Monday Book Review: Bubba and the Dead Woman

Bubba Snoddy is a good old country boy with a big problem. Although he’s personable, handsome, and lives in a historical Southern mansion in a small Texas town, he has just discovered the dead body of a woman to whom he was once engaged to marry. His ex-fiancée was responsible for Bubba being thrown out of the military which in turn caused his shameful return to the tiny town of Pegramville, where everyone is a consummate gossip and no one has any secrets. Sheriff John Headrick believes Bubba killed his ex-fiancée in a fit of vengeful rage. The townsfolk believe that Bubba killed his ex-fiancée in a fit of vengeful rage. Bubba’s own mother believes that Bubba killed his ex-fiancée in a fit of vengeful rage. To top it all off, there are some mighty strange goings-on at the Snoddy Mansion, where ghosts walk the halls rattling chains in the midnight hour, and Bubba’s own sainted mother, Miz Demetrice, runs an illegal gambling ring. Rumors run merrily rampant about Bubba, decadent Snoddy ancestors, missing Civil War gold, a to-die-for sheriff’s deputy with the greenest eyes Bubba’s ever seen, and a Basset Hound named Precious who likes to nip first and ask questions later. Bubba has to find out exactly who did murder his ex-fiancée and quickly before he goes to jail for the crime, or before someone murders him.

My Take:

Good ole yarn about a good ole country big bubba redneck done wronged.

You can practically hear the banjos playing softly in the background, strains of Musical Americana blowing on honeysuckle breezes as you read paragraphs after pages. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Bevill creates an old southern country tale from times long ago, or yesterday, depending on your point of view. Good whodunnit if you don’t put much time into over-thinking the plot.

Bubba is one of those tall, ex-military folksy guys that anyone would like to know. He’s easily framed for a murder of an ex-fiance and his law-breaking mother doesn’t really help his case. The people are somewhat cartoonish in Bevill’s tale but they go hand-in-hand with this breezy, rolling and rollicking almost-fable, where going to the local jail is about as easy and fun as going to a night of bowling in a mid-size city. Where the reality and fiction mix and mingle just as easy.

I enjoyed the small-town, folksy atmosphere that in no way mirrored the small town I grew up in, though Bubba would be an exception. Everyone’s favorite tall giant, even when accused and jailed for murder, he’s still everyone’s favorite Bubba.

Read with a grain of salt, I give  4 1/2 stars.