country singer returns to Maggody

Fasten your seat belt! The holidays are known for being a bumpy ride, but with Arly and Ruby Bee on the prowl, this Christmas is bound to be filled with bumps, laughs and a body or two before the season is over! Arly Hanks, Maggody Chief of Police, is once again called in to work, this time to find the lost relative of singing superstar, Matt Montana. When Matt and his entourage decide to come home for the holidays, Maggody (pop. 755), swells to the breaking point and the crazy locals are hot after the almighty dollar. Another side splitting adventure in the Maggody series, Joan Hess does it again. Bringing the lovably annoying denizens to life once again, we are treated to a rollicking ride through the holidays to search for missing Aunt Adele, figure out why, why, why Dahlia has confessed to murder, and nearly get a leg chewed off by Raz Buchanan's prize pig, Marjorie. Will Brother Verber get it together and find the perfect orphan for the benefit concert? Grab a burger at Ruby Bee's and crack open Joan Hess' O Little Town of Maggody to find out! ( )

http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/2008/12/murder-for-christmas-part-two.html ( )

ISBN 0451404572 – You know those people who tell sort of bad jokes and find themselves wildly amusing, while all you can do is roll your eyes? That’s this Joan Hess book for me. And surely someone out there finds her amusing, because someone’s buying the books – but I’m just rolling my eyes.

Arly’s always got her hands full in Maggody, but this Christmas things are getting a little more hectic. The town is slowly dying, but there’s hope on the horizon in the person of Matt Montana, Maggody’s own prodigal son. He’s serving his own career and the people of Maggody would benefit from a bit of tourism… so Matt’s on his way to town. The problem is that Matt’s Aunt Adele has gone missing. Arly is also trying to riddle out the moving city limits sign, deal with Dahlia’s jealousy and suspicions about what Kevin’s up to, the return of Hammett and a myriad of other goings-on in Maggody.

Arly Hanks reminds me of ISBN 0425182908 Isle of Dogs, but not quite as awful. In fact, not awful at all, just… dumb. The same “this is funny, really, you should laugh” feeling runs through both books, but they’re just not – to me. The characters are so stereotypical that they’re miles beyond amusing and closer to stupid. If you enjoy the tongue-in-cheek style, lightly mocking the mystery genre, you’re going to enjoy Hess, and fans of Arly Hanks will like the book far more than I. Hess herself gave me a quote I couldn’t pass up: “Writers …they’re so goofy nobody cares what they do.”

- AnnaLovesBooks ( )