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This page lists novels and short story collections that feature the Akansas police officer Arly Hanks.

Cover images are of the first US edition and a recent paperback or digital edition.

Malice in Maggody

Joan Hess

1987

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"When murders disrupt the peaceful town of Maggody, Sheriff Hanks and her slow deputy, Paulie, set out on a hilarious, hell-raising chase through the backwoods in search of a murderer."

Mischief in Maggody

Joan Hess

1988

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"Police Chief Arly Hanks finds her small town, Maggody, has some new inhabitants when she returns from vacation. Soon, Robin Buchanon, local prostitute and moonshiner, disappears, and Arly finds her bloody body at the edge of a marijuana field."

Much Ado in Maggody

Joan Hess

1989

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"When Joanna Mae Nookim returns to work after giving birth, the bank manager bumps her down to minimum wage as punishment for taking time off. It’s outrageous, but there’s nothing Arly can do. But when the bank burns to the ground and the head teller is found dead, Maggody threatens to burst into an all-out revolution for the sake of women’s rights."

Madness in Maggody

Joan Hess

1990

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"At the grand opening, many get sick. Then someone dies from a product carried on their shelves. Is the mother of the Chief of Police a suspect?? Chief Arly has to find out. And does."

Mortal Remains in Maggody

Joan Hess

1991

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"For Arly Hanks, the Chief of Police in Maggody, Arkansas--population 755--the trouble begins when a small production company picks the town as the site of its next film. However, it's not long before the only scene is the scene of the crime--and the crime is murder."

Maggody in Manhattan

Joan Hess

1992

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"Maggody takes on Manhattan in the sixth mystery to feature small-town Police Chief Arly Hanks of down-home Maggody, Arkansas. The spitfire heroine Arly is the freshest female sleuth to come down the pike in a while, and now she is summoned to New York to unravel the mystery behind all the mayhem--including shootings, an ever-growing pile of dead bodies, and a wild-eyed maniac stalker."

O Little Town of Maggody

Joan Hess

1993

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"Matt Montana is the favorite son of sleepy Maggody, Arkansas. With the voice of an angel and a smile as charming as that of the devil, he’s become one of the most famous faces in country music. Meanwhile, Maggody has sunk into the worst recession in years. So when Matt announces that he’s returning home to play a benefit concert, the locals do everything they can to cash in on Montana fever. As every shop in town stocks up on Matt Montana memorabilia, police chief Arly Hanks - the only sane woman in town - tries to keep her head down. But when one of Matt’s entourage turns up dead in a store window, it’s up to Arly to make sure this isn’t country music’s last act."

Martians in Maggody

Joan Hess

1994

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"Nothing ever happens in sleepy Maggody, Arkansas, until the day UFOs, Martians, Bigfoot, and tabloid reporters all descend on the town. What starts out as a headache soon begins to look like a panic when a dead body is pulled out of Boone Creek."

Miracles in Maggody

Joan Hess

1995

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"When silver-tongued televangelist Malachi Hope swoops into town, with a revivalist laser light show and plans to build a Christian theme park, Arly worries her beloved, if crazy, neighbors are about to be swindled. But it's Malachi who should be terrified. As the town whips itself into revival fever, it's all Arly can do to keep Maggody from coming apart at the seams. And when the girls' basketball coach is found dead, Arly can't help but suspect that the murder is related to Malachi's tent meetings. To save Maggody from itself, Arly will risk everything-in this world and the hereafter."

The Maggody Militia

Joan Hess

1997

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"Kayleen Smeltner decided to open the shop after her husband was killed during a burglary. She came to Maggody expecting peace and quiet, but she'll find this quaint little patch of nowhere isn't as peaceful as it seems. When a right-wing militia takes up residence in the pasture behind the pawnshop, police chief Arly Hanks knows it's only a matter of time before the bullets start to fly. The strange citizens of Maggody are on the verge of civil war, and it will only take one spark to set the town ablaze."

Misery Loves Maggody

Joan Hess

1999

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"When Arly's mother, Ruby Bee Hanks, and a few fanatics leave town on a pilgrimage to Graceland, Arly hopes for a few days of peace and quiet. But before you can say, "Blue Suede Shoes," one of the Elvis enthusiasts has been found dead, and the Memphis police are flummoxed by the tourists' unique brand of crazy. Arly will have to solve the murder herself because, as she knows all too well, it's not insane - it's Maggody."

Murder @ Maggody.com

Joan Hess

2000

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"Things have been so quiet she's taken to sitting in on school-board meetings, and she's doing just this when the high school announces the new computer lab, which will be open to everybody in town. To Arly-who doesn't trust her neighbors to handle a toaster, much less a computer-it seems like an invitation to disaster. Little does she know that when Maggody logs on, the results will be murderous. As soon as the first modem is plugged in, Maggody's computers are flooded with hackers, pornography, libel, and worse. And when a newcomer is brutally murdered, Arly must use low-tech resourcefulness to catch a digital killer-and save Maggody from the information age."

Maggody and the Moonbeams

Joan Hess

2001

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"Enforcing law and order in the Ozarks just got tougher for Arly Hanks: chaperoning the church youth group, she must keep ten hormonally-challenged teens in line on a retreat to Camp Pearly Gates. It's a hellish assignment sure to have Arly and her fellow travelers - Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanon, the mayor's wife; the high school shop teacher; and preacher Brother Verber - praying for strength. But adolescent angst soon turns to shocking revelation when the body of a white-robed woman turns up on the campgrounds. She belonged to the quirky cult Daughters of the Moon - and now Arly, fishing for clues with a handsome angler named Jacko, must walk a narrow path to snare a killer who works in mysterious ways."

Muletrain to Maggody

Joan Hess

2003

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"A few dozen die-hard Yanks and Rebs, a dewy-eyed belle, and a general or two have rolled into town...and so has a documentary film crew, to re-enact a piece of Maggody history. Not that the Skirmish at Cotter's Ridge was particularly significant (it wasn't), or that folks care overly about the 1863 scuffle (they don't). But rumors are flying like musket-fire that two saddlebags of long-lost Confederate gold are holed up in a local cave, and frankly, my dear, 'everyone' gives a damn about getting their hands on it. Authenticity goes overboard when the body count starts rising, and Arly must catch a killer to ensure that the people of Maggody can live, not die, in Dixie."

Big Foot Stole My Wife & Other Stories

Joan Hess

2003

A short story collection.

"In this latest collection by Joan Hess, we see a variety of moods and styles, all displaying why she is such an enduring favorite for readers everywhere. Included are two Claire Malloy stories and a case from the Maggody Files."

Malpractice in Maggody

Joan Hess

2006

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"Can police chief Arly Hanks get through the gossip of small-town Maggody and uncover the real goings-on behind an exclusive rehabilitation center before anyone else dies?"

The Merry Wives of Maggody

Joan Hess

2010

A Maggody novel featuring Arly Hanks.

"Maggody is perceived of as a two-bit hick town, filled with one-bit hicks. But Mrs. Jim Bob Buchanan seeks to change that perception with her latest scheme—a charity golf tournament. This presents a bit of a challenge, since no one in Maggody plays golf and there is no course. But when the prize for the first hole-in-one is announced—a top of the line bass boat—nearly everyone in town develops a new-found interest in the sport. Sheriff Arly Hanks, who has better things to worry about, just wishes it would all go away. When a small-town golf instructor wins the bass boat on the first day of the tournament, it looks like all the excitement is over. But the next morning, when he’s found dead, sitting in the parking lot in the front seat of the bass boat, the prize is once again up for grabs and nearly everyone in town is a murder suspect."