Items related to Prairie Gothic: A Mad Dog & Englishman Mystery
Sheriff English of Buffalo Springs, Kansas, along with his Cheyenne half-brother, attempts to solve the mystery of an infant who was found by a resident of a retirement community. Reprint.
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About the Author:
J.M. Hayes was born and raised on the flat earth of central Kansas where Prairie Gothic takes place. He graduated from Wichita State University and did another three years of post graduate work at the University of Arizona. He shares a home in Tucson, AZ with his wife, two computers, four thousand or so books, two German Shepherds, and a Scottish “Terror.”
Review:
"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."-Publishers Weekly
"It is a dizzying novel, with montage cuts like a movie -- Robert Altman meets John Woo with a scary chunk of Roman Polanski thrown in -- but manages to work in wise and often amusing perceptions about the ways of American Indians, Plains states Christianity and the ways even Kansas is changing in the modern world."--San Jose Mercury News
"If you read 'Mad Dog and Englishman,' J.M. Hayes' first book about the eccentric residents of Buffalo Springs, Kan., you'll know how the author likes to toss into his creative blender a grocery cart full of diverse cultural elements--crime contemporary and historic, American Indian religion and medicine, the survival instincts necessary to live off of some very inhospitable real estate--and come up with something truly unusual.
Hayes brings back his odd couple of half-brothers here: the relatively sedate and reliable Sheriff English and Harvey 'Mad Dog' Maddox, who is part Cheyenne and is immersed up to his stringy neck in the shamanic practices of that half of his heritage. A dead baby found during a howling blizzard is the murder engine that jump-starts the narrative, but Hayes' colorful characters (sometimes a bit too heavily painted) have all sorts of other acts of mischief on their minds."--Chicago Tribune
"Hayes' character-driven story is so filled with enjoyable eccentric types that the mystery elements sometimes seem more like side issues. Among this book's cast are members of the extremely gothic (and probably inbred) Hornbaker family; a runaway little old lady who wears red shoes and answers to the name "Dorothy"; and even a witch who's being kept in a cage. Yet the serious subjects raised in PRAIRIE GOTHIC -- abortion, teen pregnancy in a conservative small town, etc. -- are handled both compassionately and believably. The action here moves along swiftly, culminating in a surprising, if somewhat bizarre, solution. Adding to the suspense is Hayes' decision to switch point of view frequently between the sheriff, Mad Dog and the Heathers...This is a fun and wacky sequel to MAD DOG AND ENGLISHMAN (2000), and I look forward to reading about the continuing adventures of these likable characters."-January Magazine
"It is a dizzying novel, with montage cuts like a movie -- Robert Altman meets John Woo with a scary chunk of Roman Polanski thrown in -- but manages to work in wise and often amusing perceptions about the ways of American Indians, Plains states Christianity and the ways even Kansas is changing in the modern world."--San Jose Mercury News
"If you read 'Mad Dog and Englishman,' J.M. Hayes' first book about the eccentric residents of Buffalo Springs, Kan., you'll know how the author likes to toss into his creative blender a grocery cart full of diverse cultural elements--crime contemporary and historic, American Indian religion and medicine, the survival instincts necessary to live off of some very inhospitable real estate--and come up with something truly unusual.
Hayes brings back his odd couple of half-brothers here: the relatively sedate and reliable Sheriff English and Harvey 'Mad Dog' Maddox, who is part Cheyenne and is immersed up to his stringy neck in the shamanic practices of that half of his heritage. A dead baby found during a howling blizzard is the murder engine that jump-starts the narrative, but Hayes' colorful characters (sometimes a bit too heavily painted) have all sorts of other acts of mischief on their minds."--Chicago Tribune
"Hayes' character-driven story is so filled with enjoyable eccentric types that the mystery elements sometimes seem more like side issues. Among this book's cast are members of the extremely gothic (and probably inbred) Hornbaker family; a runaway little old lady who wears red shoes and answers to the name "Dorothy"; and even a witch who's being kept in a cage. Yet the serious subjects raised in PRAIRIE GOTHIC -- abortion, teen pregnancy in a conservative small town, etc. -- are handled both compassionately and believably. The action here moves along swiftly, culminating in a surprising, if somewhat bizarre, solution. Adding to the suspense is Hayes' decision to switch point of view frequently between the sheriff, Mad Dog and the Heathers...This is a fun and wacky sequel to MAD DOG AND ENGLISHMAN (2000), and I look forward to reading about the continuing adventures of these likable characters."-January Magazine
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherUNKNO
- Publication date2004
- ISBN 10 0743479076
- ISBN 13 9780743479073
- BindingPaperback
- Edition number2
- Number of pages264
- Rating
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