The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake: A Samuel Craddock Mystery

By Terry Shames

Nonie Blake is back home from a mental institution where she has spent the last twenty years, and people are worried. Maybe too worried, for within a week of her return, Nonie is murdered.
      Police Chief Samuel Craddock thinks the only possible suspects are members of her tight-lipped family. Ever since Nonie tried to kill her sister when she was fourteen and was sent away to the institution, the family has kept to itself.
     Clues are scarce and Craddock is stumped. So he checks with therapists at the mental hospital to see whether they can add anything useful to his investigation. But he discovers that she has not been there for ten years. Now Craddock has to find out where Nonie has been all this time.
     Soon Craddock finds himself dealing not only with murder, but layers of deception and secrets, and in the midst of it all—a new deputy, one Maria Trevino, sent by the sheriff to beef up security in the small town of Jarrett Creek.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781633881211

Reviews for The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake

[smithfieldjones · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My second Samuel Craddock Mystery and it won't be my last as I've put this on my "collect" list of "series" murder/procedural mysteries. It takes two reads--two books in the series--to make the list although there is a series out there that contains only one although I tried and tired to find a second and after reader 5-6, and not finding a second that would make the list--I gave up. The only author, and the only series where that has ever happened. While I may find that I like a particular "episode" better than another in a series, I've never found one, yet, that I just couldn't stand in any series that made the list and the list has been going on for about 30 years. Getting back to The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake, it has all the necessary elements to keep one reading--great plot (you want to know what is going to happend next and how this will all end), characters--some you hate, some you like, and some you really don't care but you understand they are necessary the plot. And, last but not least, keeps you guessing and making up the ending, right until close to the ending when you can feel tremendous satisfaction when you have the basic figured out--or not! Terry Shames better keep these coming, because Samuel Craddock has become part of my life, and I want to know how he's doing in Jarret Creek.

[mchenrysplace · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My second Samuel Craddock Mystery and it won't be my last as I've put this on my "collect" list of "series" murder/procedural mysteries. It takes two reads--two books in the series--to make the list although there is a series out there that contains only one although I tried and tired to find a second and after reader 5-6, and not finding a second that would make the list--I gave up. The only author, and the only series where that has ever happened. While I may find that I like a particular "episode" better than another in a series, I've never found one, yet, that I just couldn't stand in any series that made the list and the list has been going on for about 30 years. Getting back to The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake, it has all the necessary elements to keep one reading--great plot (you want to know what is going to happend next and how this will all end), characters--some you hate, some you like, and some you really don't care but you understand they are necessary the plot. And, last but not least, keeps you guessing and making up the ending, right until close to the ending when you can feel tremendous satisfaction when you have the basic figured out--or not! Terry Shames better keep these coming, because Samuel Craddock has become part of my life, and I want to know how he's doing in Jarret Creek.

[anniemod · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

20 years ago the Blakes closed their older daughter Winona (Nonie) in a mental institution after she tried to kill her sister. Noone had heard from her since - actually everyone believes that she is still there. Until she comes back. And then gets killed shortly after this.Jarrett Creek is a small town and a murder makes everyone curious (although considering that this is the fifth book in a series, one wonders how surprised everyone is. That is the first book I am reading by Shames and I suspect I missed some of the connections but the book is readable on its own). Finding the killer is important but for the town finding why Nonie came back and where she had been becomes even more important. And Samuel Craddock, now acting Police Chief again, is the only person that seems to be trying to find the truths buried deep into the town. And the secrets are deadly - people had been killed, people had been almost killed and a family had somehow managed to hide in plain sight for 2 decades - noone seems to know anything and which is more interesting, noone seems to try to figure out the things - highly unusual in a small town. Add to that the new deputy - not just sent from higher up but also being a woman and Mexican and with an attitude against both the small town and its chief of police - and things start getting more complicated than they should be. Craddock manages to forget her a few times, then sends her to investigate what she thinks as a nuisance (although by the end of the book, she realizes that in a small city, a flower bed is a big deal) but somehow manages to get her on the big case as well - and she proves to be useful. By the end of the book, the secrets are revealed, the new cop starts understanding that the small town is not really a death sentence for her career, Craddock had learned to trust her (to some extent anyway) and the small town is calm and nice again. Until the next book in the series of course. And I am off to find the first 4 books and read them. This was a surprisingly enjoyable read.