Read: "A Mammoth Murder" by Bill Crider

Read: A Mammoth Murder by Bill Crider, 2006, 0312323875.

Another good job by Crider. The plotting was good and even with all the necessary clues added in throughout the story I was unable to put everything together. I never tried to solve mystery plots until a year or two ago. My concern has always been that the plot has to be believable and the characters have to be interesting.

Sheriff Rhodes is always pretty interesting. A lover of Dr. Pepper, but disliker of the corn syrup sweetener. Alternately loved and threatened by his constituency. Patient to a fault. Smarter than most.

Rhodes is also infuriating. He's always getting cold-cocked by someone and he doesn't want to carry a gun because he doesn't like how it looks. (Rhodes isn't fashion-forward he just doesn't like the appearance.) Heck, a guy is trying to kill Rhodes and Rhodes shoots high to deter the guy. When that doesn't work Rhodes aims low hoping some flying dirt will deter him. What the hell? What ever happened to center mass?

All that doesn't matter anyway. That's just the kind of books Rhodes is in. A "cozy mystery" with more violence, no damn cats, no damn recipes, and probably better humour than the rest. At least I think it has more than the rest. I don't read that other crap.

Up next is Hose Monkey which Crider plugged a few months ago. Crider says "Jump!" I say, "How high?"