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Prairie Gothic

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"Oddball . . . half-brothers" and other "colorful characters . . . have all sorts of . . . mischief on their minds" in this humorous mystery set in small town Kansas (Chicago Tribune).

As a howling blizzard blows down upon the sparsely-populated Benteen County seat of Buffalo Springs, Kansas, Sheriff English encounters a doll and a dead baby. Their bodies have been switched, but by whom? And why? The elderly coroner disclaims any knowledge, but seems uneasy when a swastika is revealed on the tiny corpse.

Meanwhile, the sheriff's part-Cheyenne half-brother, "Mad Dog" Maddox, has collected a naked body from the Sunshine Towers retirement home and is headed toward a treetop burial when he is diverted by the storm. In a makeshift mound nearby, Mad Dog's pet wolf-dog hybrid finds a child's skull, evidence of adult bones, and a fading ID for a living County Supervisor. Can the Hornbaker clan really be as gothic as it seems? And what of the tiny woman in the red shoes back at the Towers who calls herself Dorothy. . . ?

"With zany, lovable characters and a plot that hurtles along with the momentum of a wacky action movie, this comic mystery will appeal to fans of Joan Hess' Maggody series." —Booklist

"This macabre, witty look at life and death on the Great Plains should win Hayes new fans." —Publishers Weekly

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      January 27, 2003
      Switched identities, an infant who appears mysteriously, a madwoman locked away from the outside world—these and other gothic elements in Hayes's wry, briskly paced second novel (after 2000's Mad Dog and Englishman) would make Mrs. Radcliffe feel right at home. Sheriff English of Buffalo Springs, Kans., shows up at the Sunshine Towers Retirement Home, to try to identify the mother of a tiny corpse that one of the elderly residents has found. The sheriff's part Cheyenne half-brother, Mad Dog, has just liberated the body of Tommie Irons from the Towers and conveyed it for ritual release to the Happy Hunting Grounds, and then a blizzard shuts down the town, except for the Texaco station and the courthouse. Things could not be much worse—but they soon are, as a woman who calls herself Dorothy and wears bright red tennis shoes seems to be leading the sheriff and Mad Dog down the garden path. Juggling the several story lines with aplomb, Hayes shows that even quirky characters can have a sober, thoughtful side when dealing with dilemmas of confidentiality and choice. This macabre, witty look at life and death on the Great Plains should win Hayes new fans.

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