It’s time for another Sheriff Dan Rhodes mystery from Bill Crider. Survivors Will Be Shot Again is
just as amusing as earlier books, with the same quirky characters we’ve come to expect and appreciate. It’s always fun to watch the sheriff puzzle out the answers to the latest crime in Blacklin County, Texas.
Actually, Rhodes should never take a day off. One day, and he ends up foiling a convenience store robbery with a loaf of bread, and finding a body. The robbery was just another comic highlight for the citizens who expect their sheriff to be a heroic two-gun hero. They just know Rhodes is the model for Sage Barton in a series of wild adventure-romances. And, Rhodes’ wife, Ivy does nothing to disabuse them of that notion. But, it’s the murder victim that gets the sheriff’s attention. Melvin Hunt, the victim, and the man who owns the barn where Melvin is found, had both been victims of local thefts. Rhodes will certainly ask questions when theft and murder are involved.
Sheriff Dan Rhodes is the perfect hero for a series of delightful police procedurals. He acknowledges that TV and the Internet, and even those Sage Barton books, set people up to expect instantaneous, miraculous results when crime is involved. He doesn’t let expectations bother him. “Rhodes wasn’t discouraged by the seeming lack of evidence. He’d always had a lot more luck with talking to people than he’d had with finding clues.” In fact, he sees his investigations as puzzles, with pieces that need to be fitted together correctly and tried different ways.
That doesn’t mean there’s no action in Survivors Will Be Shot Again. Readers will appreciate action scenes with a loaf of bread, prehistoric animals, and a dangerous group of teenage thieves. This latest engaging mystery is one more fun story featuring the Texas sheriff who doesn’t take himself or life too seriously, but does take crime seriously.
Bill Crider’s website is www.billcrider.com
Survivors Will Be Shot Again by Bill Crider. Minotaur Books. 2016. ISBN 9781250078520 (hardcover), 272p.
*****
FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.
Love this series and excited for the new one.
Thanks, Lesa!
I love this series too. I'll be at the bookstore bright and early tomorrow!
You're welcome, Bill. Good luck with it. And, Lisa & Karen, you'll love it, as usual. I like the relationship between Rhodes and Ivy.
I enjoyed your review, Lesa. This book is going on my list. Hope you have a good week!
Thank you, Beth. This is a fun series, but you don't have to have read any of the earlier books. I think you'll enjoy Sheriff Dan Rhodes. I hope you have a good week as well! Hugs!
Of course, I've been reading Bill's books since well before Sheriff Rhodes was a gleam in his eye. I started this one on our trip to D.C. but will read the P. J. Tracy first (sorry, Bill) because that is a library book.