My second Samuel Craddock Mystery and it won't be my last as I've put this on my "collect" list of "series" murder/procedural mysteries. It takes two reads--two books in the series--to make the list although there is a series out there that contains only one although I tried and tired to find a second and after reader 5-6, and not finding a second that would make the list--I gave up. The only author, and the only series where that has ever happened. While I may find that I like a particular "episode" better than another in a series, I've never found one, yet, that I just couldn't stand in any series that made the list and the list has been going on for about 30 years. Getting back to The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake, it has all the necessary elements to keep one reading--great plot (you want to know what is going to happend next and how this will all end), characters--some you hate, some you like, and some you really don't care but you understand they are necessary the plot. And, last but not least, keeps you guessing and making up the ending, right until close to the ending when you can feel tremendous satisfaction when you have the basic figured out--or not! Terry Shames better keep these coming, because Samuel Craddock has become part of my life, and I want to know how he's doing in Jarret Creek. ( )

Good read. First time I've read this author or series. Will read her work again. ( )

The Necessary Murder Of Nonie Blake is the latest in the Samuel Craddock Mystery Series by Terry Shames. As the title makes clear Nonie Blake had to die. Why and who did it are the main questions that drive much of this book from start to finish.

Winona Blake, or Nonie, is legendary in Jarrett Creek, Texas and nearby areas. It has been twenty years since she left town and eventually wound up in a mental institution far to the north up near Dallas. When she was 14 all those years ago she tried to kill her younger sister. It wasn’t horseplay as she meant for her sister to hang until dead. If it hadn’t been for the quick action of her brother Charlotte Blake would have died that day.

Instead, it is Charlotte Blake, who calls Chief of Police Samuel Craddock to report the latest family tragedy. Her sister drowned in the stock pond behind their house. The home of the reclusive Blake family located a few miles down a gravel road out past the cemetery on the north side of town is about to be a very active crime scene. When Craddock gets out there it is very evident to him that the main cause of Nonie’s death is certainly not drowning. She took a significant blow to the head that also crushed her cheek and broke her jaw. The force that was used far exceeds what she could have generated by a simple fall against a tree or the ground before sliding into the water. This was not an accidental drowning by any means. Figuring out who did it and why are the primary points of an investigation that leads Samuel Craddock on a trail of secrets going back decades.

While that is the main plot there are secondary plots building off previous events and ongoing characters/situations in this highly entertaining series. Along with that, author Terry Shames had added a new character in the form of a female deputy, Marie Trevino, sent in by the state to assist as Samuel Craddock sees fit. She has her own way of doing things and that attitude is going to push Craddock to up his game.

The Necessary Murder Of Nonie Blake features yet another engrossing and complicated mystery in this long running cozy style mystery series. Macavity Award Winner for Best First Mystery author Terry Shames continues to deliver in each successive installment of the series much like what Texas author Bill Crider (prominently mentioned on the book cover) has done in his Sheriff Dan Rhodes Series, Terry Shames has created a sense of family with these characters. It doesn’t take a reader long to feel like he has known Samuel, Lorretta, and numerous others for years once one starts reading the books.

A Killing At Cotton Hill started everything off. Five books later, The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake keeps a great series rolling forward at a great pace.

The Necessary Murder Of Nonie Blake: A Samuel Craddock Mystery
Terry Shames
http://www.Terryshames.com
Seventh Street Books
http://www.seventhstreetbooks.com
2016
ISBN# 978-1-63388-120-4
Paperback (also available in eBook format)
258 Pages
$15.95

Material supplied by the publisher in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2016 ( )

20 years ago the Blakes closed their older daughter Winona (Nonie) in a mental institution after she tried to kill her sister. Noone had heard from her since - actually everyone believes that she is still there. Until she comes back. And then gets killed shortly after this.

Jarrett Creek is a small town and a murder makes everyone curious (although considering that this is the fifth book in a series, one wonders how surprised everyone is. That is the first book I am reading by Shames and I suspect I missed some of the connections but the book is readable on its own). Finding the killer is important but for the town finding why Nonie came back and where she had been becomes even more important.

And Samuel Craddock, now acting Police Chief again, is the only person that seems to be trying to find the truths buried deep into the town. And the secrets are deadly - people had been killed, people had been almost killed and a family had somehow managed to hide in plain sight for 2 decades - noone seems to know anything and which is more interesting, noone seems to try to figure out the things - highly unusual in a small town.

Add to that the new deputy - not just sent from higher up but also being a woman and Mexican and with an attitude against both the small town and its chief of police - and things start getting more complicated than they should be. Craddock manages to forget her a few times, then sends her to investigate what she thinks as a nuisance (although by the end of the book, she realizes that in a small city, a flower bed is a big deal) but somehow manages to get her on the big case as well - and she proves to be useful.

By the end of the book, the secrets are revealed, the new cop starts understanding that the small town is not really a death sentence for her career, Craddock had learned to trust her (to some extent anyway) and the small town is calm and nice again. Until the next book in the series of course.

And I am off to find the first 4 books and read them. This was a surprisingly enjoyable read. ( )