Reviews for Murder Among the Owls

The average rating for Murder Among the Owls based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-01-04 00:00:00 Jeffery Helms If a sheriff's investigation into an elderly lady's death could be said to be a cozy mystery, this would be the one. A black cat shows up on Sheriff Rhodes' doorstep, striking fear into the heart of Yancey the Pomeranian and silencing his incessant yap. Rhodes' wife Ivy immediately recognizes it as the cat belonging to Helen Harris, former elementary school teacher, member of the Rusty Nuggets (a metal detecting club) and member of the OWLS, the Older Women's Literary Society (it should be clarified that Ivy only went as a guest, not being qualified by age). The sheriff discovers poor Helen lying dead on the floor, apparently victim of a faulty footstool, although something about the scene doesn't seem right. A missing will seems to hint at a possible motive for murder. Was it cousin Thorpe, general hell-raiser and trailer park denizen looking to make some fast cash? I gave this series a try at Karl's suggestion, essentially pre-screening it for my mother, who believes she is always looking for another series (she reads much slower than I do). Strangely, though Bill Crider has a number of books in this series, my (northern) library system only has a few, leading me to pick this one on the strength of the owl association (we have a thing for owls here, along with birds in general). I wasn't feeling up to the demands of anything serious, and I must say this fit the bill nicely. Though Sheriff Rhodes isn't going to set any investigation aflame with speed, being the ambling sort of dude that he is, he is generally kind, funny, and not above tweaking the dispatcher's nose by being stingy with gossip or information. It's only fair--the dispatcher isn't above twitting Rhodes about a new book series or a dust-up at the local McDonalds (this clearly took place in the time period before the all-day breakfast menu). To be honest, the dynamic between Sam the cat--who may or may not be moving in--Yancy the dog, and the sheriff kept me as entertained as the investigation. Would Yancey resume barking? Why did Speedo the dog live outside? Will Rhodes offer Sam to everyone he encounters? Is Rhodes' cat allergy real? Will Sam and Yancey ever make peace? You can see there are a lot of important questions here, but I suspect I'm going to have to go back to an earlier book to get answers about Speedo. And the mystery, you ask? It was fine. Solving it was more a matter of sudden inspiration than methodical detective work, but it was entertaining enough along the way. Totally appropriate for moms.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-08-26 00:00:00 Beverly White The book begins with a dead body found almost next door to Sheriff Dan Rhodes home, upon first glance it appears to be an accident, a woman, Hellen Harris, appears to have fallen off of a step stool while changing a light bulb in her kitchen. But things just don't look right to the Sheriff. As the body is removed by the ambulance Rhodes gets involved with a back up at McDonald's. It seems that a customer just can't get his breakfast sandwich the way he wants it so he won't exit the drive through causing a near riot in the drive-through line. With crisis large and small our mild mannered hero, who really doesn't like confrontation, but won't run away from it confronts the problems of small town life in a rural Texas town populated by idiosyncratic members of the community and his staff to resolve the problems that cross his path. And that's not even mentioning the cat that has adopted the Sheriff. Another well written entry in this ongoing series contains no gore no copious amounts of blood or ultra violence. An enjoyable series that should be started at the beginning filled with sly humor and likable characters.