Welcome back to Jarrett Creek - the small town in Texas with a Miss Marple complex. Remember Samuel Craddock - the ex-chief of police who is now retired in his ranch with his cows and the fine art he keeps buying, still mourning his wife? If you never read the series before, this one can be as nice of a start as any - even though there is continuity inside of the series, they do stand on their own.

A heart attack, a ball game that should not have been lost but is lost, a Gulf War veteran, a bunch of motorists and a sheriff who is more interested in drinking than in solving any crimes. It does not sound like a normal checklist for a small quiet town in the middle of nowhere (relatively speaking). Add to that a murder, old secrets, a religious cult, gambling, a head coach that have a real problem and a deputy that is even worse than the sheriff and you pretty much have the main elements of the novel.

And of course there is Craddock - who gets a title in this novel - Special Investigator for the Mayor - mainly so that he has some powers. It should have been a very busy novel but it is not - it is quiet and slow as the life in a small Texas town. Because Jarrett Creek is one of the main characters of the series - together with the neighbor Loretta and the lawyer Jennie - they all serve as the support network of our ex-chief. Even when they are weird, they still are better than what passes for police in the town or the local businessmen. If you are reading the books in order, this one will add just a little more to the background that keeps building. And to the town.

I am not sure if that qualifies as a cosy mystery - it is a bit too bloody for that. But not violently so. It is a wonderful series if one needs a bit of fresh air between more serious books. ( )

An art-collecting retired sheriff in football-loving small town Texas solves the case of a murdered disabled veteran. For a relatively short book, the plot takes some very interesting turns. A pleasure to read and I highly recommend it. ( )

Football is king in Texas. Especially high school football where the highlight of many a life might be beneath the lights on a Friday evening. Back in the day just before the first Gulf War, Jack Hardin was quarterback of the Jarrett Creek High School Panthers and he was the man. He might have had a spectacular college career. Instead, both Jack and Woody Patterson signed up to enlist in the Army not knowing a war was coming.

What had been a relatively simple love triangle between Jack, Woody and a certain hometown beauty changed when the Army rejected Woody and Jack left alone off to war. While Woody and the lady in question got married, Jack eventually came back badly damaged physically and emotionally. Blind, crippled and confined to a wheelchair, abandoned by his mom and many others, Jack primarily relies on his father Bob Harbin to take care of him. The same Bob Harbin who just died of an apparent heart attack on the street in front of his house in the opening pages of The Last Death Of Jack Harbin: A Samuel Craddock Mystery by Terry Shames.

As he was in A Killing At Cotton Hill Samuel Craddock, retired police chief, is the only real person around with actual law enforcement experience and training. Not that he has any mind to get involved as this second book in the series set in small town south Texas begins. Events of the last book are still present in minds of many folks as well as in his own. Then there is the whole issue of his knee, which is going to have to be operated on, as well as a couple of other things.

But, the chief of police is a drunk, his number two man isn’t much better, and those in charge want him involved. An involvement which becomes more and more important as other events begin to happen and old secrets begin to see the light of day. The past may have been buried, but it coming back to life and taking a heavy toll on the town folk of Jarrett Creek, Texas in so many ways.

Reminiscent of Bill Crider’s excellent Sheriff Dan Rhodes series, albeit with far less humor, Samuel Craddock is a man you would be honored to have as a friend. Straight forward and plainspoken, he quietly goes about his business asking questions and doing a lot of listening to what is said and not said. While there are the action moments including a shootout in town, most of the book is Craddock keeping business low key in both his daily life as well as in his investigations. These books are a series with characters that quickly grow on you and stories that are well worth your time.

The Last Death Of Jack Harbin: A Samuel Craddock Mystery
Terry Shames
http://www.terryshames.com
Seventh Street Books (imprint of Prometheus Books)
http://www.prometheusbooks.com
January 2014
ISBN# 978-1-61614-871-3
Paperback (also available as an e-book)
250 Pages
$15.95

Kevin R. Tipple ©2014

Book Reviews and More http://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/ ( )