Forty Dead Men
By Donis Casey
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Barnes & Noble pick for "20 Favorite Indie Books of 2018"
"Casey expertly nails the extended Tucker family—some 20 people—and combines these convincing characters, a superb sense of time and place, and a solid plot in this marvelously atmospheric historical." —Publishers Weekly STARRED review
Some people who have experienced a shocking, dangerous, or terrifying event develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is recognized today as a debilitating but potentially treatable mental health condition. Military veterans are a vulnerable group. But PTSD can deliver a knockout blow to anyone, as the remarkable unfolding of the tenth Alafair Tucker Mystery, Forty Dead Men, shows.
World War I is over. Alafair is overjoyed that her elder son, George Washington Tucker, has finally returned home from the battlefields of France. Yet she is the only one in the family who senses that he has somehow changed.
Gee Dub moves back into his old bunkhouse quarters, but he's restless and spends his days roaming. One rainy day while out riding he spies a woman trudging along the country road. She's thoroughly skittish and rejects his help. So Gee Dub cannily rides for home to enlist his mother in offering the exhausted traveler shelter.
Once made comfortable at the Tucker farm, Holly Johnson reveals she's forged her way from Maine to Oklahoma in hopes of finding the soldier she married before he shipped to France. At the war's end, Daniel Johnson disappeared without a trace. It's been months. Is he alive? Is she a widow?
Holly is following her only lead—that Dan has connected with his parents who live yonder in Okmulgee. Gee Dub, desperate for some kind of mission, resolves to shepherd Holly through her quest although the prickly young woman spurns any aid. Meanwhile, Alafair has discovered that Gee Dub sleeps with two cartridge boxes under his pillow—boxes containing twenty "dead men" each. The boxes are empty, save for one bullet. She recognizes in Gee Dub and Holly that not all war wounds are physical.
Then Holly's missing husband turns up, shot dead. Gee Dub is arrested on suspicion of murder, and the entire extended Tucker family rallies to his defense. He says he had no reason to do it, but the solitary bullet under Gee Dub's pillow is gone. Regardless, be he guilty or innocent, his mother will travel any distance and go to any lengths to keep him out of prison.
Donis Casey
Donis Casey is an award-winning author whose first novel The Old Buzzard Had It Coming was named an Oklahoma Centennial Book in 2008. She has twice won the Arizona Book Award and has been a finalist for the Willa Award. A former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur, she currently resides in Tempe, Arizona.
Read more from Donis Casey
The Wrong Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hornswoggled Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wrong Hill to Die On Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Buzzard Had It Coming Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Drop Edge of Yonder Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCrying Blood Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sky Took Him Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll Men Fear Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Return of the Raven Mocker Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forty Dead Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell With the Lid Blown Off Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Valentino Will Die Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Forty Dead Men
6 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's always a stellar day when there's a new Alafair Tucker mystery to be read, and Forty Dead Men continues this tradition. Donis Casey is a master at crafting book titles that grab a reader's attention and imagination, and once this newest title is explained, most will feel a little chill run down their spine. Post-traumatic stress disorder is woven deftly into this story in which life on the farm for most of the Tuckers seems completely unchanged by the war. Gee Dub is having difficulties dealing with his experiences fighting in France, and the appearance of a lone woman trudging down a dirt road in the rain gives him focus, a quest. If he can fix what's wrong with Holly, perhaps he can fix what's wrong with him.It's no surprise that the mystery is a good one in Forty Dead Men, and I happen to think that Holly's runaway husband is one of Casey's best bad guys even though readers never get to see him alive. (Some men's deeds certainly live on past their deaths.) But more than the mystery or the fascinating history that can be learned throughout this remarkable series, it's the cast of characters that keep me coming back for more. Alafair and her husband, Shaw, have ten children. Most of them are grown and have (or are starting) families of their own. Alafair could retire from sleuthing and have many choices among her children for her replacement. Just give her the grandbabies to keep an eye on.In many of the series I read-- no matter how much I love them-- it feels as though the characters are put in a box and set on a shelf in the closet until it's time for the next book. Not so with Casey's Alafair Tucker mysteries. The Tuckers are so busy getting on with their lives that each book feels as though I'm sitting at Alafair's kitchen table for a cup of coffee and a "catch up" chat. These characters are so alive they practically jump right off the page, and aren't those just the sort you want to read about?Mysteries to make you think. Tidbits of history for you to learn. Characters that will have you laughing, crying, feeling proud, or getting upset. All this and much more await those who pick up one of Donis Casey's Alafair Tucker mysteries. They are something very special.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/51918 and Alafair is happy that son, George Washington Tucker, has come home safely from the war. A few days later he meets Holly Johnson who is on a journey to discover what happened to her husband.
Although a well-written story it just didn't catch my imagination and it all felt a bit flat.
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