Prairie Gothic

Mad Dog & Englishman #2

by J.M. Hayes

Benteen County, Kansas, a hellhole in summer under scorching heat and winds, turns even meaner in winter. As a howling blizzard blows down upon Buffalo Springs, the sparsely populated county seat, Sheriff English is presented with a missing doll and a dead baby's switched, but by whom? And why? The elderly coroner disclaims any knowledge, but seems faintly uneasy, especially when the swastika on the tiny corpse is revealed. Meanwhile the sheriff's half-brother, Harvey Edward Maddox, also part Cheyenne and thus known as Mad Dog for his invocation of his Amerind heritage, has picked up a naked dead body from the Sunshine Towers retirement home and is heading towards a treetop burial when diverted by the storm. In a makeshift mound nearby, Mad Dog's pet hybrid-wolf finds a child's skull and evidence of mature bones. Also a fading ID for a living County Supervisor. Can the Hornbaker clan really be as gothic as it seems? And what of the tiny woman in the red shoes back at the Towers who calls herself Dorothy, underlying an odd note of Oz...

Genres: Mystery

250 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 2003

About the author

J.M. "Mike" Hayes has been an anthropologist, an archaeologist, and has supervised youth camping, sports, an recreation programs. He was born and raised on the flat earth of central Kansas his Mad Dog & Englishman mysteries take place. He graduated from Wichita State University and did post graduate work at the University of Arizona. He makes his home in Tucson (site of his first novel, The Grey Pilgrim) with his wife, several computers, 4000 or so books, and a small herd of German Shepherds.

Series:
* Mad Dog and Englishman Mystery

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast paced ride through the heartland of America. Full of fantastical characters and a magnificent blizzard, murder runs rampant. Can a small town sheriff unravel the mystery before his family is imperiled?

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Cast if quirky characters a bluzzard, dead bodies to be investigated. Inbreeding and the quest for the Holy Grail make this a complex, fast paced story.

[Handel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed the format and some of the turns but ending was way off and so confusing. Not enjoyable in a Shutter Island twist sort of way.

[Michelle Hanson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guess I better get book one.. lol.. this was a great boo,..

[Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every bit as good as his first book!

[Normalene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aanother great one. I am on #4 now. Loving this series it is so funny.