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Constable John McIntire doesn’t particularly want to be working very hard. It’s hot out, he misses his wife, and he’s probably clinically depressed. But it’s sometime in the 1950s and men just didn’t get depressed back then – or if they did, nobody called it that. So John’s been moping around, letting the garden go to hell, and resting a lot. Reuben Hofer’s death changes all that. Reuben Hofer and his family have been farming out at the old St Adele schoolhouse since May, which isn’t all that long ago. So who’s got a big enough mad on to shoot Reuben while he’s haying? McIntire plays the odds and looks to Reuben’s wife Mary Frances. He quickly sees that Mary Frances probably can’t walk from the house to the barn without serious medical consequences. She’s a very large woman. Her daughter Claire does a lot of the physical work that Mary Frances can’t do; Claire is 11 and wiser than her years in some areas but not in others. As McIntire investigates, he finds that Reuben isn’t a stranger to the area. He spent most of the recent war in a Civilian Public Service camp nearby, the result of his conscientious objector status. The camp wasn’t the most secure place in the world; residents could spend time in town and Reuben did. He had some kind of relationship with a woman who now owns a beauty parlor. He was a friend with at least one of the guards. Both the guard and the woman are still around and may have engaged in some kind of illegal activity with Reuben. While Reuben was gone, the rest of his family spent their time in a religious community, where their lives were structured but fairly secure. Reuben’s return changed all that, and changed the dynamics within the family. He was a man of rules and order, with consequences for failure. Claire seems determined to hinder McIntire at every turn. He’s bewildered by this, and does his best to find out what he can from her and from the rest of the family. THE KINGDOM WHERE NOBODY DIES is a police procedural in a very broad sense, and still almost a cozy in tone. McIntire has his own personal demons to battle. Claire’s battles seem enormous to her, as events so often do in childhood; those around her try their best to help, although she is not always appreciative of their efforts. This is the fourth in Hills’ series about McIntire, all set in a rural area of Michigan. She writes well, especially about the kinships and secrets that simmer below the surface in small towns. Her ability to show us the world from the viewpoint of an 11-year-old is exceptional.
Reviewed by P. J. Coldren, December 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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