Dead in the Hay

Amanda Hazard finds a body or two. Nick Thorn, her husband and police, is determined that the body she finds dead in the hay was caused by an accident. After all, farm accidents do happen. Amanda, however, is determined that it was no accident - that it was indeed murder! Amanda is the town CPA in small-town Vamoose, Oklahoma. This book has a rural flavor, and is spiced with country jargon and plenty of gossip at the town beauty shop. There are cows, hay, hydraulic hoses, tractors, combines, barns, cattleguards, cowboy hats and boots, country-western music. Through the complex sleuthing and clues and fact-finding, there is also humor: Amanda has a beauty shop disaster with her hair. (I will not tell you what it is, because I do not want to ruin it for those who have not read the book.) She also has a smaller disaster at the beauty shop with her fingernails. Amanda is determined to solve the mystery, even though her husband tells her to be careful. There is a nice twist, and the mystery-solving is very interesting and clever.

This is another installment in the sleuthing career of Amanda Hazard. As always this book contains the great combination of romance, humor, and the mystery of how the mean nasty person died. They sure grow them mean out there. I am always waiting for a new book in the series and this one is a good one.