"Shotgun Saturday Night" is the second Dan Rhodes mystery by Bill Crider following "Too Late To Die". The Book was published in 1987 and gives the reader the next installment of the events in the small town in Blacklin County, Texas.Sheriff Dan Rhodes has hired a new deputy to replace the last one, who was gored by a wild pig (in the last book), and was also engaged to his daughter. The new deputy's name is Ruth. The other's at the police station don't like her much at first.To stir things up a handyman brings in three boxes of severed limbs (arms and legs) to the sheriff's office. As Rhodes investigates the apparition of body parts the handyman who found the boxes is killed by being shot in the chest with a shotgun. A witness claims claims to have heard motersickles at the time of the murder.Dan Rhodes also acquires a dog in this book. He does not call him dog. He names him Speedo, but his real friends call him Mr. Earl. The book has lots of references to songs and music from the 50's, and to the Ed McBain's 87'th precinct books make occasional appearances (what would Detective Corella do). An all together satisfying read and I look forward to the next one in the series.
When a local handyman is killed at close range with a shotgun, sheriff Dan Rhodes discovers that he had new possessions and more money on hand than could be explained by his handyman earnings. Then another man, suspected of the first murder, is also found dead, apparently killed by members of a motorcycle gang. Interesting characters, some quite eccentric. There's also the finding of three boxes of mismatched human arms and legs, which the handyman had found not long before his death. How to explain them...
What do You think about Shotgun Saturday Night (1987)?
#2 in the Sheriff Dan Rhodes series. Laid-back sheriff Dan Rhodes wouldn't dare asy anyone for a hand in solving his latest mystery, in this amusing series entry, he might literally get one.Dan Rhodes series - That easy-going, empathetic, likeable Sheriff Dan Rhodes is up to his neck in a baffling case when a number of arms and legs are found on a trash pile in Blacklin County, Texas. Soon the man who found them is dead and Rhodes wends his way through a gang of rough bikers and assorted Texas types to find a few answers.
—Ed
