Hell With the Lid Blown Off (Alafair Tucker Mysteries, 7) - Softcover

Casey, Donis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1464203008 ISBN 13: 9781464203008

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, 2014

Synopsis

"If you can only read one book this year, Hell with the Lid Blown Off should be that one." ―NY Journal of Books

In the summer of 1916, a big twister cuts a swath of destruction through Boynton, Oklahoma. Alafair Tucker's family and neighbors are not spared the ruin and grief spread by the storm.

But no one will mourn for dead Jubal Beldon, who'd made it his business to know everyone's ugly secrets. It never mattered if Jubal's insinuations were true or not since in a small town like Boynton, rumor could be as ruinous as fact. Then Mr. Lee, the undertaker, discovers that Jubal was already dead when the tornado swept his body away. Had he died in an accident or had he been murdered by someone whose secret he had threatened to expose? Dozens of people would have been happy to do the deed, some of them members of Jubal's own family. As Sheriff Scott Tucker and his deputy Trenton Calder look into Jubal's demise, it begins to look like the prime suspect may be someone very dear to the widow Beckie MacKenzie, mentor of Alafair's daughter Ruth. Ruth fears that the secrets exposed by the investigation are going to cause more damage to Beckie's life than the tornado. Alafair, coping with injuries to her own, still has time for suspicions about how Jubal Beldon came to die. What if the truth of it hits very close to home?

About this title

About the Author

Donis Casey is the author of ten Alafair Tucker Mysteries. Donis has twice won the Arizona Book Award for her series, and been a finalist for the Willa Award and a seven-time finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. Her first novel, The Old Buzzard Had It Coming, was named an Oklahoma Centennial Book in 2008. Donis is a former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur. She lives in Tempe, Arizona.

Review

"Casey provides an engaging portrait of the close-knit society that was commonly found in the rural Midwest at the time. Alafair Tucker, her large family, and their friends are a pleasure to spend time with." - Publishers Weekly STARRED Review

"The tornado's destruction is a perfect metaphor for the manmade destruction done by Jubal Beldon. Both forces, unthinking, impersonal, unstoppable, feared when contrasted to the sympathetic, loving Tucker family creates the best mystery novel of the year. It is suspenseful and gripping, with superb writing and unforgettable characters. If you can only read one book this year, Hell with the Lid Blown Off should be that one." - New York Journal of Books

"A good mystery with an odd final twist is eclipsed by frighteningly detailed descriptions of the terrors of tornadoes." - Kirkus

"...this edgy historical mystery works as a powerful picture of the times." - Booklist

Edition details

• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1464203008
• ISBN 13: 9781464203008
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240