Hell With the Lid Blown Off: (7 Alafair Tucker Mysteries)

In the summer of 1916, a big twister cuts a swath of destruction through Boynton, Oklahoma. Alafair Tucker's family and neighbors are not spared the ruin and grief spread by the storm. But no one will mourn for dead Jubal Beldon, who'd made it his business to know everyone's ugly secrets. It never mattered if Jubal's insinuations were true or not since in a small town like Boynton, rumor could be as ruinous as fact. Then Mr. Lee, the undertaker, discovers that Jubal was already dead when the tornado swept his body away. Had he died in an accident or had he been murdered by someone whose secret he had threatened to expose? Dozens of people would have been happy to do the deed, some of them members of Jubal's own family. As Sheriff Scott Tucker and his deputy Trenton Calder look into Jubal's demise, it begins to look like the prime suspect may be someone very dear to the widow Beckie MacKenzie, mentor of Alafair's daughter Ruth. Ruth fears that the secrets exposed by the investigation are going to cause more damage to Beckie's life than the tornado. Alafair, coping with injuries to her own, still has time for suspicions about how Jubal Beldon came to die. What if the truth of it hits very close to home?

About the Author :
Donis Casey is the author of ten Alafair Tucker Mysteries: The Old Buzzard Had It Coming, Hornswoggled, The Drop Edge of Yonder, The Sky Took Him, Crying Blood, The Wrong Hill to Die On, Hell With the Lid Blown Off, All Men Fear Me, The Return of the Raven Mocker, and Forty Dead Men. This award-winning series, featuring the sleuthing mother of ten children, is set in Oklahoma during the booming 1910s. Donis has twice won the Arizona Book Award for her series, and been a finalist for the Willa Award and a seven-time finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. Her first novel, The Old Buzzard Had It Coming, was named an Oklahoma Centennial Book in 2008. Donis is a former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur. She lives in Tempe, Arizona.

Review :
"There's lots of action here - injuries in the storm, new babies being born, World War I looms on the horizon, and now there is a murder to solve. If you like a down home family mystery, you'll love Hell With the Lid Blown Off. I highly recommend it." "A good mystery with an odd final twist is eclipsed by frighteningly detailed descriptions of the terrors of tornadoes." "A huge tornado brings unexpected trouble to the people of Boynton, Okla., in Casey's excellent seventh Alafair Tucker mystery (after 2012's The Wrong Hill to Die On). One day in the summer of 1916, a twister blows Jubal Beldon's body into a field, but no one is very sorry, since he was a most unpleasant man. When it's discovered that Jubal was murdered before the tornado, suspicion falls on 17-year-old Ruth Tucker's beloved music teacher, Beckie MacKenzie. Alafair, a farmer's wife, uses her innate knowledge of human nature to help, while Sheriff Scott Tucker and his deputy, Trenton Calder, follow their own theories. As the action builds to a surprising denouement, Casey provides an engaging portrait of the close-knit society that was commonly found in the rural Midwest at the time. Alafair Tucker, her large family, and their friends are a pleasure to spend time with." (starred review) "...a solid mystery with a sophisticated plot and a satisfying ending." "After a devastating tornado in Boynton, Oklahoma, in 1916, Alafair Tucker and her extended family try to evaluate the damage. Then the body of bully Jubal Beldon is found, and it is determined that his death came from wounds delivered before the storm. As Deputy Sheriff Trenton Calder sorts through alibis and time lines, friends protect each other as fast as secrets come to light. The search for suspects leads surprisingly to music teacher Miz Beckie McKenzie, mentor to Alafair's daughter, Ruth. As WWI looms, Alafair watches members of her family and friends grow up and deal with serious problems at home. The many characters and changing points of view are at times mildly confusing, but this edgy historical mystery works as a powerful picture of the times."