Forty Dead Men

Forty Dead Men by Donis Casey

Alafair Tucker is a farm wife and mother in early 20^th century rural Oklahoma, and this tenth book in the series takes place just after World War i. Her eldest son, George Washington Tucker, known to his family as Gee Dub, is home from the war in France, but Alafair senses that there is something different about him. He spends a lot of time alone, roaming the property on his horse.

 One day he comes across a young woman on the road, tired and lost, but unwilling to trust in a stranger. 

His mother discovers that the young woman is Holly Johnson, from Maine, whose husband was in the war, but hasn’t contacted her since. She discovered he was from a nearby town in Oklahoma,  and is looking for his relatives to find out her status. Is he alive or is she a widow? 

This is one of my favorite mystery series. It includes a lot of the hardships of the times, but Alafair is a hardworking and practical woman, and the family pulls through each crisis.

Return of the Raven Mocker

The Return of the Raven Mocker: an Alafair Tucker mystery by Donis Casey

Set in rural Oklahoma in the 1910s, this series centers around Alafair Tucker, her husband Shaw, and their ten children. The older children are married with their own families, the boys are in the army fighting the war, and their youngest daughter is starting school.

The Spanish flu has invaded the area and people are dying at an alarming rate. When a local man’s wife and stepson are found dead, it’s first assumed that they succumbed to the flu. But the woman hadn’t been ill, and Alafair is far too familiar with the signs of the disease—she suspects poisoning. She is afraid that her testimony might have caused an innocent man to go to jail. This book is eighth in the series. The author captures with wonderful authenticity life for a large rural family, and Alafair is a practical, resourceful and tenacious detective.