Product Description

Soon after arriving in Sugartree, Arkansas-where she spent many lazy, languid childhood summers-folk art expert Benni Harper discovers that there's something seriously sinister brewing in this usually-peaceful small town...

"The sweet sentimentality of this paean to small Southern towns...is the glaze that holds this story together." (Houston Chronicle)

"Winning...Fowler delivers cozy entertainment without resorting to unrealistically syrupy solutions." (Publishers Weekly)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #119476 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-02
• Released on: 2002-04-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780425184288
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Benni Harper is coming home to Sugartree, Arkansas. The folk-art historian, ranchwoman, and unwitting detective of Earlene Fowler's Agatha Award-winning series is back in the Ozarks for Sugartree Baptist Church's Homecoming festivities. Benni's brought both her husband, Gabe, and her best friend, Elvia Aragon, from California for the occasion, which promises to be a celebration of the best of small-town Southern life. For Benni that will always carry "the memory of muggy Arkansas summer nights filled with the scent of sweet honeysuckle, fresh-mowed grass, and the taste of half-melted Dairy Queen chocolate sundaes."

But Benni's nostalgia is cut short abruptly when the worst of small-town Southern life rears its ugly head. Benni's childhood friend, Amen Tolliver, is running for mayor against incumbent Grady Hunter, whose son Toby--a fledgling white supremacist--will do anything to make sure a black woman doesn't win his father's office. When Toby is found with his head beaten in, and Amen's nephew Quinton becomes the prime suspect, Benni's idealism takes a backseat to curiosity--and to the painful consequences of exposing both the prejudices and the skeletons that Sugartree residents would prefer to keep deep in the closet.

Fowler is perhaps more concerned with local color than with the rigors of mystery plotting, lovingly creating a world bound by faith, friends, and food--especially food. Witness Benni's soliloquy to Ozark comestibles, sparked by her first glimpse in years of a Piggly Wiggly grocery store: "'Blue Bunny and Yarnell's ice cream,' I said gleefully. 'Delta Gold syrup. White Lily flour. Aunt Nellie's corn relish. Martha White cornmeal. Crowder peas! Eight flavors of grits. Eight! You can't get that in California.'" But so appealing are Fowler's characters and so enticing is that world, that the novel's essentially anticlimactic denouement will probably seem of little importance. Fowler is rapidly proving herself a master of the American cozy, and the Benni Harper series continues to improve with each outing. --Kelly Flynn

From Publishers Weekly
If your image of quilters is that of old ladies whiling away the hours in rocking chairs or at looms, then perhaps you've not met Benni Harper, the frisky director of the Josiah Sinclair Folk Art museum in San Celina, Calif. In her eighth winning outing (after 2000's Seven Sisters), Benni returns to her hometown of Sugartree, Ark., accompanied by her friend Elvia, and finds relatives and friends embroiled in racial, religious and romantic rivalries that turn their reunion into disunion. Sugartree, population 5,000, has its share of bigots, hidden and overt, and two events have already stirred them up. Benni's friend Amen Tolliver, a black woman, is running for mayor against wealthy white incumbent Grady Hunter. And Sugartree's two Baptist churches, one black, one white, are discussing a merger that has deeply divided both congregations. Being Hispanic, both Elvia and Benni's husband, Gabe Ortiz, attract unwelcome attention after Gabe's arrival, threatening the blooming romance between Elvia and Benni's cousin Emory. When the ugliness leads to murder, Amen's election chances are jeopardized and an innocent young man is arrested. However, there are also plenty of decent people in Sugartree and a lot of great food, memories and humor. Benni needs all her vaunted spunk to solve a killing that threatens to scar the town she loves, as Fowler delivers cozy entertainment without resorting to unrealistically syrupy solutions.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

My first Benni Harper, but not my last
I picked up Arkansas Traveler while on vacation. Having read all the books I packed, I went to the hotel lobby store to pick up something quick and easy. I found Arkansas Traveler, and it sounded like the perfect book for vacation. What I didn't know is that the book was part of a series. I settled down to read and became quickly enraptured with Benni, her lovable and quirky friends and family. Unfortunately for me, now I will need to start the series at the beginning!
The mystery almost seems like a side event to the cooking, visiting, church going and interaction among all the family and friends presented here. I love 'Southern' flavored books, and this one does not disappoint. Lots of local color and eccentric people to keep one entertained. There is a murder, of someone it appears nobody liked. Toby Hunter is a wanna be white supremacist, and the son of Sugartree's mayor. When Toby is found dead, and the suspicion seems to be aimed at Benni's friend Amen's nephew, Benni decides to investigate. The final revelation of the murderer and the motives seem almost a sideline to everything else. The issure of race in the South is shown from both sides, and no simple and satisfactory conclusion is given to the complex questions raised, and for that I am thankful. I loved the writing, and the reverence for both small town life, and places like the Dairy Queen and Piggly Wiggly, and the love of good cooking. I cannot wait to start this series from book one!

curiousity killed the cat - but not Benni Harper!
Ms. Fowler doesn't sugar coat the racism issue and the ugliness of it angered me. I say to live and let live. It's sad to think that such treatment of people still happens today. There is so much more to focus on than race. There are no answers found in her book but we can only hope that it will make people think before acting. Words can be more hurtful than physical abuse. With each book Earlene Fowler got better and better. I thought I might get tired of them by the time I read all 8 books. But that didn't happen. I've grown attached to Benni and will miss her antics...but not for long, Ms. Fowler is due to release, Steps to the Altar, in April 2002. I look forward to reading it. Though Mariner's Compass won the Agatha Award for Best Novel in 1999 I believe this last book, Arkansas Traveler, proved to be her best. I felt the emotions, the good and the bad, and the end brought tears to my eyes. Ms. Fowler, keep up the great work!

Another reason why Earlene is an Award winning Author!
Arkansas Traveler is a wonderful addition to the Benni Harper series. The author has branched out with a bold statement about racism and the heart of people. She twists in a murder while two churches are attempting to merge. The characters are wonderful. The reader gets a new understanding of Benni's best friend Elvia and Benni's husband Gabe. The rest of her family comes to life too. There is a delightful Southern charm to Arkansas Traveler. Growing up in the South made all of the references to food and stores a lot of fun! From Piggly Wiggly to the Waffle House- I was completely entertained. Yet again, I love how Earlene gives credit to the Lord in her novel. Once again, He has blessed her with the gift of writing!