Between the Living and the Dead

May 25, 2015
Sheriff Dan Rhodes, who made his debut in 1986's Too Late to Die, is still going strong in Crider's 22nd mystery featuring the Texas lawman (after 2014's Half in Love with Artful Death). A long-abandoned house in Clearview, Tex., has a reputation for being haunted, and that is grist for series regular C.P. Benton, who tells the sheriff he plans to open Clearview Paranormal Investigations. Reports of gunshots at the house lead Rhodes and Deputy Ruth Grady to the body of meth dealer Neil Foshee. Rhodes hunts for answers from the victim's cousins, Earl and Louie Foshee, who share Neil's interest in illegal drugs. The sheriff also has to deal with poor Elberta Hovey, who says she was robbed of $9 million, and Brad Turner, who wears a tinfoil hat for protection. A loose bull and wild hogs add to the fun. As always, Rhodes figures things out, but it's the journey that makes this amiable series so entertaining. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds.

June 1, 2015
Another passing strange case for the sheriff of Blacklin County, Texas. Sheriff Dan Rhodes is dealing with two squabbling deputies and a friend with plans to go into the paranormal investigation business. Meanwhile, an anonymous phone call sends him to the derelict house of a former teacher who was found dead inside many years ago. The Moore house is reputed to be haunted, but Rhodes doesn't believe in ghosts. He does believe in dead bodies, and inside he finds that of Neil Foshee, a meth maker from over the county line. Neil's business included two of his cousins, Louie and Earl, neither of them the brightest bulb in the box. The pair, out on bail, take off when Rhodes pays them a visit. Pursued by Rhodes and his deputy, Buddy, they head for the woods, where the hapless Earl is run over by a herd of feral hogs and has to be hospitalized. A closer look at the Moore house reveals a skeleton in an attic closet. Although Rhodes still denies the existence of ghosts, every time he enters the house he feels that he's being watched. Although there are quite a few suspects in Foshee's murder, Rhodes gradually eliminates the obvious and finds that he has to dig deep to unearth a possible connection between the latest murder and what happened in the past. Like the rest of Crider's long string of Dan Rhodes novels (Half in Love with Artful Deaths, 2014, etc.), the latest keeps you guessing and chuckling.

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June 1, 2015
When Neil Foshee, one of the many meth dealers around Clearview, Texas, is found shot to death, Sheriff Dan Rhodes isn't surprised; meth cookers often come to bad ends. Still, Rhodes feels it's his duty to investigate all murders, not just the ones of the good citizens. There's a complicating factor, though. Seepy Benton, a teacher at the local junior college, has started a business, Clearview Paranormal Investigations, and Seepy is sure that the abandoned house where Foshee was found is haunted. Even without paranormal help, Dan has plenty of suspects: the victim's cousins and partners, not to mention an old girlfriend and the mayor's nephew. Then there's the matter of the skeleton found a few days after the murder. What does that have to do with Foshee, or anything else? The Rhodes mysteries (this is the twenty-second) are funny and cleverly plotted. The dialogue is sharp, and genre veteran Crider knows his way around the idiosyncrasies of life in a fading small-town community. Dan Rhodes is always a welcome visitor for any traditional mystery fan.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)