Arly Hanks, Maggody's mother-ridden police chief, is a technophobe who cringes at the sight of a mouse, especially when it's connected to a computer. But when Maggody goes online, the Net brings murder, pornography, and maybe Satan to town. Or so the God-fearing folks who live, pray, and mind everyone else's business in Maggody believe.

Gwynnie Packwood, a 17-year-old unwed mother, sees the new computer lab at the elementary school as her ticket out of town, and so does Justin Bailey, the instructor who assures the townspeople he can bring the wired world to Maggody without letting the devil in. Justin and Chapel, his dissatisfied wife, aren't the only newcomers in Maggody; there are also Lazarus and Seth, whose connection with Gwynnie just might have led to her murder. But even without the strangers, Maggody has more than its share of home-grown oddballs, especially the Buchanons, who count among their numbers the mayor of Maggody, his long-suffering wife, pigs of the two- and four-footed variety, and assorted moonshiners and feral boys. The Buchanons drive Arly nearly as crazy as Ruby Bee, proprietor of the Flamingo Motel and the Ruby Bee Bar and Grill (and Arly's mother). And while she may have infinite resources, home-spun wisdom, and irrepressible curiosity and she may see whatever Arly misses and rarely misses a chance to point it out to her aggravated daughter, she's also too much of a lady to tell the police chief when pornographic pictures of Maggody's leading citizens flit across her computer monitor. By the time Arly finds out, they're under suspicion for Gwynnie's murder too, and Satan's stalking the trailer park. Hess's cozies are full of local color and colorful locals; the mystery is merely the container for this Southern-fried ramble through lovingly described and defiantly redneck country. --Jane Adams


From Publishers Weekly
The latest Arly Hanks mystery (after Misery Loves Maggody) proves once again the author's mastery of light-hearted country humor. The tiny Arkansas town of Maggody is in an uproar because one of the local high school teachers has obtained a grant to set up a computer lab for students and citizens. The move toward new technology provokes a fiery debate in the town hall, where the mayor's wife argues that the Internet's easy access to smut makes it the work of the devil. But when the computers and a systems operator arrive, everyone flocks to see the town's Web site, including a 17-year-old named Gwynnie. She and her infant son have just moved to Maggody so she can live with her aunt while studying for her GED, and more than one young man is smitten with her good looks and helpless predicament. But when Gwynnie is murdered and the town's e-mails are tainted with pornographic pictures that flash on the screen for a moment, then disappear, some residents think the devil has indeed arrived and taken up a religious crusade against the new computer lab. It's up to level-headed police chief Arly Hanks to find the earthly causes to both crimes. In order to do so, she must dig into Gwynnie's mysterious past, question a gaggle of trailer park locals and investigate the system operator's shaky marriage--all while trying to quell the detective tendencies of her mother, Ruby Bee, and her friend Estelle. Maggody's eccentric inhabitants and Hess's comic touch infuse this cozy with a refreshing dose of spunk, resulting in another triumph for both small-town America and Hess. (Jan.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
YA-A very funny, witty, and fast-paced mystery. Lottie Estes, high school librarian in Maggody, AR, population 755, has brought the Information Superhighway to a portable classroom located behind the school gym by writing a grant without telling the school board. The board, or really Mr. and Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon along with Brother Verber, the town's spiritual leader, are worried that sex, sin, and Satan have entered Maggody. It is up to the new computer teacher to filter all three "vices" plus give computer classes to the students and residents of the town. Chief of Police Arly Hanks has no problems with the Internet until the murder of a teenage mother is linked to the evening computer class. Now Hanks has problems: solving a murder and learning how to send an e-mail. The cast of eccentric yet lovable characters and their antics will make YAs laugh out loud since most of the sneaking, spying, and learning is done by the adults who experience computers crashing while the young people are cruising in the fast lane.Lisa Muir, Poe Middle School, Annandale, VA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
It looks as if, for once in his sorry life, Jim Bob Buchanon, beetle-browed mayor of Maggody, Ark. (pop. 755, not counting Cousin Raz's pedigreed sow Marjorie), was right: the grant that Lottie Estes won to buy computers for the high school has brought nothing but trouble. At first it seemed that Justin Bailey, grad student wannabe from Farberville and his postmodern wife, Chapel, really could turn the townsfolk from hicks to hackers. But Dahlia Buchanon sees something on her screen that makes her send her beloved Kevvie into temporary exile, leaving her holed up in her house with her mother-in-law, Eileen. Gwynnie Patchwood turns up missing after her evening computer class, and her uncle Daniel disappears on his way to a conference in Springfield, leaving chief of police Arly Hanksalternately assisted and distracted by amateur gumshoes Ruby Bee and Estelleto search Stump County for clues, from the Pot O' Gold Trailer Park to Cotter's Ridge, as Maggody mysteries multiply. You'll need a database to keep all the puzzles straight, and the solutions range from obvious to clever to incomprehensible. But like the earlier chronicles of Maggody (Misery Loves Maggody, 1998, etc.), the true delight here is a chance to travel alongside the sharpest small-town sleuth since Miss Marple visited her first vicarage in St. Mary's Mead. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
The New York Times Book Review An indecently funny backwoods mystery


Book Description
To the quirky and colorful residents of Maggody, Arkansas, population 755, "going online" is something one does at the DMV. So when the high school's new computer lab gains access to the Internet, the town is plunged into virtual chaos. Students are caught sneaking peeks at pornographic Web sites, and compromising photos of prominent Maggody citizens are being flashed across the display monitors. But when the body of a promiscuous young woman is found in an abandoned shack, a web of suspicion ensnares the community. Now, as cyber crime strikes Maggody, police chief Arly Hanks has to use all her low-tech resourcefulness to pull the plug on a murderer.


About the Author
Joan Hess is the author of Misery Loves Maggody (available from Pocket Books) and twenty-two mysteries for which she has received numerous awards, including the American Mystery Award, the Agatha Award, the Drood Review Readers? Award, and the Macavity Award. A former president of the American Crime Writers League, she is currently president of the Arkansas Mystery Writers Alliance. Joan Hess lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

To the quirky and colorful residents of Maggody, Arkansas, population 755, "going online" is something one does at the DMV. So when the high school's new computer lab gains access to the Internet, the town is plunged into virtual chaos. Students are caught sneaking peeks at pornographic websites, and compromising photos of prominent Maggody citizens are being flashed across the display monitors. But when the body of a promiscuous young woman is found in an abandoned shack, a web of suspicion ensnares the community. Now, as cyber crime strikes Maggody, police chief Arly Hands has to use all her low-tech resourcefulness to pull the plug on a murderer.

FROM THE CRITICS

NY Times Book Review