Pick Up Compound Murder (Sheriff Dan Rhodes, #20) Composed By Bill Crider Offered In Digital Copy

is a series that never disappoints me, I adore Sheriff Dan Rhodes and his patience with not only his job, but, his staff,

As I chuckle through the plot, I know that I'll be looking towards the next installment, I really like these short mysteries, This one is about a murdered English professor, Small town Texas Sheriff Dan Rhodes investigates the theft of hair pieces from the local beauty salon and the death of a professor at the local community college, The son of an antigovernment survivalist group is involved and Rhodes tries to prevent another Waco or Ruby Ridge incident, This is a murder mystery without the big city glitz and without profanity or explicit sex, Enjoyed it immensely. All of Crider's Dan Rhodes novels are good, This one has

Rhodes investigating a murder at the local community college's satellite campus,

You can join in the series at any entry, Each one gives a fine introduction to Rhodes and the other main characters, Rhodes and the other characters make the books and Crider's mystery story lines are always well done and keep me wondering, As usual, Bill Crider has proven himself to be one of the very best in mystery fiction, I loved this book. . a very ingenious plot and wonderful and familiar characters, Crider is a master at drawing the reader into his world and not letting go, Very highly recommended!! I love the Sheriff Dan Rhodes procedurals, The eccentric characters, the gentle humor, the sneaky snarkiness just tickle me, Combine that with a community college crime culminating in the death of an English professor, and well, you just have the perfect set up for English professor Crider, Never had read a Dan Rhodes mystery before this one, I enjoyed the droll humor, The characters each had a voice, and the mystery a spect was good, Those who want a quick read and enjoy a sell written mystery will enjoy this book, It is the middle of October and still very hot and dry in Blacklin County, Texas, The weather has not been right for years and that isnt all, Sheriff Dan Rhodes has already had a busy morning when the call comes in about the dead body over at the branch campus of a local community college, While he isn't sure if the one building on the outskirts of Clearview could be considered a campus Sheriff Rhodes is sure the body between the dumpsters is dead and the crime scene is ruined thanks to gawkers.


English Teacher Earl Wellington is dead, Probable cause of death is the obvious visual sign that part of his head is bashed in, Considering what looks to be blood and hair in the right place on one of the dumpsters, it appears that a sharp corner on one did it with some help by person or persons unknown.
Wellington was a bachelor, but he was also an English teacher, As Dean King points out, “It's always the English teachers, ”

Wellington wasn't liked by students or staff and seemed to relish heated confrontations, That means the suspect pool is large and extends beyond his current job assignment, Too bad Sherriff Rhodes doesn't have the fictional Sheriff Sarge Barton to help him, Sarge might help with Rhodes boycott of Dr, Pepper too now that they went and ruined it,

This latest in the series is number eighteen and is another good mystery with plenty of laugh out loud moments, With referenced comments to earlier books in the series Compound Murder: A Dan Rhodes Mystery frequently reminds readers of good times and not so good times in earlier books.
As expected Texas author Bill Crider brings back favorite characters such as Hack, Lawton, reporter Jennifer Loam, Rhode's loving wife Ivy, Math teacher Seepy Benton and many others in an highly entertaining read that also frequently references classic movies and books.
If you are not aware of these cultural references thanks to your young age, you will discover additional hours of entertainment pleasure checking them out,

Along with a complicated main mystery there are plenty of interesting secondary storylines that generate numerous laugh out loud moments, The latest in the series, Compound Murder: A Dan Rhodes Mystery keeps this fine series rolling along well and is very much worth your time,

Compound Murder: A Dan Rhodes Mystery
Bill Crider
sitelink billcrider. com
Minotaur Books A Thomas Dunne Book
sitelink minotaurbooks. com
August,
ISBN
Hardback also available in ebook form
Pages
,

The author provided an ARC in exchange for an objective review,


Kevin R, TippleThe compound that Bill Crider speaks of in the book "Compound Murder" relates to a compound where a group of "survivalists" live and have walled themselves off from mainstream life so that they can survive the coming zombie apocalypse or the end of society as we know it or the break down of the government.
They have lived in the compound the last twenty years or so waiting for the catastrophic event,

I love these Sheriff Dan Rhodes books, It's like returning home to a family both familiar, kind and enjoyable, The novels are packed with eccentric characters, sometimes funny, idiosyncratic and always enjoyable,

In this installment The Sheriff must contend with the break in and theft of some wigs and hair extensions, a riot at the pizza hut, a hog in someones kitchen and of course a murder.
The prime suspect of the murder is the son of the man who commands the survivalist compound,

The characters are all well drawn out and convincingly play their parts, and of course everyone claims to be innocent of everything as the Sheriff must comb the details of his investigation through his thinning hair.


The ongoing Dr, Pepper conundrum is enhanced by the attempt to introduce Mr, Pibb into the Sheriffs orbit, This being one of the struggles that face the intrepid hard working and animal friendly guardian of the peace in the small rural Texas community,

As this is book twenty, I would recommend starting the series from the beginning to get the most out of all the hijinks and situations that Mr.
Crider so wonderfully gives to the reader, This was a fun read likeable characters, with light, humorous, homey dialogue, and a decent mystery storyline,

Before classes start one morning, the body of English instructor Earl Wellington is found outside the building of the community college, Wellington was clearly involved in a struggle with someone and has died as a result, Smalltown Texas Sheriff Dan Rhodes pursues and arrests Ike Terrell, a student who was fleeing the campus, Ike's father is Able Terrell, a survivalist who has withdrawn from society and lives in a gated compound, Hes not happy that his son has chosen to attend the college, and he's even less happy with the arrest,
The local college is the venue for this more recent Dan Rhodes mystery but the formula is the same, Not much talk, continued worry about meatless meatloaf and a growing bald spot, a little police work a lot of fun, I've been reading the Sheriff Dan Rhodes mysteries for many years, and this one, numberin the series, is as enjoyable a read as all the others, I whiz through the books and find I am sorry when each episode has come to an end, I have read where other readers compare this series favorably to the Walt Longmire series, and I could do so, too, although Rhodes is a man with a lighter heart than Longmire, and truly, were he a real person, I'd pick him over Longmire as someone I'd like to call a friend.
I highly recommend this, and the whole series to fans of contemporary cozy mysteries, A very good Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery,
A professor is found dead in the parking lot of the local community college, and the sheriff is soon investigating,
I liked the story a lot,
And maybe I enjoyed this one more becauseof the minor characters, Hack and Lawton don't take up a lot of the story, They tend to get on my nerves as much as the sheriff's,
All in all a good addition to the series, COMPOUND MURDER is the twentieth novel featuring Blacklin County, Texas Sheriff Dan Rhodes, The series started inwith Too Late to Die, and the latest title numberin the series, Between the Living and Dead, is scheduled for release in August, Blacklin Countys population is small, but the characters and crimes are anything but,

It opens with a burglary at the Beauty Shack, The thief broke the restroom window, and stole the Shacks latest inventory items“hair extensions and wigs, Made from real human hair,” which have an impressive street value, Sheriff Rhodes report and scene investigation are interrupted by another call, A corpse is in the parking lot of the community college, When Rhodes arrives the scene is being handled by Dr, C. P. Benton “Seepy” to everyone who knows him, Dr. Benton isnt a deputy, but he thinks he is, and he is pretty sure the dead man was murdered

"Youre sure its a crime scene

"That would be my professional judgment as a graduate of the Citizens Sheriffs Academy.
"

As it turns out Seepy is right, and Rhodes quickly identifies a handful of suspects, The victim was an English professor, and not well liked, The primary suspect is a student named Ike Terrell, Ike is a suspicious character simply by relation, His father is Able Terrell who is the leader of the countys local survivalist group, He has a compound, guns, and rumors of more guns, The investigation is far from clear, and the plot is littered with twists,

COMPOUND MURDER is smooth, humorous, and criminal, It is a rural police procedural mostly whodunit with a shimmer of hardboiled, The humor is secondary to the wellcrafted mystery, and acts as a foil to the seriousness of the crime, It is developed in the eclectic oddball charactersthe Abbot and Costello act of the police dispatcher and jailer, and Rhodes straight manlike reaction to itand the dialogue, which hums with misunderstanding.
The stolen hair is a hot topic, and provides a few wellplaced laughs

"Thats not a head, Rhodes said, Its a wig stand. With hair on it. Real human hair, too, Ill bet,
He scalped his victim

"Buddys voice trembled, Rhodes didnt know if the cause was excitement or disgust,

"No, Rhodes said, His victim was Lonnie Wallace,

"It was Lonnie Wallaces body at the college

"Rhodes wondered why all his conversations seemed to go this way, Maybe it was somehow his own fault, "

Mr. Crider nicely develops the settingthe decaying main streets of Blacklin Countys small towns the heat the countrys expanse, The places, and many of the characters, flow from novel to novel developing a strong sense of place in each, and the series a whole, There are also a few insider jokes: Joe Lansdales name shows up twice, Once as a karate instructor, and again as a novelist, Dan Rhodes is the Sheriff of a small Texas town full of the usual quirky characters, He does not think of himself as being anyone's hero, and is easily embarrassed by anyone suggesting that he really is, His wife is trying to get him to eat a healthy diet, so he sneaks cheeseburgers and shakes at the Dairy Queen while on duty, Of course he always catches the one who did the dastardly deed! I have read several of these and find them entertaining, light reading, I'm a late adapter to the prolific Bill Crider's writing, My first impression of this novel was skepticism it is SO TEXAS, It's also very funny in a dry, slightly repetitious way, But it's a mystery that includes the best characteristics of the genre: an offstage murder that defies easy resolution, a cast of welldeveloped main charactersSheriff Dan Rhodes and his wife, Ivyand useful secondary characters, like the sarcastic and controlling dispatcher whom I would have fired or shot years ago.
I was disappointed to find no more of his books at my library, I really enjoy the humor, small town setting, and the authenticity of people in this series, This book didn't disappoint me, Bill Crider has a sense for people, the little things that make them both heroes and scoundrels within the same person, To me, it's refreshing to have a main character who has faults and flaws but is heroic anyway, Smalltown Texas sheriff Dan Rhodes is in for another puzzling mystery in this next in the entertaining, awardwinning series

Before classes start one morning, the body of English instructor Earl Wellington is found outside the building of the community college.
Wellington was clearly involved in a struggle with someone and has died as a result, Sheriff Dan Rhodes pursues and arrests Ike Terrell, a student who was fleeing the campus, Ike's father is Able Terrell, a survivalist who has withdrawn from society and lives in a gated compound, Hes not happy that his son has chosen to attend the college, and he's even less happy with the arrest,

Rhodes discovers that Wellington and Ike had had a confrontation over a paper that Wellington insisted Ike plagiarized, Wellington also had had a confrontation with the dean and was generally disliked by the students, As the number of suspects increases, its up to Rhodes to solve the murder while also dealing with an amusing but frustrating staff, a professor who wants to be a cop, and all the other normal occurrences that can wreak havoc in a small town.


Bill Crider's Compound Murder is an enjoyable police procedural filled with surprises, chuckles, and a quirky cast that will captivate mystery readers, .