One winter evening in 1912, in the woods outside of Boynton, Oklahoma, abusive and drunken Harley Day surprises his son John Lee and the neighbor girl Phoebe Tucker in a lovers' tryst. An hour later, when John Lee walks his beloved home, Phoebe's mother, Alafair Tucker, suspects that something is amiss. How could she know her daughter has been involved in a violent confrontation that will make Phoebe and her beau murder suspects?

At supper that evening, over bowls of soupy beans and buttery cornbread, Alafair, her husband Shaw, and their nine lively children, much amused that Phoebe has a boyfriend, discuss the unfortunate Day family. The Days are tormented by their evil father, who beats his wife, mistreats his children, and wastes their money. The mother is helpless, and the eldest daughter, Maggie Ellen, has run away, leaving only 19-year-old John Lee and his 13-year-old sister Naomi to care for the younger children and keep the family from destitution.

Then... well, the old buzzard had it coming!

This Best Unpublished Mystery of 2004 (The Oklahoma Writers' Federation, Inc.) is the first in a new series.

Reviews

As the mother of nine, Alafair Tucker's hard but basically peaceful life on a farm on the Oklahoma frontier in 1912 is changed forever when one of her daughters--17-year-old Phoebe--is involved in the murder of an obnoxious neighbor. Phoebe is the girlfriend of the chief suspect, the dead man's son, and might even have been his accomplice in the crime.

Under Donis Casey's gifted hand and shrewd historic eye, Tucker adds solving a mystery to her busy schedule. It all could easily have gone soft and cute, especially the many long visits to the Tuckers' fellow farmers. But by avoiding all the built-in traps, Casey has produced a sharp and suspenseful first novel. -- Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune (10 July 2005)

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Life on the Oklahoma frontier in 1912 was anything but easy, yet Casey's sweet-tempered debut manages to make readers nostalgic for simpler times... the appealingly homey world Casey creates rings true. With so much going for her, readers will be right pleased to see a sequel. -- Publishers Weekly (6.6.2005)

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"As vivid and unforgettable as a crimson Oklahoma sunset" -Carolyn Hart

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"Donis Casey...gives us a tale full of wit, humor, sorrow and, more important, the truth. Her Alafair Tucker deserves to stand beside Ma Joad in literature's gallery of heroic ladies."

--Tony Hillerman