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Arly Hanks #8
Martians in Maggody
Anticipating a normal, uneventful summer in the sleepy town of Maggody, police chief Arly Hanks is stunned when hysterical reports of strange lights, crop circles, and a hairy creature precede the arrival of tabloid reporters. Reprint.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
108 people are currently reading
360 people want to read
About the author
Joan Hess
115 books337 followersJoan Hess was the author of both the Claire Malloy and the Maggody mystery series. Hess was a winner of the American Mystery Award, a member of Sisters in Crime, and a former president of the American Crime Writers League. She lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Joan Hess also wrote a mystery series under the pseudonym of Joan Hadley.
Series contributed to:
. Crosswinds
. The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories
. Malice Domestic
. Deadly Allies
. Sisters in Crime
Joan Hess also wrote a mystery series under the pseudonym of Joan Hadley.
Series contributed to:
. Crosswinds
. The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories
. Malice Domestic
. Deadly Allies
. Sisters in Crime
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
February 20, 2025
Question: How many Martians can you fit into the hick town of Maggody?
Answer: As many as there are dirty stories about its inhabitants, endless here!
Zooks! Does that mean we’re sunk?
Yes - if you consider being sunk as being sunk in an overflowing sewer. Yes.
***
Folks, in my day the Cozy Mystery Era was just being born. You could be a strait-laced Catholic and still love Mma Ramotswe! Calling a spade a spade back then would mean you drew ethical limits to your fun. You could do that with cozy mysteries.
In the sorta woke world we had then, Miss Piggy was clean as a whistle.
Now all the inglorious guts of Hell are in good clean fun. What happened?
This is NOT a cozy mystery.
***
The sexual revolution leached meaning from our lives. Without the clean clear enduring sense of value that a marriage of fidelity brings we were all suddenly at sea. So we drifted away from terra firma.
Kids, without love there’s no meaning. Uphold your values.
Don’t drift through your life - find your compass and stick to it!
Two measly stars.
I paid Amazon for a cozy mystery, which this decidedly is not.
Answer: As many as there are dirty stories about its inhabitants, endless here!
Zooks! Does that mean we’re sunk?
Yes - if you consider being sunk as being sunk in an overflowing sewer. Yes.
***
Folks, in my day the Cozy Mystery Era was just being born. You could be a strait-laced Catholic and still love Mma Ramotswe! Calling a spade a spade back then would mean you drew ethical limits to your fun. You could do that with cozy mysteries.
In the sorta woke world we had then, Miss Piggy was clean as a whistle.
Now all the inglorious guts of Hell are in good clean fun. What happened?
This is NOT a cozy mystery.
***
The sexual revolution leached meaning from our lives. Without the clean clear enduring sense of value that a marriage of fidelity brings we were all suddenly at sea. So we drifted away from terra firma.
Kids, without love there’s no meaning. Uphold your values.
Don’t drift through your life - find your compass and stick to it!
Two measly stars.
I paid Amazon for a cozy mystery, which this decidedly is not.
November 15, 2025
MUST READ BOOKS in every genre:
Thriller Say Goodbye
Memoir The Yellow House
SciFi Murder by Memory
Romance Time Loops & Meet Cutes
Just as silly as always....let's put it this way: to misquote Abe
You can fool all the people (of Maggody) all of the time.
Thriller Say Goodbye
Memoir The Yellow House
SciFi Murder by Memory
Romance Time Loops & Meet Cutes
Just as silly as always....let's put it this way: to misquote Abe
You can fool all the people (of Maggody) all of the time.
October 15, 2025
read it cause the cover looked dope
June 5, 2022
A string of unexplainable and bizarre events hits close to home in the small town where nothing ever happens in Joan Hess’s screwball comedy/mystery, “Martians in Maggody.”
In a little town in the Ozarks, somewhere in Arkansas, plenty of peculiar phenomena are setting people on edge and ruffling a few feathers.
Reporters and a TV crew arrive in the backwoods town when UFOs, Bigfoot, and Martians decide to descend on Maggody with a vengeance. People report seeing strange lights in the sky at night, silver-headed Martians, and a Bigfoot traipsing through people’s backyards, rummaging in garbage cans, and creating chaos amidst the county, pitting neighbor against neighbor. Unsightly images of UFO crop circles appear in cornfields.
Maggody’s chief of police, Arly Hanks, has to deal with a host of dilemmas and eccentric townsfolk who add more confusion to the already hardscrabble puzzle. As more horrific events occur, Hank’s imminent problem is the pesky reporters bombarding her small town, asking questions, and stirring more trouble.
The late great Joan Hess was a genius at writing comedy mysteries. “Martians in Maggody” is a laugh-out-loud, amusing romp mystery readers will appreciate.
In a little town in the Ozarks, somewhere in Arkansas, plenty of peculiar phenomena are setting people on edge and ruffling a few feathers.
Reporters and a TV crew arrive in the backwoods town when UFOs, Bigfoot, and Martians decide to descend on Maggody with a vengeance. People report seeing strange lights in the sky at night, silver-headed Martians, and a Bigfoot traipsing through people’s backyards, rummaging in garbage cans, and creating chaos amidst the county, pitting neighbor against neighbor. Unsightly images of UFO crop circles appear in cornfields.
Maggody’s chief of police, Arly Hanks, has to deal with a host of dilemmas and eccentric townsfolk who add more confusion to the already hardscrabble puzzle. As more horrific events occur, Hank’s imminent problem is the pesky reporters bombarding her small town, asking questions, and stirring more trouble.
The late great Joan Hess was a genius at writing comedy mysteries. “Martians in Maggody” is a laugh-out-loud, amusing romp mystery readers will appreciate.
April 18, 2024
Maggody, Arkansas - where liquor comes from stills in the hills and news comes from tabloids. The little town in the Ozarks is ground zero for cow mutilations, crop circles, floating orange globes, a sasquatch, and a glowing silver alien that walks on water. The local minister is creating a plan to convert the aliens to Christianity and claims that the Vatican has a team of astromissionaries getting ready to go forth and spread the Gospel.
The lone police person in town is a young woman who is trying to put a kibosh on the town's firm belief in alien visitations and abductions. "They want you to accept that a highly advanced civilization with the technology to supersede the speed of light has chosen to make contact with drunken fishermen in Mississippi and sheep farmers in New Mexico, as opposed to the salient figures of authority like the President of the United States.” Her mother, Ruby Bee, operates the local diner, which is also the only motel (a few rooms out back) and is gossip central. She and her clan of biddies enjoy trying to "help" Arly.
The characters are great. I'll look for more in the series.
The lone police person in town is a young woman who is trying to put a kibosh on the town's firm belief in alien visitations and abductions. "They want you to accept that a highly advanced civilization with the technology to supersede the speed of light has chosen to make contact with drunken fishermen in Mississippi and sheep farmers in New Mexico, as opposed to the salient figures of authority like the President of the United States.” Her mother, Ruby Bee, operates the local diner, which is also the only motel (a few rooms out back) and is gossip central. She and her clan of biddies enjoy trying to "help" Arly.
The characters are great. I'll look for more in the series.
January 27, 2024
Boston magazine called this “A rollicking tour de force” and I feel like this sentiment really captures this book’s energy. This is one of the more bizarre books I’ve read, filled with conspiracy theories, aliens, Bigfoot, and tabloids—but don’t be fooled, it’s not a magical realism read. It’s also written using a rural Arkansas dialect that was a bit weird but definitely added to the personality of the town, using words like “dint, sez, mebbe, jest, bizness, git”. There were also a million characters and different perspectives that were challenging to keep straight, but by the end I had the cast of this town figured out. And surprisingly, given that this is the 8th book in the series and I hadn’t read any of the previous books, I never felt lost in the story. Overall, oddly charming and I’d definitely read more books in this series.
October 26, 2017
How to make crop circles
I have enjoyed several of the Arly Hanks mysteries, this one is not Hess’s best. The storyline bordered on the ridiculous and the townspeople were described as moronic. I just couldn’t get into it. It did paint the UFO experts as frauds and unscrupulous. If any of that is true, hold on to your pocketbook.
I have enjoyed several of the Arly Hanks mysteries, this one is not Hess’s best. The storyline bordered on the ridiculous and the townspeople were described as moronic. I just couldn’t get into it. It did paint the UFO experts as frauds and unscrupulous. If any of that is true, hold on to your pocketbook.
February 8, 2021
I found this book in a coffee shop, with a Bookcrossing label. I was excited to have had a "wild find", way back in 2005.
It is an OK read, but definitely not my kind of book. It was all a bit ridiculous, the plot, the characters.
I read it because I found it and then I released it back in to the world!
It is an OK read, but definitely not my kind of book. It was all a bit ridiculous, the plot, the characters.
I read it because I found it and then I released it back in to the world!
August 24, 2017
Good beginning
The book starts off with funny characters and plot. However, about two-thirds through, it starts to drag. Too much explanation, too many unneeded details. I skipped through the rest, looking for plot movement but didn't find any.
The book starts off with funny characters and plot. However, about two-thirds through, it starts to drag. Too much explanation, too many unneeded details. I skipped through the rest, looking for plot movement but didn't find any.
August 30, 2017
More fun and mayhem
UFOs seem to have picked Maggody for touchdown. Why, Arly wonders in the town where nothing ever happens. As tensions build, two opposing groups of UFO authors line up with their books and theories. It's a fight to the death. Fun.
UFOs seem to have picked Maggody for touchdown. Why, Arly wonders in the town where nothing ever happens. As tensions build, two opposing groups of UFO authors line up with their books and theories. It's a fight to the death. Fun.
September 23, 2020
Lots going on & the usual moronic characters. Nobody ever changes or grows. I'd really like to see a few of the more annoying characters get a come uppance but I doubt it will ever happen
I don't know why I keep reading the series but I do !
I don't know why I keep reading the series but I do !
October 19, 2020
I have enjoyed all 8 of the Maggody/Arly Hanks books I've read/listened to, including this one. The characters are great, the plots are fun and interesting, and it's all very entertaining. I plan on reading/listening to all 16 of them.
August 30, 2021
It was funny, fast moving, and a bit confusing, but her books often are. I enjoy the insanity that is Maggody. The references to tabloid journalism were interesting and weird . I don't want to live in small town Arkansas but they probably don't want me there, either.
February 23, 2023
These Maggody stories always make me laugh. Laugh and laugh and laugh. Great fun. I wish she had written more. I will keep my copies to re-read when I just need a lift from a fun story.
Thank you, Joan Hess.
Thank you, Joan Hess.
October 31, 2024
Rounded up to 3 1/2.
This just goes to show why I'd never be any good as a sleuth. I did not see that coming., and frankly, I have no idea how Arly did either. I found the story a bit slow-going, but once it hit its stride, it was riveting.
This just goes to show why I'd never be any good as a sleuth. I did not see that coming., and frankly, I have no idea how Arly did either. I found the story a bit slow-going, but once it hit its stride, it was riveting.
June 28, 2017
Quirky characters, decent story line, fun read!
January 9, 2018
Better than the last one. Sections of story getting too familiar. Would like to see a little more variety in the storyline.
March 17, 2018
2-4* I don't recall in detail, so rating gets the "benefit of the doubt".
November 22, 2020
Hilarious
February 27, 2021
Not my cup of tea but it's one of my grandma's favorite amusing reads so I gave it a go
August 29, 2025
Dahlia and Kevin get themselves into difficulty yet again. Arly has to unravel a series of unexplained incidents.
January 23, 2012
It seems downright peculiar that all the alien babies are born in South America," Estelle was grumbling as I came across the tiny dance floor of Ruby Bee's Bar & Grill.
How's that for a first line of a novel, doesn't it make you want to know just what's going on in Maggody. Arly the sheriff who came back to Maggody to escape from the madness of New York City is once again trying to remain sane, unlike all the other crazy residents of her hometown.
This isn't the strongest entry in the series but this eighth book in Arly's saga is very entertaining, and recommended to fans of the series of someone looking for a funny mystery.
How's that for a first line of a novel, doesn't it make you want to know just what's going on in Maggody. Arly the sheriff who came back to Maggody to escape from the madness of New York City is once again trying to remain sane, unlike all the other crazy residents of her hometown.
This isn't the strongest entry in the series but this eighth book in Arly's saga is very entertaining, and recommended to fans of the series of someone looking for a funny mystery.
Read
October 26, 2012I know I've been very amused by Arly Hanks mysteries in the past, but never really warmed to this one. I don't know if this book in the series is any different, or if I just wasn't in the mode for bucoli hijinks. It has the usual enormous pig, and cretinous Buchanons. I do quite like her mother, Ruby Bee, and the evil Jim Bob.[return][return]This storyline involves crop circles and mysterious floating lights that might be UFOs. Alys is sure there's a con going on, but can't prove it. It's not really a matter for a criminal investigation, until one of the alien abduction experts is murdered.
September 4, 2009
Another fast, simple and hilarious read from Joan Hess. The inhabitants of Maggody continue to get weirder and I'm sure the martians would fit in perfectly with these townspeople. I can't wait to see what it will look like in the next couple of books now that two of the more notoriously dim residents are expecting...
May 19, 2013
Plot: 2 stars
Characters: 2 1/2 stars
Style: 3 stars
Pace: 2 stars
Interchangable bumpkins, a plot that meandered and dragged, and while I knew I was picking up in the middle of a series (as one does when the pile is a random assortment brought from a library weeding out), I had zero urge to go get any more from the series.
Characters: 2 1/2 stars
Style: 3 stars
Pace: 2 stars
Interchangable bumpkins, a plot that meandered and dragged, and while I knew I was picking up in the middle of a series (as one does when the pile is a random assortment brought from a library weeding out), I had zero urge to go get any more from the series.
July 22, 2009
In book #7 Arly is hard put to decide which is worse--the potential invasion of extra-terrestrials or the National Enquirer-esque yellow journalists who descend on the town to report on the crop circles, mysterious lights, and other unexplained phenomena.
May 26, 2012
Raz Buchanon cuts circles in his cornfield, claiming aliens must have done it. People come from all over converge on Maggody, vastly improvng the economy in the small town. Then some people begin to die, along w/mysterious cow mutilations
April 3, 2020
Wonderfully funny series set in Maggody, Arkansas. UFOs, Martians and Big Foot all create trouble for Arly. Laugh out loud funny!!
January 13, 2010
See book #1.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews