Blond Hair, Blue Eyes

When a local Senator with a very shady past is assassinated by a young girl apparently off the streets, local police chief Frank Emmett soon finds himself embroiled in something much bigger than it first appears.

This is 1970's Oklohama, a very provincial setting, rife with small-town bigotry - and hate. Soon his trainee Joel is arrested for having a connection to the deceased. Unfortunately he does, but the main reason for picking on him seems to be because he is Black....

At the same time when the charred body of a homeless man is discovered at a derelict property that somehow spontaneously combusted, evidence again points to murder. And the trail to further murders continues.

Here is a case that seems to. Implicate virtually the whole town, but Emmett is determined to get to the bottom of what is going on. So determined that ultimately danger seems to have no meaning for him....

There is a great deal of sly wit in places, mainly at the expense of the haters. Fifty years on, very little changes, except that maybe the smearing is higher up.

The story and ending did seem to drag a little, though there is a satisfying climax involving a suitable evil adversary. On the whole it's a prey, entertaining read.

This was a great fifth book in the Emmett Hardy Crime series, it had that suspenseful element that I was looking for and thought the overall feel worked. The characters were what I wanted and thought everything felt like it belonged in this universe. I enjoyed the way Chris Kelsey wrote this and left me wanting more.

I first chose a Chris Kelsey title because it was set in 1960 in Burr, Oklahoma. I'm always interested in how authors portray small town Oklahoma since I've lived in one for many years of my life. BUT, I continue to read the Emmett Hardy series because it's GOOD!!!!
Burr is set in western Oklahoma where the desert keeps the characters scratching for a living amongst the snakes, both reptile and human. Burr is populated with a set of characters that are as far from Mayberry as you can get. Emmett Hardy is not Andy Griffith. The 1960's were a time of turmoil for the United States, but not for Burr. I recognized the characters, I've met people just like them.
It's 1976 and all of America is celebrating the Bicentennial, when one of Burr's local politicians is assassinated in public. The local police shoot a homeless woman and call the case closed. But Emmett will work his way into questioning the results........irritating everyone along the way.......until he takes one step too many.

If you haven't read any of these titles, you are missing out on some of the best books in anyone's library.