Coffin Man

Charlie Moon #16

by James D. Doss

When Colorado rancher and part-time tribal investigator Charlie Moon gets a call from Wanda Naranjo, she’s panicked. Not only is her sink leaking, which Moon graciously fixes, but her sixteen-year-old daughter, Betty, has gone missing. For how long? Only a few hours, but she’s pregnant. So what about the father-to-be? It’s a good question and anybody’s guess. Betty has kept her lips sealed on the subject.

And that’s not all. Betty claimed to be going to see a school counselor on what turned out to be his day off. So was she running away or was she abducted? Moon’s best friend, Granite Creek Chief of Police Scott Parris, doesn’t believe any of it and suspects that Wanda tricked them into doing a little emergency plumbing. While it’s enough to make Parris’s blood boil, Moon can’t shake the feeling that some other foul play might be at work.

James D. Doss’s Coffin Man is a witty ride through the Wild West that’s chock-full of tall tales, wide-open spaces, and Doss’s signature homespun wit.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Westerns, Native American, Crime

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 8, 2011

About the author

James D. Doss (1939, Kentucky, -17 May 2012) was a noted American mystery novel author. He was the creator of the popular fictional Ute detective/rancher Charlie Moon, of whom he wrote 17 mystery novels. James "Danny" Doss was born and raised in Kentucky and died in Los Alamos, New Mexico. He was also an electrical engineer who worked on particle accelerators and biomedical technology for the University of California's Los Alamos National Laboratory, while writing his novels. After retirement from Los Alamos National Laboratory, he continued to write his popular novels while living in Taos, New Mexico and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Doss

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 1 out of 5]

2012 - When I first discovered the Charlie Moon books, I loved them. I don't know why the author has changed his approach so much, but I wish he'd go back to the straight forward narrative. The last few books I did't enjoy, and this might be the last one I read. They are more difficult to follow, all the 'asides' (I don't know how to describe these supposedly cute or funny interludes)..it's like the story teller is getting lost by going down too many side alleys on his way to the finish line.

2021 - re-read. See above. Can't believe of al the reallly good books with Charlie Moon, I pick this one to read again. Oh well, I can always begin with the first one and re-read those.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book initially annoyed me so much I decided I wouldn't read it at all. It was like listening to your grandfather tell some interminable tale, with a million asides and danged colorful expressions. Then I remembered what my brother told me about conversations with our mother: you have to let go of expectations of time passing, linear thinking or coherence, and just enjoy.

I did that, and began enjoying Doss's story.

But enough is enough, and too much is too much. By about three-quarters, four-fifths through, I was fed up, skimming pages to try to find places where the thread of the story was actually being followed.

I'd never read him before, and other reviewers say that he went over the top with this book, that others aren't as windy.

I don't care. It's back to Africa and sailing and history for me.

[John Hanscom · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not remember I swore I would not get another of this series, due to the author's writing style. The first time, his humorous interjections and asides to the reader were funny. The second time it was merely cute. From then on, it has been annoying, and it gets in the way of the story.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written near the end of the series. It has the hallmarks of Doss humor that really stands out midway through the series. I enjoyed the twists and turns as usual and the interactions between the characters, but the humorous side visits to their thoughts given in italics were more numerous and a bit distracting. The final solving of the crime seemed a bit too easy without as much build up. There were also unanswered threads that stuck out a bit.

I like Doss writing and will continue with the final book in the series. If he had not passed away I would probably keep reading his books. This is a good book, just not one of his best.

[Tonya · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me forever to finish this book for numerous reasons but foremost is that this book drove me BANANAS.

I'm not sure who the audience is supposed to be for this book but the writing style is fit more for a TV show complete with commercial breaks every 3 to 4 pages. Oh, and cliffhanger chapter endings that never pan out.

Example:

Given this quiet interlude, one might reasonable conclude that mother and child have vacated the premises. Or have they been forcibly evicted--perhaps driven away by the downstairs tenant? Tempting as it is to speculate about such matters, let us concentrate on that wide-eyed citizen who would trade pointy teeth for a few hours' sleep. Who is this person, and why is the weary soul deprived of a restful siesta?
Stay tuned.

I just didn't believe any of the characters were anything but caricatures of Mayberry police. The 'smart' deputy was lazy and unconcerned, the 'top-cop' Sheriff from the 'big city' was even lazier than his deputy. I hope I never find myself in need of the police if I happen to stumble into that fictional town. A character called 911, sounded afraid and when the Sheriff shows up she's nowhere to be found and he just goes back home to watch TV. No follow up. No search. He didn't even try to enter her home to check on her.

The mystery wasn't really that good either, anyone who's read a ghost story and a mystery could figure out what happened but the book drags this story out for 360 pages, it could easily have been 1/2 that but then we wouldn't have gems like this to read.

Let it be duly noted that this was not a night for fainthearted folk to be out and strolling about; the darkness seemed filled to the brim with nameless horrors. Passing unscathed through malignant shadows where they barely escaped being snatched by a gruesome twosome of hideous stump-hobgoblins, the pair was immediately embraced in the suffocating night shade cast by long, leafy arms slyly posing as innocent cottonwood branches. Gnarled woody fingers reached out to entangle and strangle the warm-blooded creatures and suck their veins dry to the last drop!...

Yes, the author is good at description but it is like this throughout the entire book. I was reminded of a family member that couldn't just tell you they went to the store and bought an apple but had to tell you the time, date, temperature, barometric pressure and precipitation of the day the apple tree was planted along with each day after until the apple was picked before they could tell you if it tasted tart or sweet.

All in all a good yarn; for a yarn in and of itself, but the reader will most likely find themselves feeling let down by the anti-climatic ending.

[Barbara Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has been a couple of years, but I do not remember the earlier books in this series as being so....whimsical and folksy. I remember a good mystery in In this, the 16th book, the whimsy and folksy humor so overwhelms the story that I had difficulty following.

[Laura Knaapen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't like Doss' style of writing, talking directly to the reader with "humorous" asides. There was really no mystery in this one at all. It was very obvious. Just one more and I'm done with the series.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlie Moon is a part time tribal investigator. His best friend is the Chief of Police, Scott Parris. When Wanda calls up Daisy, Charlie's Aunt, and wants to find Charlie for some help she is told by Daisy to just call the police and ask for the Chief and Charlie will not be far behind. Wanda does this, a bit unsure. When Charlie and Scott get to Wanda's house at first all they find is her worrying about her leaky sink that has made a huge water puddle in her kitchen...hardly police business. After Charlie, so nicely, fixes the leak to the best of the old pipes ability the real reason for the call to them is made known...Betty, Wanda's daughter, is missing. She went out for an appointment and never returned home. Because the doctor that she had the appointment with is not open on that day, Scott thinks she just has run off, but Charlie just has a feeling it is much worse than that. Betty is not only very young, only sixteen, but also is very pregnant, eight and a half months. She needs to be found and soon, before anything happens to her and/or her baby. Would she really just run off? Is Charlie's hunch right and is she in danger and not gone by her own choice? How will they find her and will it be in time? Other things quickly go a muck by the cemetery too, where the caretaker is found dead in his home on cemetery grounds and it doesn't look like he died of natural causes either. Who would kill him and what did he see that someone felt he had to be killed. Things will all come together in time, at least that's the hope of all involved. Will they find the murderer? Does he/she have anything to do with Betty going missing? Can they figure it all out before something else happens?

This book was an okay read, but I didn't find it to be anything fantastic for my taste. It was written a bit different than I am used to and maybe that is why I found myself not taking to it as well. It kind of jumped around and it wasn't really being told by any of the characters that you could tell from the beginning. Usually a story is well known that it is from "so and so's" point of view. I didn't get this from this book. I guess I found myself a bit confused at first. I did get used to the writing later in the book though, so that helped. Also, I didn't find it to get off and running right away with the mystery. I like to have the mystery at least hinted on in the couple chapters or so to keep me interested and anxious to read on, but that didn't really happen in this book. I found that I liked the characters for the most part and I think I kept reading mainly to see what happened with them. I also thought the characters were pretty well developed and easy to like or dislike depending on the type of character. I think it was a bit drawn out in some spots and could have been a shorter book, however it moved along well enough after it got started with the mysteries. I did like the Native American "feel" of the book though very much and I liked the ways that was incorporated into the writing. I don't think this was an all bad book, just one that I personally didn't find myself loving and I probably won't read any more of the series. It may be for some people, just not for me.

3/5 Stars

[Jayw]

Colorado rancher and part time investigator Charlie Moon helps local police chief with disappearance of soon to pop teenage mom and a couple of murders that crop up along the way. Meanwhile, Aunt Daisy has lost her ability to see dead people though see can still talk to them. I always like the Charlie Moon stories and liked this one but was annoyed by the Doss' pedantic style in this book. Don't remember ever noticing it before.

[Deshay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally started reading this series because the southwest Colorado setting is a favorite of mine. But, like others have said, the narration and thoughts in italics are getting a bit much. Plus there really wasn't much of a mystery. Sadly, this may be my last Charlie Moon book.

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

This may be the last book in this series I read. Several books ago Doss started with this whimsical, attempted humorous narrative style. I stayed this long hoping he would return to the writing stylel he had at the beginning. That seems to have been wishful thinking on my part.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have followed James Doss for years. This one was a disappointment.

[Harry Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the earlier books in this series were better. This one had a tad too much supernatural stuff and was written in a cutesy manner that struck me as frivolous.

[Terry Steinborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 16th entry in the series - only one more to go. These books are always interesting, being centered on Charlie Moon, the 7 ft tall Southern Ute full-time rancher and part-time deputy sheriff and tribal investigator. It might be argued that the main character in this series, or at least in this book, is his elderly aunt, Daisy Perika, one of the most eccentric characters in mystery fiction. The plot in this book is rather thin, allowing the author's talents to concentrate on making as many amusing bits as possible. In fact, he has gone way overboard with his wit in this book. The injected humor, which gets quite old as one moves on into the book, is very heavy-handed, and in fact detracts from the actions of Charlie Moon and his friend the Sheriff of Granite Creek.
I feel the earlier books in this series were much more enjoyable to read because the author wasn't working quite so hard to be funny

[JulieAnn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't appreciate this story one bit and for that alone I tried to proceed. The push in language and style was uncomfortable and I know the story telling has been different. Not so much "cuteness" of lingo about a descriptions. Actually authentically compelling instead of scrabbling mentally to stay with the story.

[Tom · Rating 1 out of 5]

↓

[Chick Marks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending could have been unwound in a simpler manner

[Thomas Goodson]

It was an excellent book. I love the Charlie Moon series.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

good read

[Mona Hobby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Doss is beginning to get silly. I am getting tired of the constant foreshadowing for no purpose. How about a good mystery instead of a poor comedy.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in the Charlie Moon, Southern Colorado Ute indian ranch owner who is a part time investigator for the Ute tribe as well as a part time deputy for the local police chief mystery series. This story is filed the typical humor found in this series; most of it generated by Charlie's cranky Aunt Daisy who is a character unto herself. This novel has several story lines: disappearance of a 16 year old pregnant girl; actions by the girl's mother, the murder of a grave yard care taker, Charlie's relationship with women, the relationship between Charlie, Aunt Daisy and the young they starting taking care of several years when she was an orphan and Daisy's loss of mystical powers.

This is more a fun story to read rather than an engrossing mystery.

[Sidney Rippy McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather Convoluted Plot

I think the author was getting a bit old by the time he wrote these last books. The plot is a bit ridiculous and a couple of characters from earlier books are just gone with no mention of why. (Mr. Zig Zag, for one, or any of Charlie's lady friends) I hate that he killed off both Betty AND her baby.
He called Sarah a "Ute-Papago" at least 20 times throughout the book, and Daisy an elder about as often. That gets very repetitive. I think perhaps he needed a better editor.
But... he mentions New Mexico pinion coffee. I looked that up and it sounded interesting. I ended up ordering some. It's my new favorite coffee! Now if I could just get some Tule Creek honey.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy Mr. Doss's folksy writing style, with a lot of humor that's a little unusual for a murder mystery. Elmore Leonard has always been my favorite for dialogs, but I think Doss does just as well. The conversations between Charlie Moon and Scott Parris are especially entertaining to me. The characters in the book are very interesting and the story line has a number of turns.

This is James D. Doss's sixteenth book in the Charlie Moon series, and the seventeenth one was written just before his death in 2012. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series that I can find, first preference being ebook format.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful Charley Moon mystery with his irascible Southern Ute Shaman of an aunt, Daisy Perika. As always there is a mystery and couple of deaths and the hilarious antics of Aunt Daisy and her reluctant sidekick, the 19 year old Ute-Papago orphaned ward of Charley Moon. Scott Paris, the Granite Creek chief of police rounds out the foursome main characters. James Doss gives another highly entertaining story that has humor and a great who-dun-it that you can solve.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Charlie Moon and his friend, police chief Scott Parris investigate the disappearance of a pregnant teenager. Is there a connection between Betty's disappearance and the death of the keeper of the local cemetery? And can they keep Charlie's elderly aunt Daisy out of the case? (No to that last one.) Frankly, between the coy narration and the gore that's marred the last few books, I've decided to give this series a rest.

[Cybercrone · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it.

I'm only now realising what a difference there is between good short=story writing and good novel writing. Having lately finished a couple anthologies where it was obvious that the short stories were actually chunks of novels, and now this book which reads like an endless short story written by someone in a writing class who is doing exercises on alliteration.

It was pretty awful.

[Janis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the Charlie Moon books tremendously. They are clever and offer up a good mystery with some humor and glimpses into Ute life. The only drawback, for me personally, is the time spent on Aunt Daisy Perika's musings about spirits, seeing the dead and the Pitkupof...how ever it's spelled. Other than that...nice books.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I especially enjoyed this book because I recently visited the area of the setting, southwestern Colorado. The narrator style is a little unusual but I enjoyed the sense of a storyteller telling me the story. As usual in this series, Charlie Moon's aunt, Daisy Perika is the most entertaining character.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the next to the last Charlie Moon book by James D. Doss. I enjoyed it very much, as I did reading all the books in this series. This is at least the second time reading this series and I know I will read them again and again.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a "whimsical" mystery, where the author breaks the plane and "Talks" to the reader. It is still a fun and interesting series. One of these days, however, Daisy will have to depart this mortal coil and I don't know hwere the series will go from there.