The Lost Are the Last to Die By Larry D. Sweazy

 Guest reviewer Kevin Tipple is back with his take on this Larry Sweazy novel.  Check out his blog Kevin's Corner for more book reviews and book news, as well as links to topics of interest.

Sometimes a short story takes on a life of its own and becomes a full sized novel. Such is the case with The Lost Are The Last To Die: A Sonny Burton Novel. This read is a sequel to the very good, A Thousand Falling Crows.

It is October 1934 as this novel begins and Sunny Burton is no longer a Texas Ranger. Drought and the Depression have Texas in their two handed grip and men and the land are being crushed alike. Sonny Burton, thanks to the gunshot that ultimately took his right arm, will never be able to do a two handed grip again. His new prosthesis allows him to work the stick on his old model A Ford pickup truck and that makes driving a little easier than it was for a while there though he prefers to stay close to home.

That isn’t to be.

Collingsworth County Sheriff Layton Jones, known to all the locals as “Jonesy” brings word that Billy Bunson has escaped from Huntsville. When Burton was working for the Texas Rangers, he had several encounters with Bunson over the years. The first time was back when Billy was a small child. The last one got the adult Billy put away in Huntsville. Not only is he out, but he took the warden’s pregnant wife with him as a hostage when he left the legendary Texas prison.

Billy took her because the police grabbed his girlfriend. Donna Del Rey was helping in the escape and now is sitting in the county jail for her efforts. He wants to make a trade-- the warden’s wife for his girlfriend. To make sure he got his point across, he sent a piece of one finger. Everyone understands that if he does not get what he wants, he will keep taking pieces off of her until she is dead as is the baby. The Rangers want Sonny to find him. Billy knows that the Texas Rangers would get Sonny to help as nobody knows Billy better than Sonny. Sonny coming to Hunstville to lead the search would be expected and another piece of Billy’s plan.

Sonny does not have a choice and he knows it. He is going to have to go to Huntsville and find out all he can so that he can stop Billy if at all possible. A man who was passing his days waiting for the end is given a reason to do what he does best. Even if he does not want to admit it to himself that being back on the chase and needed makes him feel alive in ways he has not felt in a very long time.

What follows is a highly atmospheric mystery with a lot going on. Author Larry D. Sweazy uses a current storyline in 1934 as well as numerous flashbacks across various other storylines primarily to weave a complicated tale in terms of Billy and Sonny’s relationship. Those various storylines and flashbacks also serve to illustrate the complicated relationship Sonny had with everyone including his late wife, Martha, his son, Jesse, and the Texas Rangers, and others. More than once these storylines also touch on Billy and illustrate his childhood years and more and how, in some ways, his destiny was always pre-ordained as was the destiny of Sonny to this point. Multiple storylines are at work through the book as is the overarching idea of a sort of new beginning for Sonny who has suffered so much over the years. There is a lot going on in this very complicated read and far more than what is described here in this review.

The Lost Are The Last To Die: A Sonny Burton Novel is one of those rare reads in fiction that make you think long after the book is closed. I suspect author Larry. D. Sweazy and this book will be up for a slew of awards next year. No doubt he will collect more than one for this intense and very good read. 

Lesa Holstine very graciously sent me the ARC she had of this for my reading pleasure after she completed her review. You can, and should, read that review here.

Kevin R. Tipple © 2019

That Old Scoundrel Death: A Dan Rhodes Mystery by Bill Crider

Reviewed by Jeanne

When Sheriff Dan Rhodes sees two cars pulled off at the side of a dirt road, his assumption is that a driver was in trouble and some Good Samaritan stopped to help.  He soon learns his error when he stops to check on them and finds himself facing a man with a gun.  True, he isn’t much of a man—scrawny and none too bright—and it isn’t much of a gun, but it is pointed at him and he’s pretty sure the guy is high. Or as Dan puts it, “Meth, breakfast of champions.”

As it turns out, the gunman is trying to teach highway etiquette to the fellow who (according to him) cut him off.  It doesn’t take Dan long to subdue ol’ Kenny and earn the gratitude of Cal Stinson who had just been out to look at the old schoolhouse his grandmother had attended back in the day.

The next day, Cal Stinson is on Dan’s radar again but not for traffic violations.  He’s been found dead at the schoolhouse. 

And his name wasn’t Cal Stinson.

This was my first Dan Rhodes mystery and, honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. Several reviewers whose opinions I respect had said good things about the books but somehow I just never picked one up until now.  I’m glad I gave into the impulse when this new book came across the desk.

First of all, it’s a good mystery. 

Secondly, it’s very funny but it’s not slapstick humor.  Well, except maybe from C.P. “Seepy” Benton who fancies himself a private detective and Dan’s right hand man, but Dan pretty much keeps Seepy in line. Time and again, there were lines I’d read over two or three times, just enjoying the humor and passing references to books and films that evoke fond memories.

Thirdly, Dan Rhodes is a great character.  Laid back and calm, I could see actor Sam Elliott in the role.  Dan is a long time sheriff who loves his wife Ivy even though she had decided he should eat healthy so now meals seem to involve kale which always tastes like kale no matter how Ivy tries to disguise it.  Ivy herself is a wonderful character, a good match to Dan.  She’s as quick witted as he is and as down to earth.  They share a mutual respect as well as love.

Finally, Crider does an excellent job of evoking place.  It’s not just the heat and dust of Texas, but the ramshackle homes of the down and out or the dark wood paneled dens of the movers and shakers.

My only regret is that it took me this long to meet Dan.  I am definitely going to pay another visit some time soon.

And if this book sounds familiar, it's because Kevin Tipple reviewed it for us earlier here. In fact, I think it was this review that spurred me (pun intended) into reading it and I liked it so much that I wanted to write my own review.

That Old Scoundrel Death by Bill Crider

Today we are pleased to welcome back Kevin Tipple with a review.  Catch up with more reviews, book news, and interesting links at his blog, Kevin's Corner.

It isn’t a good thing to come across a man with a gun. Especially when the man with the gun is tweaking on meth. It is a hot August day in Blacklin County, Texas and while Rhodes is sweating because of the heat and having a gun pointed at him; the meth head is sweating and shaking because of the meth.

Some sort of road rage incident just happened before Rhodes came by in his patrol car. When all was said and done, the meth head decided to put a real scare in the other driver to teach him one heck of a lesson. Then Sheriff Rhodes went and showed up making things very complicated in the mind of the meth head known to one and all as Kenny Lambert. He has a history with local law enforcement going back a few years so Rhodes knows the man is not terribly bright on a good day. This is not a good day.

Rhodes also knows he screwed up by not figuring out what was going on fast enough and getting backup headed to them. He is on his own and things do not look good. That is until Kenny Lambert gets distracted by the victim. His action allows Sheriff Rhodes to get the gun and arrest Kenny.

All things considered, the victim is relatively okay and introduces himself as Carl Stinson.  He plans on going home and cleaning himself up. He promises to come by the jail later and do the paperwork to bring charges against Kenny. Charges that Kenny will get along with the ones Sheriff Rhodes plans to bring because of having a gun pointed at him.

While it is not exactly normal procedure to let a victim go home and change before coming by the jail later to do the paperwork, Carl Stinson did promise to come by and should be in town for a while as he said he had plans to go look at the old school building nearby in Thurston. Some of the locals are pushing hard to finally bring the old building down before it comes down and maybe kills somebody in the process. The place is not very safe. Stinson says he is in town to see it as his grandmother went to school there. With another promise to appear at the jail, Sheriff Rhodes agrees and Cal Stinson drives off.

Sheriff Rhodes will come to regret that decision.

He is never seen alive again. Instead, he is soon found very much dead in the old school building. His name was not Cal Stinson either. Who he was and why he was shot in the back of the head are just two of the questions that Sheriff Dan Rhodes must answer in that That Old Scoundrel Death: A Dan Rhodes Mystery.

As one would expect, this is billed as the final installment of the great series. The book features all the usual characters that readers have enjoyed for so long. At work, as has been the case for many years now, is a primary mystery, a couple of secondary ones, a dash of humor, plenty of Texas wisdom and scenery, and the occasional Dr Pepper with the real sugar reference. Stir all that together under the able touch of author Bill Crider and you have another very good read. If That Old Scoundrel Death: A Dan Rhodes Mystery is to be the final installment of the series, it ends well and in a very good place. One can’t ask for more than that. 

That Old Scoundrel Death: A Dan Rhodes Mystery
Bill Crider
http://www.billcrider.com
Minotaur Books (Thomas Dunne Books)
http://www.thomasdunnebooks.com/
February 19, 2019
ISBN #978-1250165633
Hardback
288 Pages

$27.99

My very special thanks to Angela Crider Neary who provided an ARC of her Dad’s final book.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2019