A Series of books by Joan Hess that follows the titular character who is the Sheriff of Maggody, Arkansas.
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Books
- 1987: Malice in Maggody
- 1988: Mischief in Maggody
- 1989: Much Ado in Maggody
- 1991: Madness in Maggody
- 1991: Mortal Remains in Maggody
- 1993: Maggody in Manhattan
- 1993: O Little Town of Maggody
- 1995: Miracles in Maggody
- 1997: The Maggody Militia
- 1999: Misery Loves Maggody
- 2000: murder@maggody.com
- 2001: Maggody and the Moonbeams
- 2004: Muletrain to Maggody
- 2006: Malpractice in Maggody
- 2009: The Merry Wives of Maggody
Tropes for the novels:
- Church of Saint Genericus: The actual denomination of Brother Verber's Voice of the Almighty Lord Assembly Hall is never stated. The narrative shows Brother Verber being suspicious of Catholics, Methodists, Unitarians, Lutherans, and Episcopalians at various times, and there's a Baptist church down the highway that competes with him for followers, but the Assembly Hall's exact affiliation is never specified (of course, Verber's "theological training" was via a Las Vegas correspondence course that he seems barely to have passed, so it's possible he doesn't know either}.
- Crop Circles: In Martians in Maggody, the appearance of crop circles in moonshiner Raz Buchanon's field draws a horde of UFO fanatics to the little Arkansas town, eager to photograph (for $10 a head, payable to a grinning Raz) this "inexplicable" phenomenon.
- Cult: Subverted in Maggody And The Moonbeams, where a reclusive all-female Christian sect is actually a front for a group of battered women in hiding, whose members are being exploited for cheap manual labor by their corrupt leader.
- Dead Guy on Display: In ''O Little Town of Maggody, the mannequin from the "Take Your Photo With Matt Montana" display in Mrs. Jim Bob's gift shop is removed during the night and replaced with a real corpse. Once it's discovered, the body is fully visible through the shop's front window and a crowd of tourists gather to watch Arly and Sheriff Dorfer examine it.
- Dirty Old Monk: Brother Verber (A Protestant preacher) spends a lot of time studying pornographic magazines and videos only so as to better understand how the Devil might lead his flock astray (or at least that's what he tells himself).
- Tontine: The men of Maggody arrange a tontine for possession of the bass boat in Merry Wives of Maggody, apparently not aware that such a document is illegal and unenforceable. Roy Stiver Lampshades how tontines had never made sense to begin with, even in mystery novels.
