Fri 28 Jan 2011

THE ARMCHAIR REVIEWER
Allen J. Hubin

BILL CRIDER – Death on the Move. Walker, hardcover, 1989. Reprint paperback: Ivy, 1990.

   The beleaguered Sheriff Dan Rhodes returns in Bill Crider’s Death on the Move (Walker, $17.95). Widower Rhodes is inching his way to marriage with a very nice lady, Ivy Daniel, but criminous complications keep intervening.

   First of all, the eminently respectable undertakers of Dan’s town, Clearwater, Texas, have a problem: jewelry keeps disappearing off bodies set out for viewing, and the grieving survivors are sore displeased.

   Then someone is raiding houses down in a sparsely settled part of Dan’s county, and a corpse, well aged and most curiously wrapped, presents itself for Rhodes’ attention, while the humorists Dan employs as staff have their fun with all of this. A winsome novel in a rewarding series.

— From The MYSTERY FANcier, Vol. 11, No. 4, Fall 1989.

       The Dan Rhodes series —

1. Too Late to Die (1986)

2. Shotgun Saturday Night (1987)
3. Cursed to Death (1988)
4. Death on the Move (1989)
5. Evil at the Root (1990)

6. Booked for a Hanging (1992)
7. Murder Most Fowl (1994)
8. Winning Can Be Murder (1996)
9. Death By Accident (1997)
10. A Ghost of a Chance (2000)
11. A Romantic Way to Die (2001)

12. Red, White, and Blue Murder (2003)
13. A Mammoth Murder (2006)
14. Murder Among the O.W.L.S. (2007)
15. Of All Sad Words (2008)

16. Murder in Four Parts (2009)
17. Murder in the Air (2010)
18. The Wild Hog Murders (2011)

 

6 Responses to “Reviewed by Allen J. Hubin: BILL CRIDER – Death on the Move.”

1. Steve Says:
   January 28th, 2011 at 1:04 am

   It’s hard to pick a favorite among these, but if pressed, I think I’d choose SHOTGUN SATURDAY NIGHT. Or maybe it’s the title itself I like best. It’s tough to tell.

   Of the covers, that one of paperback edition of A ROMANTIC WAY TO DIE sure is pretty.

2. David L. Vineyard Says:
   January 28th, 2011 at 7:37 am

   Winsome is a perfect description of this series, and I’ll point out again how well he has nailed small the small town Texas I grew up in.

3. Tom Roberts Says:
   January 28th, 2011 at 10:45 am

   If someone wished to sample a Dan Rhodes mystery without the commitment of reading a full novel, or to complete the canon, this list could be amended with the addition of the four Dan Rhodes short stories and one novella as follows:

   Short Stories—

   “Buster”
   appeared in CAT CRIMES. Gorman, Ed, and Greenberg, Martin, eds., Donald I. Fine, 1991.

   “Gored”
   appeared in MURDER MOST DELICIOUS. Gorman, Ed, ed., NAL, 1994.

   “Who Killed Cock Rogers?”
   appeared in THE MYSTERIOUS WEST. Hillerman, Tony, ed HarperCollins, 1994.

   “Chocolate Moose” [co-authored by Judy Crider]
   appeared in DEATH DINES AT 8:30. Bishop, Claudia and DiChario, Nick, eds. Berkley, 2001.
   **Nominated for Anthony Award, Best Short Story 2001

   Novella—
   “The Empty Manger”
   appeared in MURDER, MAYHEM, and MISTLETOE. Worldwide, November 2001.

   One of the things that I find most enjoyable in the Dan Rhodes series, (especially for anyone who has attempted to read them in the order they were written in) is the recurring characters of the town of Clearview and Blacklin County, TX. Characters turn up in book 12 that may have been introduced in book 2, or that you have not seen since book 7.

   It is by no means imperative that the novels be read in chronological order, but the supporting cast of quirky citizens (Much like Mayberry R.F.D.) walking in and out of the scenes give the series a depth as if you live in and know the people of Clearview.

   I did not grow up in a small texas town but a small Illinois town and I often feel I know people very much like the citizens populating Dan Rhodes county.

   Tom Roberts
   Black Dog Books

4. Rick Libott Says:
   January 28th, 2011 at 11:35 am

   A series of tremendous charm, one which I reread with great pleasure from time to time to visit a spell with Sheriff Rhodes–and his friends and family.

   Thank you for creating them, Bill Crider.

5. Steve Says:
   January 28th, 2011 at 9:17 pm

   David

   In all of the years I’ve been writing reviews, I’ve never used the word “winsome.” You’re right. In this case, it’s the perfect word to use. Or tremendous charm, as Rick says (except that’s two words).

   Tom

   Thanks for the list. I appreciate it!

   I seldom read short stories any more, so most of these additional appearances were essentially new to me. By which I mean I may have known about them at the time, but I’d forgotten about them until you reminded me.

   As for small town atmosphere, while no two of them are the same, the ones in this country are alike in many ways, and I think Bill’s been able to put his finger right on the pulse of them.

   — Steve

6. Jeff Meyerson Says:
   January 30th, 2011 at 10:04 am

   Sorry I missed this while we were on the road, as I would have said it’s one of my favorite series and the one of Bill’s series I think captures his voice the best.

   I agree about the cover of A ROMANTIC WAY TO DIE but my favorite might be RED, WHITE, AND BLUE MURDER if only for the dedication. (You could look it up.)

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