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Sheriff Charles Matthews #5
The Homefront Murders
WHO STASHED THE BODY IN THE COURTHOUSE BASEMENT?
The folks in Crawford County, Texas, are silent as death about the dramatic discovery of the remains of a G.I. who was murdered in World War II. Sheriff Charles Matthews, feeling more an outsider than ever, is buffaloed, but among the victim's now elderly contemporaries, strange things start to happen. Mad Dog Treadwell locks himself inside his house. The town librarian is caught cutting the pictures out of county history books. Old Judge Dodd's widow takes to wearing mourning clothes, even though the judge has been dead for more than twenty years. Even Miss Poole, the Sheriff's tart-tongued dispatcher, is definitely not her usual feisty self.
It's like pulling teeth to get these apparently blameless senior citizens to talk--and to help Sheriff Matthews lure a killer out of the woodwork....
"Meredith has developed into a fresh, snappy voice of crime fiction."
--New York Newsday
The folks in Crawford County, Texas, are silent as death about the dramatic discovery of the remains of a G.I. who was murdered in World War II. Sheriff Charles Matthews, feeling more an outsider than ever, is buffaloed, but among the victim's now elderly contemporaries, strange things start to happen. Mad Dog Treadwell locks himself inside his house. The town librarian is caught cutting the pictures out of county history books. Old Judge Dodd's widow takes to wearing mourning clothes, even though the judge has been dead for more than twenty years. Even Miss Poole, the Sheriff's tart-tongued dispatcher, is definitely not her usual feisty self.
It's like pulling teeth to get these apparently blameless senior citizens to talk--and to help Sheriff Matthews lure a killer out of the woodwork....
"Meredith has developed into a fresh, snappy voice of crime fiction."
--New York Newsday
- GenresMystery
278 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 30, 1994
1 person is currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
D.R. Meredith
33 books31 followers(from Fantastic Fiction online)
D.R. Meredith, Doris to friends and family, has a split personality--by day, she is a conservatively dressed legal secretary at her husband Mike's law firm. By night she turns into Mrs. Hyde dressed in jeans, flip-flops, and Texas Rangers tee shirt, and commits bloody murder.
She is now in double digits. In her fourth book in the Megan Clark mystery series, the 18th book of her career, D.R. Meredith has just committed her 35th murder.
"I usually average 2 murders a book, because one murder in a closed circle of suspects usually leads to another in the accepted Agatha Christie fashion. In TOME OF DEATH there are two murders, but they occur 150 years apart. I like linking the past and present and exploring the effect our past has on our present. I can't tell how I use the past without giving a broad hint to the killer's identity, but I will say that human beings don't change over time except in dress and customs. My Comanche warrior amateur sleuth isn't all that different in emotional feelings from modern paleopathologist Megan Clark, except Megan isn't into scalping."
D.R. Meredith, Doris to friends and family, has a split personality--by day, she is a conservatively dressed legal secretary at her husband Mike's law firm. By night she turns into Mrs. Hyde dressed in jeans, flip-flops, and Texas Rangers tee shirt, and commits bloody murder.
She is now in double digits. In her fourth book in the Megan Clark mystery series, the 18th book of her career, D.R. Meredith has just committed her 35th murder.
"I usually average 2 murders a book, because one murder in a closed circle of suspects usually leads to another in the accepted Agatha Christie fashion. In TOME OF DEATH there are two murders, but they occur 150 years apart. I like linking the past and present and exploring the effect our past has on our present. I can't tell how I use the past without giving a broad hint to the killer's identity, but I will say that human beings don't change over time except in dress and customs. My Comanche warrior amateur sleuth isn't all that different in emotional feelings from modern paleopathologist Megan Clark, except Megan isn't into scalping."
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 26, 2019
A renovation project turns up a 50 year old murder, the skeleton of a WWII soldier. Many people think they know who it is, but withhold their information for a variety of reasons.
Sheriff Charles Matthews is newly married to the daughter of one of the county’s wealthy ranchers and a blowhard bully. Sheriff Matthews is an outsider – from Dallas, doesn’t like horses, and he is all round different from the locals.
The general detection of the murderer is interspersed with the stories of several of the county’s senior citizens who were in their 20’s at the time of the murder. Their stories are cleverly revealed and offer a contrast in the mores of the 40’s vs those of the 90’s when the book was published. The lead character is Miss Poole, a former teacher, current sheriff’s dispatcher, hot ticket, and a participant in the times of the murder. The reflections of the seniors and the contrasts with their youthful selves provide a poignant aspect to the usual whodunit. Enjoyable and recommended.
Readalikes:
B. J. Oliphant’s Shirley McClintock mysteries; James Lee Burke – Rain Gods; Craig Johnson – The Highwayman; J. A. Jance – Damage Control; Virginia Lanier – A Bloodhound to Die For; Nevada Barr – Hunting Season; Sue Grafton – ‘N’ is for Noose; Kelley Armstrong – Watcher in the Woods; Judith Guest – The Tarnished Eye; Marcia Muller – Point Deception.
Pace: Moderate
Characters: Flawed; likable
Story: Intricately plotted
Writing style: Compelling; humor
Tone: Upbeat
Frame: Crawford County, Texas panhandle; contemporary
Sheriff Charles Matthews is newly married to the daughter of one of the county’s wealthy ranchers and a blowhard bully. Sheriff Matthews is an outsider – from Dallas, doesn’t like horses, and he is all round different from the locals.
The general detection of the murderer is interspersed with the stories of several of the county’s senior citizens who were in their 20’s at the time of the murder. Their stories are cleverly revealed and offer a contrast in the mores of the 40’s vs those of the 90’s when the book was published. The lead character is Miss Poole, a former teacher, current sheriff’s dispatcher, hot ticket, and a participant in the times of the murder. The reflections of the seniors and the contrasts with their youthful selves provide a poignant aspect to the usual whodunit. Enjoyable and recommended.
Readalikes:
B. J. Oliphant’s Shirley McClintock mysteries; James Lee Burke – Rain Gods; Craig Johnson – The Highwayman; J. A. Jance – Damage Control; Virginia Lanier – A Bloodhound to Die For; Nevada Barr – Hunting Season; Sue Grafton – ‘N’ is for Noose; Kelley Armstrong – Watcher in the Woods; Judith Guest – The Tarnished Eye; Marcia Muller – Point Deception.
Pace: Moderate
Characters: Flawed; likable
Story: Intricately plotted
Writing style: Compelling; humor
Tone: Upbeat
Frame: Crawford County, Texas panhandle; contemporary
February 17, 2022
Interesting enough to keep me reading, but overly-long and mostly slow-paced with lots of uninteresting asides. With advances in DNA testing, the mummified soldier would be readily identified these days. The plot wanted to wrap up several chapters before another complication was thrown into the mix, and the final murder just seemed extraneous. Disguising the murderer was easy, because no decent clues were provided. Some of the interactions between the characters made for slapstick humor in a good-natured way that actually perked up the tedious parts of the storyline, but I wasn't ready to read any other books in the series.
February 24, 2021
Page Turner!
I gave 5 stars to this book because I could not put it down! I read it in a day. The plot was interesting and although Sheriff Mathews had several suspects for good reason, we didn't know until nearly the very end who the real murderer was. And who the murderer was came as a big surprise. Thoughouly enjoyed the book.
I gave 5 stars to this book because I could not put it down! I read it in a day. The plot was interesting and although Sheriff Mathews had several suspects for good reason, we didn't know until nearly the very end who the real murderer was. And who the murderer was came as a big surprise. Thoughouly enjoyed the book.
July 27, 2020
This book was much better than "The Sheriff and the Panhandle Murders." I was unable to decipher the mystery in this book. I really enjoyed it.
August 11, 2020
clever, complex, and well-sritten.
August 18, 2010
I've read a D.R. Meredith novel once before and remember enjoying it. This one is stuffed full of quirky Texas Panhandle characters that make this a wonderful experience. While there is a mystery in the plot (and not really even all that compelling of a mystery) the characters take center stage. This is much more of a comedy than a mystery, and a fine comedic mystery it is.
Slim is the clumsy deputy-- when he's around he's like a bull in a China shop.
Sheriff Matthews is an outsider (He's from the City-- Dallas) and doesn't understand when folks give him directions telling him to make a turn where the old billiards parlor used to be. He doesn't ride horses and in Texas panhandle country that makes him sort of a sissy city boy. His new father-in-law is a pompous blowhard.
HIs dispatcher, former schoolteacher, Megan Poole, knows everybody in the county. She can be relied upon to provide the dirty details on just about everyone in the town and also to reprimand the Sheriff, his staff, and every other person in the book. She takes center stage in this particular story, which features a decades old murder.
While I enjoyed the comedy and the characters in the book, I felt cheated by the mystery. Perhaps the clues were really there-- but the author worked hard to cycle through the main suspects while the actual bad guy makes minimal appearance and his motivation is too quickly revealed in the last couple of pages of the novel.
The author also attempts to create interest by inserting an excerpt from Ms. Poole's journal at the beginning of each chapter. That excerpt, designed to keep the story moving forward and to provide insight into Poole's attitudes and feelings (as well as to make her a bit of suspect for part of the story).
I will likely read more of these novels, but I will be reading for the characterization-- not the mystery.
Slim is the clumsy deputy-- when he's around he's like a bull in a China shop.
Sheriff Matthews is an outsider (He's from the City-- Dallas) and doesn't understand when folks give him directions telling him to make a turn where the old billiards parlor used to be. He doesn't ride horses and in Texas panhandle country that makes him sort of a sissy city boy. His new father-in-law is a pompous blowhard.
HIs dispatcher, former schoolteacher, Megan Poole, knows everybody in the county. She can be relied upon to provide the dirty details on just about everyone in the town and also to reprimand the Sheriff, his staff, and every other person in the book. She takes center stage in this particular story, which features a decades old murder.
While I enjoyed the comedy and the characters in the book, I felt cheated by the mystery. Perhaps the clues were really there-- but the author worked hard to cycle through the main suspects while the actual bad guy makes minimal appearance and his motivation is too quickly revealed in the last couple of pages of the novel.
The author also attempts to create interest by inserting an excerpt from Ms. Poole's journal at the beginning of each chapter. That excerpt, designed to keep the story moving forward and to provide insight into Poole's attitudes and feelings (as well as to make her a bit of suspect for part of the story).
I will likely read more of these novels, but I will be reading for the characterization-- not the mystery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 17, 2013
D.R.Meredith's "The Homefront Murders"
I gave this one four stars just out of kindness. It was an OK read, something to clear your head from heavier Historical fiction.
The new Sheriff of Crawford county a foreigner by the local standard looks into the murder of a WWII service man found buried in the County courthouse basement for the past 50 years. With several oddball citizens the investigation wonders around several turns and bends and not to disclose a spoiler ends in a surprising turn of events.
The author colors the inhabitants and ambiance of Crawford county in a Faulkner or Endora Welty style Which is what saves the story. Its kind of a mix of "Murder She Wrote" With a Little " Monk" thrown in.
I gave this one four stars just out of kindness. It was an OK read, something to clear your head from heavier Historical fiction.
The new Sheriff of Crawford county a foreigner by the local standard looks into the murder of a WWII service man found buried in the County courthouse basement for the past 50 years. With several oddball citizens the investigation wonders around several turns and bends and not to disclose a spoiler ends in a surprising turn of events.
The author colors the inhabitants and ambiance of Crawford county in a Faulkner or Endora Welty style Which is what saves the story. Its kind of a mix of "Murder She Wrote" With a Little " Monk" thrown in.
December 11, 2010
I am a big fan of D. R. Meredith's mystery series.
This series is about a Dallas lawyer, Charles Matthews, who moves to a town in the Texas Panhandle town and is elected sheriff. There are only five books--to date--in the series (and though I wish for more, the last was written in 1995 so I don't think there will be any more). Each contains a separate mystery, but the continuing story of Charles and his friends.
Ms. Meredith knows the Panhandle so well that it becomes a character itself. The characters are rich and the stories are involving. I wish she'd write more in this series.
This series is about a Dallas lawyer, Charles Matthews, who moves to a town in the Texas Panhandle town and is elected sheriff. There are only five books--to date--in the series (and though I wish for more, the last was written in 1995 so I don't think there will be any more). Each contains a separate mystery, but the continuing story of Charles and his friends.
Ms. Meredith knows the Panhandle so well that it becomes a character itself. The characters are rich and the stories are involving. I wish she'd write more in this series.
June 29, 2010
The sheriff is an outsider and so cannot understand why the citizens of Crawford County, Texas won't talk about the body that is found in the basement of the courthouse. The murder happened 50 years ago but no one seems to be missing. Records turn up missing and some of the town's elderly occupants start acting strangely. A nice little book to entertain your mind.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews