What do you think?
Rate this book
Ragsdale and Walker #1
Memphis Ribs
Memphis in May. The International Barbecue Contest, the Cotton Carnival, and now two murders. And it is all on the shoulders of failed cotton farmer and current Memphis homicide detective, J.W. Ragsdale, to solve both crimes before the tourist start leaving in droves. J.W. and his partner, Tyrone Walker, sift through an unusual cast of characters, ranging from black gangs dealing crack, to an heir apparent son of Southern aristocracy, and to the newly crowned Maid of Cotton. To make matters worse, someone is intent on turning out mass market bad barbecue, the unpardonable sin in Memphis. Through all this, a power struggle for gang leadership has left bodies strewn about the bluff City. Wondering if agrarian fever might not be so bad, J.W. Takes the investigation to his home country, the Mississippi Delta. What he finds could change his life forever...or end it.
Audio Cassette
First published May 1, 1999
75 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 8, 2015
My first encounter with Gerald Duff, but it won't be my last. This was a fun one, full of deliciously quirky characters, good guys and bad guys alike. On the trail of some tourist-murdering ATM thieves, Sgts JW Ragsdale and Tyrone Walker lock horns with Memphis and Mississippi society-types, hoodlum gangbangers, east coast drug dealers and the usual morass of police department politics. Add in deadly rednecks and barbecue to die for (perhaps literally) and you have a plateful of belly laughs and rollicking action.
The dialogue is pure mid-south with a pinch of Delta cracker and ghetto-blaster patois. These guys are a blast.
Do yourself a favor. Get your 'cue on and dive right in.
4 Stars
The dialogue is pure mid-south with a pinch of Delta cracker and ghetto-blaster patois. These guys are a blast.
Do yourself a favor. Get your 'cue on and dive right in.
4 Stars
May 7, 2015
Intrigue, plenty of mystery, drama, suspense with utterly
unpredictable plots twisting and turning throughout the book.
Plenty of humor and down to earth, funky, engaging and vivid
characters.
Come on down for a real treat of “Memphis Ribs”.
Thank you to Net Gallery and Brash Books for this eBook.
My opinion is my own.
unpredictable plots twisting and turning throughout the book.
Plenty of humor and down to earth, funky, engaging and vivid
characters.
Come on down for a real treat of “Memphis Ribs”.
Thank you to Net Gallery and Brash Books for this eBook.
My opinion is my own.
July 27, 2015
It’s tourist season in Memphis; the Mississippi Delta land is filling up with convention-goers and barbecue lovers. They’re fixing to parachute in a couple of whole hog carcasses, but not until after the Cotton Queen goes by on her float. And this being Delta country, the float really is a float; it is a barge made over, and she is much more concerned about keeping every hair exactly where it belongs than she is about finding out who killed Daddy the other night. Okay, actually she pretty much knows, and it was badly done. But damned if it’s going to spoil her special day. As for me, I just want to say thank you to Net Galley and Brash Books for the DRC. It’s been a dark but enjoyable viewing.
So let’s have a chat, just the two of us, about the best way to break into an ATM machine. Never tried it myself. I would never have thought to do it the Memphis way, so maybe it’s just as well I turned out to be more the sort to read and write things and less the criminal type. Because frankly, I never would have considered just ripping the thing off its moorings with a forklift and driving it away to where I could tear it apart in privacy. Franklin Saxon is more suited to this kind of activity. We’ll let him do it, or at least direct the hired help to do it. Well, for as long as he can, anyway; things don’t go well for him up the road a fair piece.
As for our local cops, JW Ragsdale just wants to get out of Memphis for a bit. It’s so humid, so crowded. The bugs alone will make you crazy. If he can launch an investigation that will take him out of town, preferably with a fishing pole and a six-pack in tow, he’ll be happy to fill out the paperwork saying he’s been on the job, been conducting critical interviews.
How sad for him, then, that he is so good at his work. One interview leads to another, and before you know it, the man is right in the thick of all sorts of drug smuggling, fraud, thievery and yes, oh yes…murder. It ain’t so much a holiday after all, and looky here, even the barbecue done turned rancid. It really isn’t his day.
The Bones family figures prominently; they’re employees of Franklin Saxon, recently bereaved son of Aires Saxon. The hard part is not sampling the merchandise.
“ ‘Shee-it,’ said Stone Job. ‘Shee-it. Merchandise. Why you call it that?’
“ ‘Fool, that’s what it is. That’s what we be buying and selling. Why you think we
done made a withdrawal from the ATM the other night?’”
“’To pay the white man the money for the rock. That’s why.’”
“’Right, you getting it. That be the Bones business…Free enterprise, motherfucker.’”
At first, with my political antennae always on alert regardless of genre, I was concerned about the negative depiction of African-Americans in the story. Were we going to veer toward stereotypes here? And what is up with the use of the word “honky”, which I hadn’t heard since the 1970’s?
But not to worry. This little tale treats everyone with equal irreverence. In fact, the very best, sickest humor, to my way of thinking, was the scene at the pork processing plant, when JW indulges in a little fantasy of his own regarding the speed-that-line-up foreman.
Trust me.
If you are squeamish, if you can’t deal with sick humor or gruesome interludes, give it a pass, already. It isn’t half as gross as most of what’s on television, but never mind; the point of dark humor is to enjoy it, and we want you to have a good time here.
If, however, you can read Janet Evanovich and The Onion and come away holding your sides, then this little goodie just might be up your alley. Originally published in 1999, it will be released in digital format May 5.
I recommend you read it separately from meal time, though.
So let’s have a chat, just the two of us, about the best way to break into an ATM machine. Never tried it myself. I would never have thought to do it the Memphis way, so maybe it’s just as well I turned out to be more the sort to read and write things and less the criminal type. Because frankly, I never would have considered just ripping the thing off its moorings with a forklift and driving it away to where I could tear it apart in privacy. Franklin Saxon is more suited to this kind of activity. We’ll let him do it, or at least direct the hired help to do it. Well, for as long as he can, anyway; things don’t go well for him up the road a fair piece.
As for our local cops, JW Ragsdale just wants to get out of Memphis for a bit. It’s so humid, so crowded. The bugs alone will make you crazy. If he can launch an investigation that will take him out of town, preferably with a fishing pole and a six-pack in tow, he’ll be happy to fill out the paperwork saying he’s been on the job, been conducting critical interviews.
How sad for him, then, that he is so good at his work. One interview leads to another, and before you know it, the man is right in the thick of all sorts of drug smuggling, fraud, thievery and yes, oh yes…murder. It ain’t so much a holiday after all, and looky here, even the barbecue done turned rancid. It really isn’t his day.
The Bones family figures prominently; they’re employees of Franklin Saxon, recently bereaved son of Aires Saxon. The hard part is not sampling the merchandise.
“ ‘Shee-it,’ said Stone Job. ‘Shee-it. Merchandise. Why you call it that?’
“ ‘Fool, that’s what it is. That’s what we be buying and selling. Why you think we
done made a withdrawal from the ATM the other night?’”
“’To pay the white man the money for the rock. That’s why.’”
“’Right, you getting it. That be the Bones business…Free enterprise, motherfucker.’”
At first, with my political antennae always on alert regardless of genre, I was concerned about the negative depiction of African-Americans in the story. Were we going to veer toward stereotypes here? And what is up with the use of the word “honky”, which I hadn’t heard since the 1970’s?
But not to worry. This little tale treats everyone with equal irreverence. In fact, the very best, sickest humor, to my way of thinking, was the scene at the pork processing plant, when JW indulges in a little fantasy of his own regarding the speed-that-line-up foreman.
Trust me.
If you are squeamish, if you can’t deal with sick humor or gruesome interludes, give it a pass, already. It isn’t half as gross as most of what’s on television, but never mind; the point of dark humor is to enjoy it, and we want you to have a good time here.
If, however, you can read Janet Evanovich and The Onion and come away holding your sides, then this little goodie just might be up your alley. Originally published in 1999, it will be released in digital format May 5.
I recommend you read it separately from meal time, though.
July 29, 2015
Book Review Memphis Ribs by Gerald Duff
Book Review by Dawn Thomas
848 Pages
Brash Books
Mystery
The book opens with an unconventional robbery of an ATM. Instead of breaking into the machine, the robbers decide it would be better to take the whole machine. The men don’t know the machines can withstand major damage. The main character J.W. Ragsdale is a sergeant with the Memphis police department. He is last in his family to live in the area but he lost the family cotton farm. He has a girlfriend but isn’t sure she is the right one for him. There are mentions of his previous life with a wife and son but we don’t really know anything about them.
Aires Saxon is murdered. He is the patriarch of the Saxon family and owner of the Delta Pride BBQ franchise. Was it a home invasion or was it staged to look like one? The family members’ lives are imploding. Franklin is only interested in his next fix and is in over his head with the Bones Family gang. His sister Cameron is only interested in her current duties as the Maid of Cotton.
It is J.W. and his partner Tyrone’s responsibility to bring law and order to the land. Add a yankee that loves blues music, two gun totting brothers and a BBQ ribs master and you have a cast of colorful characters. This is a gritty book that takes place in and around Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. I had some difficulty with the language at times especially with the local dialect and slang. J.W. gets his man, or should I say men. The ending of the book was unpredictable and I was laughing out loud.
Book Review by Dawn Thomas
848 Pages
Brash Books
Mystery
The book opens with an unconventional robbery of an ATM. Instead of breaking into the machine, the robbers decide it would be better to take the whole machine. The men don’t know the machines can withstand major damage. The main character J.W. Ragsdale is a sergeant with the Memphis police department. He is last in his family to live in the area but he lost the family cotton farm. He has a girlfriend but isn’t sure she is the right one for him. There are mentions of his previous life with a wife and son but we don’t really know anything about them.
Aires Saxon is murdered. He is the patriarch of the Saxon family and owner of the Delta Pride BBQ franchise. Was it a home invasion or was it staged to look like one? The family members’ lives are imploding. Franklin is only interested in his next fix and is in over his head with the Bones Family gang. His sister Cameron is only interested in her current duties as the Maid of Cotton.
It is J.W. and his partner Tyrone’s responsibility to bring law and order to the land. Add a yankee that loves blues music, two gun totting brothers and a BBQ ribs master and you have a cast of colorful characters. This is a gritty book that takes place in and around Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. I had some difficulty with the language at times especially with the local dialect and slang. J.W. gets his man, or should I say men. The ending of the book was unpredictable and I was laughing out loud.
June 15, 2016
When the book started off, I thought to myself, "here we go again...a down-and-out detective, no girl, lives alone, ad naseum". But, as the book continued, that all went away. This main character was terrific...street-smart, tough, human...I liked him. His partner was well developed as were most of the top tier of people. The plot became somewhat predictable after a while, but the conclusion, which was wonderful, was not clear until the end. When they talked about eating the ribs, I started drooling!
Some real good writing like, when the director of a video had a bullhorn confronting our main guy, "You say one word to me at this range through that thing, and I'm gonna stick it so far up your ass your fats are gonna sound like thunder." or...
Describing a musician singing in a back-in-the-woods rib place, "...was singing into the microphone ...like it was reluctant woman's ear and he had only a minute to convince her." Great stuff!
No sex.....thankfully...and not a lot of vulgarity...except where it was necessary.
A terrific read !
Some real good writing like, when the director of a video had a bullhorn confronting our main guy, "You say one word to me at this range through that thing, and I'm gonna stick it so far up your ass your fats are gonna sound like thunder." or...
Describing a musician singing in a back-in-the-woods rib place, "...was singing into the microphone ...like it was reluctant woman's ear and he had only a minute to convince her." Great stuff!
No sex.....thankfully...and not a lot of vulgarity...except where it was necessary.
A terrific read !
January 21, 2016
J. W. And Tyrone Make a great team
This is the first book by Gerald Duff I've read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love the way J. W. And Tyrone play off each other. Like the major said, they make a good comedy team. I like the fact the story constantly moves along - there aren't any dead spots. We learned the comically tragic way Franklin Saxon met his end. But I would have liked to have seen what happened to Cameron, the Maid of Cotton. She was such a witch at heart, I'd like to have seen her meet some just end. Also, what was it that Big Daddy put on the fat guy's ribs? Oh well, don't let these 2 minor short comings cause you to miss this book. It really is a good read.
This is the first book by Gerald Duff I've read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love the way J. W. And Tyrone play off each other. Like the major said, they make a good comedy team. I like the fact the story constantly moves along - there aren't any dead spots. We learned the comically tragic way Franklin Saxon met his end. But I would have liked to have seen what happened to Cameron, the Maid of Cotton. She was such a witch at heart, I'd like to have seen her meet some just end. Also, what was it that Big Daddy put on the fat guy's ribs? Oh well, don't let these 2 minor short comings cause you to miss this book. It really is a good read.
April 1, 2016
First few pages I thought it was a script for the “Boyz – in – the - Hood” flick. Then it seemed to turn into a book about a bunch of “good ole boys”. Eventually it was just a very good story and it all came together nicely. More impressive was the accuracy of the depiction of some of the characters in that section of the country. I think I have met some of those people, or for sure their doppelgangers. Add to all this a dose of humor (sometimes dark) and you have a fine evening of enjoyable reading with some unforgettable scenarios.
July 13, 2016
J.W. and his partner, Tyrone Walker, sift through an unusual cast of characters, ranging from black gangs dealing crack, to an heir apparent son of Southern aristocracy, and to the newly crowned Maid of Cotton. To make matters worse, someone is intent on turning out mass market bad barbecue, the unpardonable sin in Memphis. Suspenseful and at times, explosively hilarious!!
March 29, 2010
As a Tennessean I found this hilarious. The names, descriptions, and dialogue all rang true. Enjoyed meeting Gerald Duff and looking forward to reading the rest of his books.
November 8, 2018
An exercise in nostalgia and comfort, this whodunit was largely forgettable ... but it soothed my ears to hear so many references to my favorite city.
July 9, 2021
#1 in the Ragsdale and Walker detective series
Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It took me some time to get into this book, possibly because of the fairly convoluted plot and many moving pieces--not my usual thing. Plus the Southern lingo took me a while to warm up to, although it did seem to set the scene for me. The frequent references to black vs white was unusual in today's time period. I'm not sure if it reflects the time when this book was written or if it's just the way things are in the Deep South. It didn't detract from the story, but it was noticeable. The main characters were my favorite part of the book. Ragsdale is a calm and confident detective in his professional life, but he's pretty messed up in his personal life. He lost his family's farm to foreclosure, but I couldn't decide if he was upset about that or didn't care. In this current job, he's quietly relentless in his pursuit of the bad guys, using his good old white boy persona. Walker, his partner, is a black former football player who is his perfect foil. I enjoyed the camaraderie between them and the dry wit they both exhibited. OK, but I don't think I'll continue with this series since it's too far out of my comfort zone.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It took me some time to get into this book, possibly because of the fairly convoluted plot and many moving pieces--not my usual thing. Plus the Southern lingo took me a while to warm up to, although it did seem to set the scene for me. The frequent references to black vs white was unusual in today's time period. I'm not sure if it reflects the time when this book was written or if it's just the way things are in the Deep South. It didn't detract from the story, but it was noticeable. The main characters were my favorite part of the book. Ragsdale is a calm and confident detective in his professional life, but he's pretty messed up in his personal life. He lost his family's farm to foreclosure, but I couldn't decide if he was upset about that or didn't care. In this current job, he's quietly relentless in his pursuit of the bad guys, using his good old white boy persona. Walker, his partner, is a black former football player who is his perfect foil. I enjoyed the camaraderie between them and the dry wit they both exhibited. OK, but I don't think I'll continue with this series since it's too far out of my comfort zone.
August 13, 2018
A few pork ribs short of a good bbq
It's a decent premise, but the book is obviously dated and the writing is choppy. There are some great parts, but especially the first part suffers from choppy dialogue and not so great characterisation. The lead detective does become more sympathetic later on and the ending doesn't cover the motivations of the antagonists, which takes away from the book. Almost like the writer couldn't come up with anything interesting. Ragsdale as a character grew on me towards the middle of the book and the interaction between him and Walker was excellent, despite how little the was of it.
It's a decent premise, but the book is obviously dated and the writing is choppy. There are some great parts, but especially the first part suffers from choppy dialogue and not so great characterisation. The lead detective does become more sympathetic later on and the ending doesn't cover the motivations of the antagonists, which takes away from the book. Almost like the writer couldn't come up with anything interesting. Ragsdale as a character grew on me towards the middle of the book and the interaction between him and Walker was excellent, despite how little the was of it.
September 25, 2020
This book was really more like a 2.5 star book. It was not great. It has a number of boasts about accurate dialogue for the time period. It felt old and mildly unpleasant. I did like J.W Ragsdale, the promary Detective. He reminded me a bit of Clete from the James Lee Burke Dave Robichaux Series. I thought that criminals in this were all pretty stupid and the book itself was fairly by the numbers except the crazy ending which was terrible.
August 14, 2018
Original , fast moving story.
Fast moving, original story. Characters were realistic, historical setting made for a good background. Southern history was imbedded within it all. A good read.
Fast moving, original story. Characters were realistic, historical setting made for a good background. Southern history was imbedded within it all. A good read.
September 18, 2018
Tasty
A story about drugs, good old boys, Memphis, the old cotton south and barbecue. Lots and lots of barbecue. Plot was a little light and predictable but the deep south conversation carried the book.
A story about drugs, good old boys, Memphis, the old cotton south and barbecue. Lots and lots of barbecue. Plot was a little light and predictable but the deep south conversation carried the book.
July 6, 2019
Funny, irreverent and sometimes disgusting, this book was an interesting change of pace. The Memphis newspaper recommended it so it must not be a disparaging view of the city. The lead detectives were interesting characters and I might hang out with them again.
November 13, 2018
Mildly entertaining with an interesting plot and some laugh-out-loud moments, but at the end of the day it didn't quite gel for me.
November 6, 2020
Well, hi y'all! Ah wont be a apartaking of #2!
March 26, 2025
The reader just didn't appeal to me. Wrong for the story.
October 23, 2015
(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)
It’s May in Memphis, and four bloody murders occur on the eve of the International BBQ Contest and the Cotton Carnival: a conventioneer is stabbed at an ATM machine, a gang leader and his girlfriend are executed, and a wealthy local businessman is killed in his own home while his bodyguard is napping outside the door. It’s up to homicide detective J.W. Ragsdale to solve these seemingly unconnected crimes without scaring away the tourists who are arriving in droves. That’s not going to be easy. Ragsdale’s investigation pits him against a crack-dealing gang in the midst of a bloody drug war, a Memphis BBQ king struggling to hold on to his crumbling empire, a shotgun-wielding assassin, an East Coast mobster with a taste for BBQ and the blues, and the newly crowned Maid of Cotton, who will do anything to keep her tiara.
Certainly wasn't taken with this story. Originally published in 1999, it feels dated, clunky and missing some of the crispness that great current thriller writers are putting out.
I normally try and find something positive to say about a book before I mention the things that I thought were bad...in this case, it is a real struggle. I guess the fact that, although racial stereotypes do exist, they exist across the board. Irreverence is the name of the game here and it does have some light moments.
However, it is dragged down with terrible dialogue, no real plot to speak of, certainly no mystery or suspense as we are introduced to the bad guys in the first few chapters.
Not my cup of tea, at all...
Paul
ARH
It’s May in Memphis, and four bloody murders occur on the eve of the International BBQ Contest and the Cotton Carnival: a conventioneer is stabbed at an ATM machine, a gang leader and his girlfriend are executed, and a wealthy local businessman is killed in his own home while his bodyguard is napping outside the door. It’s up to homicide detective J.W. Ragsdale to solve these seemingly unconnected crimes without scaring away the tourists who are arriving in droves. That’s not going to be easy. Ragsdale’s investigation pits him against a crack-dealing gang in the midst of a bloody drug war, a Memphis BBQ king struggling to hold on to his crumbling empire, a shotgun-wielding assassin, an East Coast mobster with a taste for BBQ and the blues, and the newly crowned Maid of Cotton, who will do anything to keep her tiara.
Certainly wasn't taken with this story. Originally published in 1999, it feels dated, clunky and missing some of the crispness that great current thriller writers are putting out.
I normally try and find something positive to say about a book before I mention the things that I thought were bad...in this case, it is a real struggle. I guess the fact that, although racial stereotypes do exist, they exist across the board. Irreverence is the name of the game here and it does have some light moments.
However, it is dragged down with terrible dialogue, no real plot to speak of, certainly no mystery or suspense as we are introduced to the bad guys in the first few chapters.
Not my cup of tea, at all...
Paul
ARH
May 24, 2015
Memphis Ribs by Gerald Duff is a strange mystery combining a love of BBQ, gangs, drug trafficking and a Cotton Carnival. The characters did not strike me as likeable or admirable persons. But I will admit that as I age I find books containing a large amount of “street language” or poor grammar unappealing. The plot was almost over the top with its blend of 2 different murders by different people, a large amount of drug trafficking and other crimes. I’m uncertain of the author’s intended market but while I did not care for the book, it might have a greater appeal for fans of urban fiction or the grittier variety of police procedural fiction.
June 29, 2016
Perhaps because I'm an aussie and not used to Southern speech, but there were a number of times I had to re-read sentences to figure out what the writer meant. The plot was reasonable and I did enjoy the last half of the book more than the start, once things started tying in together. I was disappointed it ended where it did though, I don't think a real police department would have been happy to end it there.
December 31, 2017
Two police officers chase down murderers and drug dealers in Memphis during Festival time. There's plenty of barbecue and blues in the novel, but no suspense. The bad guys are identified in the first few chapters. It was written in 1999 and it seemed dated. The blurbs said the author had a good ear for the dialect, but I'll have to take their word for it. No suspense, no mystery.
May 5, 2015
This book is not only a great thriller, it is also a fun read. The characterizations and the interplay between the characters provide a story that is a pleasure to read. All the players are real people with strengths and weaknesses that provide strong emotions in the reader Try it, you will be glad you did.
Read
April 10, 2015I'm in the middle of reading this. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I was intrigued with the new cover (much better than the old one) but so far the thriller feel just is not there.
I will come back to it later and see if it resonates more with me.
Received from the publisher via netgalley for an honest review.
I will come back to it later and see if it resonates more with me.
Received from the publisher via netgalley for an honest review.
August 8, 2016
Good story and a little bit over the top
Some exaggeration about the importance and celebration of the Cotton Carnival in today's Memphis. Also a bit dated in reference to smoking at his desk in the police department and in restaurants. If you're a native of the area you may pick up on some discrepancies whether intentional or not. Any rate it's a fun read.
Some exaggeration about the importance and celebration of the Cotton Carnival in today's Memphis. Also a bit dated in reference to smoking at his desk in the police department and in restaurants. If you're a native of the area you may pick up on some discrepancies whether intentional or not. Any rate it's a fun read.
March 30, 2015
I received this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This was the first book I have read by Gerald Duff, and it was entertaining. A good piece of mindless entertainment..I mean that in a good way. Cutesy, funny, and just a fluffy read. Will definitely read more of his work.
April 30, 2015
I received an free copy from the publisher courtesy of netgalley, all opinions are my own. At 14% DNF. No real plot, a lot of southern stereotypes. Book is all over the place and derogatory racial references.
May 11, 2015
First, I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book free, for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book. For a steady, simple read this book hit the spot. A little bit of mystery, a little bit of comic relief, and a whole lot of ribs!
June 28, 2016
good characters and good dialogue
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews