- Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
- Publisher: Pocket; Reprint edition (Dec 30 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0743406583
- ISBN-13: 978-0743406581
- Product Dimensions: 17.1 x 10.6 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 172 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,424,496 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The ever-inventive Hess proves that a long-running series doesn't have to be stale in this latest outing for Arly Hanks, chief of police of Maggody, Ark., population 759. Arly is stuck chaperoning the church youth group on a trip to Camp Pearly Gates to help renovate the site. Accompanied by Mrs. Jim Bob, the ever-slimy Brother Verber and the high school shop teacher, Larry Joe Lambertino, Arly thinks her biggest challenge will be keeping the girls and the boys in separate cabins. There's the pesky problem of Duluth Buchanon's missing wife, Norella, but it's not until one of the girls stumbles over a dead body that Arly really starts to worry. The dead woman is one of the "moonbeams," a member of an all-female sect located near the campgrounds. With their white choir robes and shaved heads, they are sometimes mistaken for aliens, and their reluctance to cooperate with the ensuing murder investigation drives Arly nearly to distraction. (The "moonbeams" provide the author a chance to satirize not only cults and the way they prey upon the needy but also the ways in which women are victimized in our culture.) Hess makes effective use of her inimitable mix of Southern satire and smoothly paced plotting as Arly juggles horny teenagers, the ever-officious Mrs. Jim Bob and a prime suspect who keeps breaking out of jail. There may not be too many surprises, but Hess makes sure there are plenty of laughs from first page to last. (Aug. 7)Hess has won Agatha and Macavity awards and is also the author of the Claire Malloy series.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.From Booklist
What else could possibly happen to Arly Hanks, chief of police in Maggody, Arkansas? She's dealt with moonshiners, mentally embarrassed members of the prolific Buchanon clan, porno filmmakers, the prize pig Marjorie, bad-tempered ostriches, and legions of other, equally loony characters. But there's always more, as Hess proves yet again with another hilarious installment in this unequaled series. Arly, to her extreme horror, gets railroaded by Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon into acting as chaperone for a church youth group at Camp Pearly Gates in nearby Dunkicker. Unbeknownst to all, the camp is also the home of a weird commune, the Daughters of the Moon, which is made up of a group of women (known locally as "Beamers") who sport shaved heads, magenta lipstick, and white robes. The typical Maggody madness and mayhem begins when one of the campers stumbles over the body of a Beamer whose head has been pulverized. Arly has a nice clutch of suspects but is hindered in her investigation by a dim-witted local deputy, the hormone-rampant teenage campers, the extremely tight-lipped Beamers, and, of course, her own mother, Rubella Belinda, on hand to cook for the campers. And then there's the handsome fisherman camped out nearby to whom Arly feels an immediate attraction. All in all, this is one of the best in the series, and that's saying a great deal. Stuart Miller
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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To every thing, there is a season, be it football, baseball, Easter eggs, blushing brides, or professional bowling. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
To every thing, there is a season, be it football, baseball, Easter eggs, blushing brides, or professional bowling. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific book, I read it in one day!,
By
This review is from: Maggody and the Moonbeams (Mass Market Paperback)
I loved this book so much I read it in one day! The many characters in Maggody are just that characters. It is a small town in Arkansas where Arly Hanks is the Police Chief. She has her hands full in this book as she is roped into being a chaperone for the church youth group. They are going to Camp Pearly Gates to do some volunteer work to built bleachers. Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon, the mayor's wife, and Brother Verber, the local preacher, would make it interesting enough, but then she also has the high school shop teacher and ten teens to keep in line. When the body of a white-robed woman turns up on the campgrounds, life gets even more complicated for Arly. Then there's the man she found fishing on the campgrounds. Not to mention all the reported sightings of ghosts. Once her mother Ruby Bee and her best friend Estelle show up, things get even more interesting. Ruby Bee runs Ruby Bee's Bar & Grill. Due to a recent fire in the kitchen, she is out of business for a couple weeks. So she brings all her food up to the camp to feed the kids. They are happy because the menus that Mrs. Jim Bob had prepared were nutritional but not what the kids would want to eat! As Arly begins investigating the apparent murder, she uncovers a community of women and children living on the campgrounds but that has a lot of mystery as to who they are and where they came from. All the different characters plays such an important role in this book. It is told from multiple points of view, which at first I found difficult to follow. Once I got to know the various characters, I found that this story couldn't be told from one point of view. It is very well written! I highly recommend this book.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Murder at the Pearly Gates,
By Sires "I like mysteries (particularly British... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Maggody and the Moonbeams (Mass Market Paperback)
Sometimes it is hard to keep a long running series feeling fresh and fun, but Joan Hess manages to bring a bit of revitalization to her Maggody series by sending Police Chief Arley Hanks off with some hormone laden teens, the good Brother and Mrs. Jim Bob to Camp Pearly Gates. While Arley tries to ride herd on the cosmetic mad girls' bodies, Mrs. Jim Bob works on their souls and the good Brother works on a bottle of sacramental wine. Meanwhile back in Maggody, Mr. Jim Bob is enjoying his new found freedom with some friends he has made over the internet. Then one of the girls at Camp Pearly Gates stumbles over a body of a local cult member and things begin to get complicated, as Arley says. A fun romp in the woods with the Maggody crew. Actually I have to note that the description of Camp Pearly Gates raised certain childhood memories of church camp-- laced with the scent of mildewed towels and sweaty sneakers.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Getting more high falutin',
By
This review is from: Maggody and the Moonbeams (Hardcover)
I have always come to the Maggody stories for light entertainment rather than edification. The jokes were often corny and the characterization crude but the mixture worked. In this one there are a number of highbrow references and Brother Verber reveals a childhood trauma that may account for his character flaws. Even the relatioship between Raz and Marjory is getting more psychologically complex. Where is all this leading? I'll keep reading to find out.
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