The Sky Took Him

Starred review from December 8, 2008
Set in Enid, Okla., in 1915, Casey's smart fourth whodunit to feature farmer's wife Alafair Tucker (after 2007's The 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.

February 1, 2009
When her presence is requested by a family member, Alafair Tucker goes prepared for death but not for murder. Ruth Ann Yeager, Alafairs younger sister, is tending to her dying husband, Lester, and sorely missing her son-in-law, Keneneth Crawford, who is away on business. So Alafair, farm wife and mother of 10, travels to her sisters side, taking along her oldest, Martha, 23, and her youngest, Grace, 2. When Kenneth fails to return, intuitive Alafair learns about his shady financial dealings and connections with Lesters longtime enemy, Buck Collins; her dreams and premonitions (and those of young Grace) turn out to be accurate. When the person who seems to benefit most from murder is her niece, Olivia, Alafair digs further, ferreting out the killer and uncovering family secrets. Casey captures the Oklahoma of 191516 in a mystery thats essentially a period cozy (a deadly oil-well explosion notwithstanding), with recipes of the era added for spice. Fans will welcome this fourth inan appealing historicalseries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)