Much Ado in Maggody

Written by Joan Hess

Narrated by Courtney Patterson

A hilarious police procedural set in the strangest town in the Ozarks, where whip-smart sheriff Arly Hanks does everything she can to keep the peace.

Nothing ever happens in Maggody, Arkansas, population 755. Aside from handling the occasional barroom brawl or exploding still, Chief of Police Arly Hanks spends her days sipping coffee and squashing flies. She returned to Maggody two years ago, licking her wounds after a bad Manhattan divorce, and she fell backward into the role of sheriff. From Hizzoner the Moron-also known as Jim Bob Buchanon, the pettily corrupt mayor-to Ruby Bee Hanks-Arly's mother and the town's foremost gossip-the people of Maggody are all crazy in their own ways, and that craziness is about to turn deadly.

When Joanna Mae Nookim returns to work after giving birth, the bank manager bumps her down to minimum wage as punishment for taking time off. It's outrageous, but there's nothing Arly can do. But when the bank burns to the ground and the head teller is found dead, Maggody threatens to burst into an all-out revolution for the sake of women's rights.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Highbridge Company
• Release date: Aug 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781696605243

Joan Hess

Joan Hess is the author of the critically acclaimed Maggody mysteries, including Muletrain to Maggody, Maggody and the Moonbeams, Misery Loves Maggody, and [e-mail], nominated for the prestigious Nero Wolfe Award. She has received numerous awards, including the American Mystery Award, the Agatha Award, the Drood Review Readers' Award, and the Macavity Award. A former president of the American Crime Writers League, she is currently president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance, as well as a member of Sisters in Crime. Joan Hess lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.