Thu 1 May 2014
Reviewed by Allen J. Hubin: TAYLOR McCAFFERTY – Pet Peeves.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[2] Comments
Allen J. Hubin
TAYLOR McCAFFERTY – Pet Peeves. Pocket, paperback original, 1990.
If you’re tired of private eyes in big cities, you might dip into (Barbara) Taylor McCafferty’s Pet Peeves. Haskell Blevins returms to his hometown of Pigeon Fork, Kentucky, rents an office upstairs from his brother Elmo’s drugstore, and hangs out his shingle.
And waits, in the eternal tradition of PI’s. Eventually the beauteous Cordelia Turley turns up to turn Haskell’s knees to mush. And to hire him to find out who killed her Granny. Sheriff Vergil Minrath has not made much progress over the past seven months, though there are some low-lifes in the underbrush that might serve as suspects.
Pleasantly whimsical tale.
Vol. 13, No. 2, Spring 1991.
The Haskell Blevins series —
1. Pet Peeves (1990)
2. Ruffled Feathers (1992)
3. Bed Bugs (1993)
4. Thin Skins (1994)
5. Hanky Panky (1995)
6. Funny Money (2000)
May 1st, 2014 at 7:48 pm
As I recall, I wasn’t reading a lot of mysteries back in the early 90s, for what reason I no longer know.
But I do remember reading this one, and while Al Hubin’s review is rather short, it seems right on target to me.
What amazes me, now nearly 25 years later, is how McCafferty managed to keep the series going for six books. One wonders how many inhabitants may be left in Pigeon Fork, Kentucky.
May 2nd, 2014 at 4:05 pm
I’ve lived in small rural towns, not a place I really want to hang out for my escapist reading, but they can be pretty creative when it comes to murder.
This sounds entertaining, though in the 90’s I read very few new mysteries or thrillers. I’ve caught up on a few since then, but it has been a long time since a non hardboiled mystery by a modern author really caught my attention.
Too often today they seem to be about everything but the murder in question. I swear a few I tried would not have been much different if they left the murder out entirely.