LIGHTS, CAMERA,...MURDER?

Chief of Police Arly Hanks is still telling herself that someday she'll leave her hometown of Maggody, Arkansas (pop. 755) and return to the bright lights of Manhattan. Ordinarily Arly's known for saying nothing ever happens in Maggody, but lately that's all changed: Word is buzzing all the way from Ruby Bee's Bar & Grill to Estelle's Hair Fantasies that Hollywood (or at least Burbank) is coming to this tiny Ozarks town to shoot on location. Everyone is starstruck. Even Arly seems to be falling for the sweet talk of a handsome young actor when she ought to be focusing on stopping the local arsonist. Then things really heat up. First the actors are peeling off their clothes--and if that weren't enough, they're suddenly turning up missing--or dead. Before the director can yell "action," the credits are rolling on a moonshine-style mystery....

Another “great” cozy mystery set in outrageous Maggody, Arkansas, a town so strange that even Hollywood filmmakers can’t believe it’s real (Library Journal).

From the Kwik-Stoppe-Shoppe to the Pot O’ Gold Mobile Home Park, there isn’t much glamour in Maggody . . . but this flyspeck Arkansas town is about to become famous. When a Hollywood production company chooses Maggody as a backdrop for an X-rated Ozarks “Romeo and Juliet,” the locals are starstruck. And as Maggody is flooded with washed-up actors, ruthless producers, and a cynical crew, the townsfolk will do anything for a close-up—even if it means resorting to murder.

Chief of Police Arly Hanks has no time for Hollywood—she’s got her hands full with a local arsonist—but when one of the actors is found dead in a bathtub, she’s forced to intervene. As the film spins out of control, Arly realizes that the citizens of Maggody will stop at nothing to get their fifteen minutes of fame—even as the town burns down around them.

In the spirit of David Mamet’s State and Main, this delightful novel shows that when Hollywood collides with small-town values, the movie industry doesn’t stand a chance.

Mortal Remains in Maggody is the 5th book in the Arly Hanks Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.