The Maggody series

Delectable and continually surprising" "(The New York Times Boos Review)," Joan Hess's one-of-a-kind mystery series digs up murder and mayhem in the sleepy little town of Maggody, Arkansas.When beleaguered chief of police Arly Hanks hears that her mother, Ruby Bee, and best friend, Estelle Oppers, are headed for Memphis on an Elvis Pilgrimage, she thinks she may be getting a long-overdue break. But before she can say "Thank you, thank you very much," the trip is completely stalled by a variety of deadly doings.Estelle calls home to report that Ruby Bee has collapsed and is in the local hospital. And even before Arly's seen the delta dawn, one of the other clients on the tour takes a fatal plunge from the hotel balcony -- which adjoins the room of a prominent Maggody citizen, who's now doing the Jailhouse Rock in the local pen. What's more, Estelle's all shook up that the tour van is being followed by ominous thugs. For Arly, it's now or never, because if her suspicious mind doesn't figure out what to do quickly, residents of Maggody may be returned to sender -- in a hearse.

Things are quiet in Maggody, Arkansas. Not even the prospect of a historical society-funded Civil War documentary on the locally touted Skirmish at Cotter’s Ridge of 1863 does much to stir up the townspeople. However, a rumor spreads that two saddlebags of Confederate gold were hidden in a local cave to keep them from falling into Yankee hands. A colorful cast of characters keeps Police Chief Arly Hanks more than busy. When the genealogist of the Stump County Historical Society dies under mysterious circumstances and a member of the Buchanan clan falls victim of a fatal attack, Arly finds herself faced with a baffling whodunit.