The Wild Hog Murders

May 2, 2011
Dealing with stampeding swine, trigger-happy hunters, and dense deputies is just part of the job for Sheriff Dan Rhodes in Crider's droll 18th whodunit featuring the amiable Clearview, Tex., lawman (after 2010's Murder in the Air). What really puts a damper on his day is his discovery of an unidentified murder victim in the woodsâa man who earlier fled a convenience store without paying for gas. With talk-show host Milton Munday calling for the sheriff's hide, big-time bounty hunter Hoss Rapinski dogging his footsteps, and Rhodes's wife, Ivy, slyly trying to vegefy his diet, things in Blacklin County appear to be heading south fastâand that's before the second body surfaces. While the even-tempered Rhodes more or less maintains his equanimity through the escalating mayhem, some readers may find that confusing plot complications make for an increasingly bumpy ride. Still, series fans will enjoy this shaggy hog story.

July 15, 2011

Welcome to Blacklin County, Texas, where hogs run wild, and murder hogs the spotlight.

Wild hogs—big, fast, evil-tempered 300-pounders—are endemic to Blacklin County and anathema to Sheriff Dan Rhodes, who's had issues with them in the past, always to his detriment. He yearns for a permanent disconnect. But when the stolen car he's pursuing is also being chased by a furious porker, what can a self-respecting lawman do, especially if he's interested in re-election? He must rise to the challenge. As Rhodes puts it, "That's why they pay us the big bucks"—a mantra he learned the hard way. And so it goes in Blacklin County, and has gone for 18 novels (Murder in the Air, 2010, etc.). The ill-fated car thief's narrow escape from death by enhanced pig is only temporary, it turns out. He'll soon enough meet his maker with a bullet in his chest, followed by more corpses. The egregious Milton Munday, a radio talk-show host with an avid audience, takes note, warns of a murder spree and wonders snidely if Sheriff Dan is up to keeping his constituents safe. Enter a celebrity bounty hunter seeking publicity, a has-been biker seeking revenge and a pair of edgy animal protectionists seeking enemies. Clearly it's business as usual in Blacklin County, land of the relentlessly eccentric and the colorfully homicidal.

Forget the wayward plotting and enjoy laconic, sardonic Sheriff Dan at the top of his game. 

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

May 1, 2011
Feral hogs are overrunning Blacklin County, Texas, and now they are involved in a murder. Sheriff Dan Rhodes is in pursuit of a stolen car when it hits a hog. Both thieves flee the crash scene, but one is found shot nearby. The dead man is identified by a TV bounty hunter as a wanted bank robber. In fairly short order the bounty hunter is dead, too, and his brother shows up in town with his motorcycle gang. Things are not going well for Rhodes. He has two dead men, a vengeful biker gang, and no viable suspects. Oh, and a radio talk-show host complaining that the sheriff is helpless in the face of the crime wave. The laconic Rhodes glides smoothly through the pandemonium, assessing the various motives and making time for the occasional cheeseburger as he prepares to reveal the killer. The eighteenth entry in the series is every bit as enjoyable as its predecessors. The Rhodes series is built on a solid foundation of small-town absurdities, humor, solid plotting, and a protagonist who eschews macho in favor of common-sense cerebral.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)