The Sky Took Him (Alafair Tucker Mysteries, No. 4)
Starred Review. Set in Enid, Okla., in 1915, Casey's smart fourth whodunit to feature farmer's wife Alafair Tucker (after 2007'sThe Drop Edge of Yonder) sensitively evokes smalltown life. The impending demise of Alafair's ill brother-in-law, Lester Yeager, raises concern about the future of the family storage company on the part of his prospective heirs. One of them, Yeager's son-in-law, Kenneth Crawford, has embezzled money from the company. Then Crawford's corpse, lacking any obvious cause of death, turns up in a meat locker. Tucker once again adds her insights into human nature to the official investigation, before arriving at a solution that most will find both logical and surprising. Since the murder occurs well on into the book, readers whose focus is on crime may be a little impatient for something beyond family dynamics and dysfunction to happen. Those who like their puzzles cloaked in local color from a different time will be amply rewarded.(Jan.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.