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The Old Buzzard Had It Coming
An Alafair Tucker Mystery

by Donis Casey


      Donis Casey created a very somber, yet intriguing murder mystery with true undertones of how many people lived in the early 1900's. The story takes place on an old western farm in the still horse and buggy days of Oklahoma country where those very farms stretched for miles and many people only knew their neighbors slightly. She had to have listened attentively to her grandmother or other older family members relating tales of a time that she could not know anything about and a murder that took place in a community so remote from today's hustle and bustle, to that of the simple life of nearly a 100 years ago, to put this tale together and make it real.

      The Old Buzzard Had It Coming is a story of how retribution takes a hand in making sure that the woes of life are handled correctly for those involved. Go back on a journey and sit in the front room with Alafair while she talks to the only local telephone operator to gain information in this small one-horse town where the operator is the person who knows everything that goes on, good and bad. Visit the blacksmith and the foundry as she talks to the others who might just possibly know something worthwhile and walk down to the river where she finds the missing article that can either prove or disprove the involvement of her child's sweetheart. Harley Lee is the man who was murdered, but by whom? Her daughter's young man, or some other nefarious person on the fringes of the community? Did her daughter have a part in this seemingly innocent situation, or was she an accomplice? Alafair means to find out and make sure that the young man in question is found to be innocent of the crime, for she has her daughter's happiness at stake. How she goes about it, and her unobtrusive ways as a detective, provide good reading and a heartfelt tug at the memories some of us are still able to share and are quickly disappearing from our daily ways of life and thoughts.

       Ms. Casey was able to weave a story out of the old family trunk and make it something that everyone will enjoy. She has a very fine way with words and getting the thoughts on paper skillfully. I thoroughly enjoyed this great little mystery that does not have the main characters all caught up in the thrill or the challenge of over-active heroism. It is a very real, down to earth, wrenching to the core, story about a way of life that is no more.

The Book

Poisoned Pen Press
July 2005
Authors Review Copy
1-59058-149-0
Murder Mystery / 1900 Americana folklore history
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Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Claudia VanLydegeraf
Reviewed 2005
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© 2005 MyShelf.com