The Last Laugh

Garth Ryland Mystery #1

by John R. Riggs

Newspaper editor Garth Ryland finds himself and others involved in a series of sinister events after he begins to use the diaries of the late Si Buckles, Oakalla's biggest practical joker, as a basis for his weekly column

Genres: Mystery

186 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Since 1971, John has lived in Putnam County, Indiana, currently on a small farm southeast of Greencastle. Throughout those years he has worked as a teacher, football coach , quality control foreman, carpenter, and wood-splitter. From 1979-1997 he assisted James R. Gammon of DePauw University with Gammon's landmark research on the Wabash River. Presently, as he has done for the past twenty years John works as a researcher for the DePauw University Archives.

John is author of 13 books in the Garth Ryland mystery series, several published articles, and the Bicentennial History bulletins for the Indiana United Methodist Church. His works in progress include a Garth Ryland mystery and Me ,Darst, and Alley Oop Walking the Dog, both memoirs. River Rats, a coming of age novel, set along the Wabash River in the 1950's.

Reviews

[Jazz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this mystery featuring Garth Ryland, small-town newspaper editor, who turns sleuth to discover who killed the town's practical joker. Although I lost the thread a few times in the narrative, it didn't detract from my enjoyment of this first book in a series I very much look forward to following.

[Marius · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent small town mistery story with decent writing, decent characters, decent overall. The book has its issues, a lot of paper characters in that small town, I mean even the sheriff didn't do squat while people were dying, the news editor did everything. Plot became very predictable at some point. 3*

[Ruby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like that this mystery covers jokes gone wrong, its the dark side of other wise good people, its an interesting look at how things have turned out for everyone.
However, I gave it two stars because it didn't pull me in, I wanted to love this but the first few chapters were slow going. but it picks up fast after that I just felt it was a mix of action, and rambling plot lines, some characters are lovely and funny, but it wasn't until the end that I felt it was worth the read. the mystery has some twists and I enjoyed the finish to the story. sadly I would not want to read it again, however, I would be interested in checking out more books in the series.

[Amber Page]

Booklist Queen 2024-Set in a small town-Practical joke turns deadly and the deae man's diaries cause more deaths in the small town.

[L Y N N · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book read a bit like noir to me. Somehow, there wasn't a character I truly trusted, including the female love interest. I concur with others who have stated Riggs' writing is quite simple and uncluttered. No extra verbiage here! I admit the story is a bit haunting. I was lucky enough to meet the author and he has inscribed the two books I purchased from him as well as this copy of The Last Laugh which I procured from my favorite bookstore, Robots & Rogues in Indiana. I did alert him to the fact that the Goodreads synopsis isn't even close to this story; someone obviously posted inaccurate information regarding this book.

The only reason I would not rate this as 5 stars is the fact that I typically prefer much more thoroughly detailed characterization than this book offers. However, it is quite an enjoyable story and I admit, I didn't know exactly who the perpetrator was until close to the end. Riggs does a great job of leading the reader to suspect each character in turn, in my opinion. An excellent mystery!

In reading others' reviews, I saw a recommendation to read these books in the order of publication. When asked, Riggs replied that it probably is best to do so--better to track changes among the characters, etc. So, looks as if I'll be checking the other books out from our local library! At one point in the past, someone was planning to turn these into TV shows/movies. I can see the potential for that from this first book of the series. Perhaps in the future?

[Gloria Mccracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was half mystery and half ghost story, full of odd and twisted characters in a small town with lots of secrets stretching back decades.