The Devil's Bones

by Larry D. Sweazy

Even if Jordan McManus survives, nothing in Dukaine will ever be the same. When a late-summer drought drains a pond outside of the small town of Dukaine, Indiana, old secrets quickly come to the surface. A small skeleton is revealed in the mud, and everyone in town is convinced the bones belong to Tito Cordova, an eight-year old boy who disappeared nineteen years earlier. Dukaine is home to the SunRipe plant, a tomato processing plant that relies on migrant workers to work the fields surrounding the town. Tito's mother, Esperanza, was a year-round resident. Both mother and son were just a bad memory, and Tito's disappearance was thought to be best forgotten by most of the town's residents. When the marshal of Dukaine is lured to the pond and shot, the investigation falls to deputy Jordan McManus. Racing against time, and under the threat of his own arrest as a suspect in the shooting, Jordan must dig deep into the past, and face the possibility that Tito Cordova might still be alive. After another murder occurs, Jordan McManus finds himself squarely in the crosshairs of the law and a cold-blooded killer.

334 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 7, 2012

About the author

Larry D. Sweazy (pronounced: Swayzee) is the author of nineteen novels and five series: the Trusty Dawson series (LOST MOUNTAIN PASS, THE BROKEN BOW), WHERE I CAN SEE YOU, a standalone thriller, the Marjorie Trumaine Mystery series (SEE ALSO MURDER, SEE ALSO DECEPTION, SEE ALSO PROOF), the Sonny Burton series (A THOUSAND FALLING CROWS, THE LOST ARE THE LAST TO DIE, WINTER SEEKS OUT THE LONELY), the Lucas Fume Western series (VENGEANCE AT SUNDOWN, ESCAPE TO HANGTOWN), the Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger series (THE RATTLESNAKE SEASON, THE SCORPION TRAIL, THE BADGER'S REVENGE, THE COUGAR'S PREY, THE COYOTE TRACKER, THE GILA WARS, and THE RETURN OF THE WOLF), and THE DEVIL'S BONES, a standalone mystery.

He won the WWA Spur award for Best Short Fiction in 2005 and for Best Paperback Original in 2013, and the 2011 and 2012 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction for books the Josiah Wolfe series. He was nominated for a Derringer award in 2007, and was a finalist in the Best Books of Indiana literary competition in 2010, and won in 2011 for THE SCORPION TRAIL. In 2013, Larry received the inaugural Elmer Kelton Fiction Book of the Year for THE COYOTE TRACKER, presented by the Academy of Western Artists. He received the Willa Award in 2019 and was shortlisted for the Indiana Authors Award in 2020, both for SEE ALSO PROOF. The Western Fictioneers (WF) awarded THE RETURN OF THE WOLF the Peacemaker Award for Best Western in 2020.

Larry has published over one hundred nonfiction articles and short stories, which have appeared in ELLERY QUEEN'S MYSTERY MAGAZINE; THE ADVENTURE OF THE MISSING DETECTIVE: AND 25 OF THE YEAR'S FINEST CRIME AND MYSTERY STORIES!; BOYS' LIFE; HARDBOILED; Amazon Shorts, and several other publications and anthologies. He is also a freelance indexer and written over 1000 indexes since 1998. He lives in Indiana with his wife, Rose, and is hard at work on his next novel.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this author for a series he stopped writing (about an indexer).
So...I tried this one because of the heartbreaking problem of Mexican immigrants landing on our shores, so to speak...great influx and great problems. This book has a heart breaking beginning telling the feelings of a young boy born of Mexican mother who deserts him in Indiana. Really? Indiana? So...tears in eyes at the beginning. Very moving.
Then it morphs into cop/sheriff tale in Indiana...unlike the other books I enjoyed rather more. Guess I am not a fan of this venture.

[Tasneem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steinbeck like

Fast paced, weaving storyline with flashbacks. This one is a page turner with a plot that really starts with one bad mistake that gets compounded over time, reaches many lives and ends some as well.

[Kevintipple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Late August of 2004 finds Deputy Jordan McManus in the bed of a former girlfriend early one morning while drought grips Dukaine, Indiana. Like the drought that grips the area, McManus is gripped by the past. A past that includes the love of his life, Ginny, who has been married for quite some time and has changed. Whatever they had once, years ago, has been tarnished by time and the fact she has a child and is married to Ed Kirsch. Not known for being mentally stable at the best of times, were he to discover what McManus and Ginny have done the results could be disastrous.

Instead of spending time with Ginny, McManus is supposed to be out patrolling the area. If he had been out doing his job, he might have been out at Longer’s Pond with his boss, Marshal Holister Coggins a little quicker. He might have had more time to secure the scene. He might have been able to examine the small skeleton in the mud a little bit. Maybe if he had been more focused on doing his job, he might have been able to prevent the shooting that took down Holister and wounded him by somebody who laughed like a maniac while doing it.

Moving back and forth from 1985 to late August of 2004, author Larry D. Sweazy weaves a complicated tale of pain, loss, racism, regret, and redemption in The Devil’s Bones. The read shifts in point of view throughout the book as the pieces slowly come together in various mysteries. Each secret has had a damaging ripple effect over the years and has caused numerous events --many of which Deputy Jordan McManus has little knowledge of despite being on the edge of many of them. Relying on his brother nicknamed “Spider,” a tenuous decision at the best of times, McManus works to clear his name and end the current carnage. The shooting of Holister and himself is just the start of a wave of violence that will also uncover the past and answer questions that have haunted the small town for years.

Reminiscent in style and tone of his many westerns, The Devil’s Bones is a very complicated mystery that pulls the reader in quickly and never lets go. Rich in details, characters, and setting, nothing is simple in this read where drought finally exposes all the secrets of the past.

The Devil’s Bones
Larry D. Sweazy
http://www.larrydsweazy.com
Five Star
http://www.gale.cengage.com
March 2012
ISBN# 978-1-328-2571-3
Hardback (also available in e-book form)
334 Pages
$25.95

ARC provided by the author way back in October 2011 for my use in an objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2013

[Margaret Boling · Rating 4 out of 5]

3/21/13 ** Thoroughly enjoyable murder-mystery plot. I enjoyed the way that race relations in Central Indiana and life in small-town Midwest were highlighted. The juxtapositions of events at different times added to the suspense.

Craft comments: excellent chapter endings; could use some copy-editing at the sentence level.

3/17/13 ** I met Sweazy at the Indiana Historical Society's Author's Fair in November 2012. When I read the flyleaf, the book seemed strangely familiar, but I couldn't place it until my husband reminded me that we'd heard Sweazy interviewed on The Art of the Matter (WFYI). Because I'd already collected such a large pile of books to purchase I decided to read a library copy of this book. Alas, my local library didn't have any copies - of books by a local author no less!

I requested that they order a copy and it finally came in. I read the first two chapters before going to sleep last night and they haunted me all night. A good sign for a thriller!

[Kelly at · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review coming soon

Enjoyed, Different than I normally read.

[Rianna Rowsell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think I was in the right mood to read this book, plus my Mum said it was good so my inner-self rebelled?!