The Jericho Flower by Stephen F. Wilcox

From the Publisher

Elias Hackshaw, the razor-tongued editor-in-chief for the weekly upstate New York rag, The Triton Advertiser, once again runs afoul of the law when he's mistakenly linked to a professional con artist whose dead body has just turned up in Kirkville. The con man was up to no good, and if Hackshaw knew the guy, the reasoning goes, he must be guilty of something himself; maybe even murder.

In his furious, flailing (and hilarious) attempts to prove his innocence, Hack merely digs himself a deeper hole, a hole that involves him with a beautiful gypsy princess and her wildly dysfunctional family, and a smorgasbord of crazy townies, disreputable and otherwise, who didn't have much use for the muck-stirring newspaperman even before the flim-flam hit the fan. It's up to Hackshaw to save himself, by proving that the con man wasn't the only one in town with fraud in mind.

“Wilcox spins an entertaining yarn of murder and mayhem…With a credible plot and eccentric characters that adroitly avoid being mere caricatures, Wilcox offers a semi-cozy mystery—uncloying, clever and far from brutal.”—Publishers Weekly

“Wilcox is an absolutely first-rate writer…The Jericho Flower is a well-crafted, imaginative tale that this reader wished could go on for much longer. It's a great read…”—Midwest Book Review

“The Jericho Flower is a surprising, deep, amusing, and character driven mystery that will keep you on your toes…It's a mystery that keeps you hanging until the very end, an unlikely hero who will keep you laughing, and a full range of characters that opens you up to small town life…a most involved and amusing mystery from this very talented author.”—All About Murder

Publishers Weekly

After an eight-year hiatus, smalltown (Kirkville, N.Y.) newsman/sleuth/house-restorer Elias Hack Hackshaw (The Painted Lady, etc.) makes a welcome fourth appearance. Hacks weekly column, Ramblings, and his position as editor-in-chief, guarantee that he will have plenty of detractors as well as allies. And the upstate tri-town area covered by the Triton Advertiser is small enough, remote enough and isolated enough to provide cover for plenty of unusual characters from the countys chief criminal investigator, Mel Stoneman, sworn enemy of a local clan of misfits. Wilcox spins an entertaining yarn of murder and mayhem built around the death of a small-time grifter and the involvement of gypsies, Native Americans and others with Hack caught in the middle. The murder of con man Edgar Slow Eddie Williamson catapults Hack into trouble when Stoneman concludes hes involved. Further complications ensue when Stavo, head of a gypsy band, conscripts Hack to find his runaway daughter, Bimbo Wanka. Hacks ambitious plan to catch the killer, get the gypsies off his case and leave Stoneman with egg on his face naturally hits a few snags. But the rough spots provide plenty of humor as Hack combines luck and some inspired improvisations to survive. With a credible plot and eccentric characters that adroitly avoid being mere caricatures, Wilcox offers a semi-cozy mystery"uncloying, clever and far from brutal. (POD) FYI: Mystery Writers of America and iUniverse have created this POD imprint as an alternative for MWA members, many of whom can no longer get their work published by the more commercial houses. PW plans to review other mystery titles in this program on a regular basis. Mystery NOTES Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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