Countdown

by Susan Rogers Cooper

Overview

Arresting a Blanton was always going to be bad news, but things are about to get even worse for Sheriff Milt Kovak.
Everyone in Prophesy County knows that you don’t mess with the dim-witted, in-bred Blantons. So when Milt gets a call to say that Darrell Blanton has shot dead his wife, he’s expecting a rough ride.

Arresting Darrell and putting him in the slammer may have been surprisingly easy, but things are about to get a whole lot worse. Eunice Blanton, Darrell’s mama, takes a dim view of her son’s arrest and decides to storm the Longbranch Inn where Milt’s partner, Jean McDonnell is hosting a bachelorette party for Holly Humphries. With the women taken hostage, Eunice’s terms are – unsurprisingly – simple: release her boy or a hostage gets shot every ten minutes. But there’s a problem: Darrell has been found dead in his cell, with not a mark on him . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780727897756
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	04/30/2015
Series:	A Milt Kovak Mystery , #13
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Susan Rogers Cooper is half-Texan, half-Yankee, and now lives with her family in a small town in central Texas. She is the author of the ‘E.J. Pugh’ series and the ‘Milt Kovak’ series, amongst other books.

Editorial Reviews

Full of good-natured humor, appealing characters, and an intricately complex but absorbing plot

Booklist

Full of good-natured humor, appealing characters, and an intricately complex but absorbing plot

Booklist

07/14/2014
Milt Kovak struggles to keep the peace while contending with forces of nature like tornadoes and his wife, Jean, in Cooper’s amiably folksy 13th mystery featuring the Prophesy County, Okla., sheriff (after 2013’s Dark Waters). The inbred, highly unstable Blanton clan provides the occasion for the crime, beginning with Darrell Blanton’s shooting of his wife, Joynell. Arresting Darrell is no problem, until Darrell’s mama, Eunice, retaliates by taking a bachelorette party hostage and demanding her son’s release. Unfortunately, he has died in his jail cell in the interim. Not only is Kovak’s wife among the hostages, but so are his deputies, Nita Skitteridge and Jasmine Hopkins. Moreover, a tornado is striking nearby Bishop, while Jean has to deal with the death of her friend Paula, whose dysfunctional family may have led to her self-destructive lifestyle. This moderately entertaining entry will be more likely appeal to established fans than win new converts. Agent: Vicky Bijur, Vicky Bijur Literary Agency. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

2014-07-17
Prophesy County, Oklahoma, has a sudden spate of dangerous cases. Sheriff Milt Kovak (Dark Waters, 2013, etc.) isn't surprised to hear that Darrell Blanton has shot and killed his wife. The Blantons are none too smart—maybe because they always marry their cousins—and often in trouble. Milt has no trouble arresting Darrell, but things go south in a hurry when Darrell's mother, Eunice, her son Earl, and her daughter Marge take over the suite at the Longbranch Inn, where Milt's wife, psychiatrist Jean McDonnell, is hosting a bachelorette party, and threaten to kill the guests unless Darrell's released. Their demand poses even bigger problems for Milt than you might expect. The hostages include Jean's visitor Paula Carmichael, a college roommate she hasn't seen for years. Paula was a brilliant, beautiful, promiscuous party animal who became a cardiac surgeon. Now she looks haggard, drinks too much and is unpleasantly snarky. An even more dire complication is that Darrell's just been found dead in his cell, whether from natural or homicidal causes. Just to add to the excitement, a monster tornado nearly destroys the nearby town where Milt and Jean's son is visiting his aunt. After Earl shoots Paula dead, Jean, who'd been annoyed with her old roommate's attitude, resolves to find out what changed her life. The sleuthing duo have a lot to accomplish and not much time to find the answers. Milt's adventures often feature interesting characters and twisty plots. This one, though, crams in so much activity that the impact of any one storyline is lost.

Kirkus Reviews