, goes missing. Add to that the murder of a local, and it looks like Arly is going to have to buckle down and get busy, fast. With the whole town tight lipped and stonewalling her investigation, it's going to take all her cunning and training to sort out all this mayhem and madness, and get to the truth..... Sit down and get comfortable, Joan Hess is about to take you on a roller coaster of a ride through the Ozarks. This is a light, comical mystery, easily read in one sitting, that will have you smiling, chortling, and laughing out loud. Her entertaining story line is well paced and clever, and her writing is crisp, witty and full of irreverent dialogue and back-woods southern humor. But it's Ms Hess' well drawn, engaging and original characters that really make this novel stand out, and once you've gotten to know Maggody's finest and not so finest, you'll be hooked for sure. Malice In Maggody is the first of a marvelous and delightful series. Do yourself a big favor, start here at the beginning, and read them all.
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