Review: What did you expect?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 5, 2011
With a title like "Bubba and the Dead Woman," this book had to be hopelessly bad or tongue-in-cheek hilarious (and, had the book not been free, I might not have taken the chance).  Like other reviewers, I'm not 100% sure that all the malapropisms, punctuation errors, and random "which"s were intentional, but they were entertaining either way. I have no expertise to say whether the dialect was accurate as small-town Texan, but it did effectively convey speech habits--if not exact word choices--that I have heard in many small towns. I was not entirely convinced by many of the mystery plot elements (for example, would not cutting wires to security cameras that the employees knew were fake be a clever way to direct attention away from the employees rather than exonerating employees?). Other examples would go too far towards spoiling the plot. As another reviewer has noted, the characters are cliches, but, presumably, that was part of the humor--the chapter headings were so cliched as to approach parody, and that feature was, I'm sure, intentional. Whether or not ALL of the amusing elements were intentional, writing a funny book that includes murder requires considerable skill. I believed Bubba's sadness, the husband's grief, and the parents' bewilderment--those were not funny--which gave me as a reader a sort of permission to laugh at the rest.This book is an excellent example of Stanley Fish's reader-response theory: how much a reader enjoys this book will depend at least as much on the individual reader as on the book.  If you want fine literature, compelling characterization, or careful plotting, look elsewhere. If you want a fast read for light entertainment, put down your red editing pen and try "Bubba and the Dead Woman."