[e-mail] : An Arly Hanks Mystery (Arly Hanks Mysteries (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: "So many morons, so little time."
Review: Arly Hanks is back...and so are Ruby, Estelle, and the rest of the Maggody regulars. If you are looking for a fast-paced, murder mystery that has you shaking your head, rereading lines like the title of this review, and laughing out loud -- this is the book for you! Maggody is ready to enter the 21st Century by putting a computer lab in a trailer outside the school. Mrs. Jim Bob and Brother Verber are up in arms, the new computer nerd has a wife who is more than unhappy living in the sticks, a motorcyle rider named Lazrus roars into town, an unwed teenager shows up to live with relatives instead of "doing time"... and that is just the beginning! All your favorite Maggody-ites are back...even Raz Buchanon (who is missing a load of moonshine) and his loving hog Marjorie! Kevin and Dahlia are suffering from sleep deprivation due to their twins, and Mrs. Jim Bob thinks she may have seen a photo of her hubby online....in someone else's underwear! Check into Maggody for a great read!

Rating:
Summary: Small town "comic" murder
Review: Having read favorable reviews, I recently picked up Joan Hess' 2000 mystery .... In the recent, fairly substantial genre of "comic" mysteries, Hess places her story in the truly hillbilly Arkansas town of Maggody, and follows her heroine, Police Chief Arly Hanks, as she bumbles insightfully to a "brutal" murder's solution. I don't read many mysteries, but I suppose this book is fairly good as such novels go. Hess has a finely tuned ear for comedy, and presents her characters with both affection and irony. The murder plot itself kept me guessing - although I confess I am not one of these readers who tries to "predict" the outcome as I go - until the final pages. I have no disagreement with the favorable reviews, but am equally grateful I pulled this book off the $ 4 remainder table, rather than paid full price. A worthwhile entertainment.

Rating:
Summary: What happened?
Review: Hess' Maggody books have been, until this one, clever and funny. However, this one seems strained; the plot is not well-structured, and the action rambles. If it weren't for the antics of Brother Verber, I would have rated this as 2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Hmmm... Those characters sound familiar....
Review: I get a kick out of the Arly Hanks mysteries. I live in a small town and could just about put a local name on every character in the Maggody series -- although their characters wouldn't be as exaggerated as some of the Maggody folks . . . well . . . maybe they would.

This sidesplitting chapter in the madcap Maggody series begins with an unusually lively school board meeting. The touchy subject seems to be computers and the Town of Maggody going on-line. As the mayor puts it, Lottie wants to " . . . give our kids a chance to get their butts kicked into the new millennium." Some residences feel they are ready to join the world on-line and some fear the sins of Internet will overtake Maggody. The lab is approved because the funding is coming from a grant, but once the surfing begins, ripples appear in their fun when unwanted subjects make quick-see splashes into some of the Maggody citizen's emails and ripples turn to waves after a young new comer is murdered and the answer maybe setting in the new computer lab. While Arly is trying to track down a killer Eileen and Dahlia try to teach their men a lesson, Mrs. Joe Bob learns more about her own husband than she'd like, and Brother Verber worries about his flocks lust-filled souls and decides to posts his sermons on the Maggody home page.

As usual Ms. Hess was able to blend the mystery plot with the quirkiness of Maggody and make it believable. This author knows her characters and knows what works for them. Although Arly is the main character in a way, I liked the fact that she doesn't hog the limelight or become so witty and sharp to the point of irritation as some lead characters tend to do. I did not feel overwhelmed or distracted by the different characters in this whodunit and had no problem following the mystery. The Maggody series has one set of impressive characters. When I am reading a Maggody Madcap no matter how pitiful or ornery some of them behave I just can't seem to turn away or get angry. They are colorful and amusing with an ambulance-chasing way about them that holds the readers attention. In fact readers may want to find a quiet spot to read [e-mail] so as not to disturb anyone with his or her uncontrolled gasps, snickering and laughter.

If you haven't met Arly, Ruby Bee, Estelle, Joe Bob, Mrs. Joe Bob, Brother Verber, Earl and Eileen, Kevin and Dahlia, Daniel and Leona, etc., and the more recent residences of Maggody, now is a good time. [e-mail] is one site . . . excuse me, one millennium mystery you don't want to miss.

Rating:
Summary: Funny, but not one of the series' better outings
Review: I have always enjoyed Joan Hess's Maggody series, starring Chief of Police Arly Hanks, but this one left me feeling that Hess didn't quite put her usual level of effort into it.

As usual the story line concerns the denizens of the town of Maggody in Stump County, Arkansas and their reaction to some newfangled something or other, in this case, the addition of the Internet to the community. Hess has gone out of her way to add extra humor to her descriptions of the very backwards locals (featuring the inbred Buchanons). I laughed out loud at several points.

However, this time out, the mystery plot didn't seem to garner as much of her attention to detail. The story had some plot holes and the ending seemed forced and hastily thrown together. It was the kind of solution I hate the most -- the one where there is little or no evidence beforehand of who the killer is or what the motive may be. Arly seemed to find out all of the pertinent facts with the reader at the denoument. Instead of investigatin as thoroughly as she usually does, she spends the first 7/8th's of the book trying to dodge her mother or unlawfully pestering a new resident of the trailer park. The character seemed to be tired of life in Maggody and in spirit this time, and for the first time, I found myself annoyed with her.

However, the book was an amusing read and a lot went on with developing the story lines of the other residents of the town. For that reason alone it is worth an afternoon. Perhaps,in the future, Hess could give poor Arly something to look forward to other than one of Ruby Bee's sinfully delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. Arly's apathy was disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: The only mystery series with a pig
Review: I was about to agree with what some other reviewers said about corny jokes and stereotyped cartoonish characters and farcical plots, but I find I own nine of these so something has me hooked. Compared to other Maggody books this has more emphasis on what a depressing life Arly leads and what a miserable place Magoddy is. Clues are not planted early on, but the solution is logical because the murderer is acting in character. I was reminded of the way PD James gets to her solutions. This is less pretentious than PD James but in some ways the art is as deep. Hess conceals her cleverness. No cat and no dog but an excellent pig.

Rating:
Summary: Part of the Maggody series. But start with the first one.
Review: [e-mail] is my first Arly Hanks book, but it looks like this one's about the 11th in the series that must have begun with MISERY LOVES MAGGODY. This appears to be a really popular series, and comes highly recommended by friends, but do NOT start with this one. Oh, sure, it has great local characters and a lot of humor, but I kept thinking I was missing out on something. The jokes seemed to be "in" jokes. I couldn't get the full understanding, as they say. I'm betting that if I went back and read the first one and then read this over I'd get more out of it. This book has a truly colorful story and takes quite a few twists and turns, but I won't read another one in this series unless it's the first one.

Rating:
Summary: Amusingmystery.com
Review: The Information Superhighway has finally plowed through Maggody, Arkansas, and depending on various views this is either a proud moment in the town's history or the first sign of the Apocalypse. When the local high school is granted the funds to install a computer lab complete with Internet access, citizens of Maggody are suddenly "wired," trading pie recipes with each other and working to construct a Web site which hopefully will help put Maggody on the map. Chief of police Arly Hanks dismisses the concept as just another distraction and remains a bystander in all the fervor. It's difficult to blame her, too, for the advent of the Internet has not stopped trouble in this sleepy little town.

Elderly residents of the Pot O'Gold Trailer Park are arming themselves, fitfully frightened of a new long-haired biker tenant, and wayward single mother Gwynnie Packwood struggle to eke out an existence despite help from Arly's mother Ruby and Gwynnie's disappoving aunt and uncle. When Gwynnie is found dead, Arly doesn't need a computer to tell her somebody in Maggody is guilty.

Now, I usually don't read series novels out of order, but being so active on the Internet I had to pick up this title before reading the remaining Maggody novels. I'm glad I did, too, because [e-mail] has its moments of hilarity and silliness. Arly is cantankerous, her mother and friend Estelle delightfully precocious, and the Buchannons are aplenty. Maybe by the next novel everybody will have mastered Javascript. I could use a few pointers myself.

Rating:
Summary: Joan Hess, where are you?
Review: The previous Arly-Hanks-in-Maggody mysteries have all rated four or five stars in my opinion. I have read most of them two or three times. Unfortunately, the 12th book in the series does not compare favorably with the earlier books. Arly is still chief of police in Maggody. Ruby Bee and Estelle are still doing their best to be helpful. Raz is still in love with his pig. The regular Maggody cast of characters is in the book, but Joan Hess' magical spark seems to be missing. (Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers had some efforts that don't rate four stars, so it can happen to anyone.) Read this one if you want to keep up with developments in Maggody, but if you have not read any of the Maggody mysteries, don't start with this one; it is not representative of the author's great talent.

Rating:
Summary: Joan Hess, where are you?
Review: The previous Arly-Hanks-in-Maggody mysteries have all rated four or five stars in my opinion. I have read most of them two or three times. Unfortunately, the 12th book in the series does not compare favorably with the earlier books. Arly is still chief of police in Maggody. Ruby Bee and Estelle are still doing their best to be helpful. Raz is still in love with his pig. The regular Maggody cast of characters is in the book, but Joan Hess' magical spark seems to be missing. (Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers had some efforts that don't rate four stars, so it can happen to anyone.) Read this one if you want to keep up with developments in Maggody, but if you have not read any of the Maggody mysteries, don't start with this one; it is not representative of the author's great talent.