Red, White, and Blue Murder: A Sheriff Dan Rhodes Mystery

Drought is gripping Blacklin County, Texas right along with the usual brutal summer heat. It hasn't rained in the last couple of months in this part of East Texas and not much more than nothing the last several years. Stock tanks are drying up, the lake waters are receding exposing more and more of the shoreline, and the grass and trees are shriveling up and dying in a landscape coated with dust and grit. The result is a seared dry landscape that will turn into an inferno with a spark. In a wise move, the annual fireworks celebration for the fourth of July has been canceled though the stands selling fireworks can't be closed. Even if they should be. If the summer heat wasn't enough the prisoners in the jail are complaining and threatening to sue. Then there is Jennifer Loam, the newest reporter at the town newspaper, the Clearview Herald. Fresh out of college, she is looking to make a name for herself and intends to use Sheriff Rhodes as part of a major story. Seems she has been told the good sheriff is corrupt and has bought what she has been told hook, line, and sinker. She's wrong and Rhodes tries to set her straight. Something he will be doing again and again over the next several days as he investigates a string of murders. A building will burn, people will die, and Rhodes will take a beating more then once as he tries again to stop the latest crime wave in Clearview and the surrounding area. Once again, there are virtually zero character developments as the players, major and minor, have been pretty much fleshed out earlier in the series. This novel makes frequent references to earlier books and events in the series so, as in nearly any series, it is best to read them in order. And while number twelve in the series in another good one; it is unfortunate that the good sheriff doesn't sometimes take proper precautions. While these are not police procedure novels and instead, nestle firmly in the cozy classification embrace, one does expect by this point some evolution in character sensibility. One doesn't turn away from a suspect when there is no backup anywhere around, for one example. Calling for back up is a good thing whether in a car or on foot and something Sheriff Rhodes fails to do on a routine basis. The good news is that once again Rhodes can be knocked unconscious, suffer blurry vision on gaining consciousness, and never have to be treated for a concussion or skull fracture and doesn't have to ever be seen by a doctor. Despite those criticisins, one doesn't read this series for blow by blow procedural descriptions or incredible realism. It is cozy style fiction, after all, and an enjoyable read as they all are. One reads this series because the characters have become friends and one wants to know what has been going on lately. That and where one can get Dr. Pepper in honest to god glass bottles. Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2009

The red, white, and blue bunting means it's time for the Fourth of July celebration, and Blacklin County, Texas, is just about ready for it. Or at least it was, until Grat Bilson was found dead in his burnt-out home. As the new president of the Sons and Daughters of Texas, Bilson was supposed to have been the announcer at the holiday festivities. Now that job may fall to local romance writer Vernell Lindsey, head of the Clearview Historical Association, a competing organization. Was that reason enough for Bilson's murder? Or does this particular incident have something to do with the supposed scandal that local reporter Jennifer Loam is fixing to unveil, with repercussions for at least one county commissioner? What part, if any, did Yvonne Bilson play in her husband's demise? After all, everyone knows that their marriage has been far from perfect. And though fireworks are forbidden to be sold in Clearview, several stands are doing a good business outside the city limits. Can Sheriff Dan Rhodes figure everything out and make sure the rest of the holiday proceeds without further disruption? Well, that's not likely. The rib-eating contest alone turns fatal, and Rhodes' investigation takes another turn entirely. He's sure lucky to have his wife Ivy around as a sounding board. It's truly enjoyable to eavesdrop on their conversations. But Dan Rhodes finds himself turning all shades of red, white, and blue by the end of the book. He's been beaten up, blown up, shot at, and klunked on the head a few times. The big question remains: Will Ivy ever be able to convince him to give up sheriffing? This book is another entertaining read in the series. It's best read after its immediate predecessor, "A Romantic Way to Die."

When young reporter Jennifer Loam approaches Sheriff Dan Rhodes with a scoop, he knows he'll have to investigate. Someone has been dishing dirt on a county commissioner--and on the sheriff himself. Rhodes knows that he didn't have county prisoners paint his house--and he's got the receipts to prove it, but does this mean that Loam's informant was wrong? Or is something else going on. Before he can track down the source, Rhodes is called to a fire--one with a body in the middle of it. And before you can ask whether it's hot enough, Rhodes has a murder on his hands. Author Bill Crider does a great job depicting rural Texas--a place where a rib-eating contest is prime news, where petty corruption is par for the course, where a romance author is the top celebrity, and where a sheriff is part deity and part goat for the community. That sense of community, without excessive nostalgia, comes through clearly and represents a part of Texas that still exists.. Rhodes is a great and well developed character. I couldn't help but find myself wincing as he repeatedly got himself on the wrong side of fists, crockery, weapons, and even a fireworks display. Crider writes with a deft and light touch. I got a good chuckle over both the situations he depicts and the dialogue his characters use to describe their feelings and intentions. The interplay between Rhodes and the department employees could have gotten old in less skilled hands, but Rhodes pulled it off. Fans of a slightly slower paced mystery that puts the focus on character rather than action will want to savor this slow-cooked short novel.