Dead Poor

Dakota Mystery #7

by M.K. Coker

Nature's red in tooth and claw... After an election recount, Karen Mehaffey's triumphant return as the sheriff of Eda County, South Dakota, is marred by the murder of her opponent, Bob "Baby" Bunting. His desecrated body is found in a local park where tensions simmer between park management, homeless squatters, and struggling residents of the adjoining trailer park. Just off a high-profile case in Albuquerque where she'd been on the brink of accepting a new job, Karen wonders how much she wants to come home after all. For her uncle-detective, Marek Okerlund, the case means revisiting his family's grinding poverty in a ramshackle house that was never a home. Where survival of the fittest is a way of life, will Karen and Marek come out on top... or will the killer ruthlessly destroy their homecoming? DEAD POOR is a character-driven police procedural. Seventh in series. Word 90,000. Occasional profanity. Minimal gore.

303 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 28, 2018

About the author

M.K. Coker grew up on a river bluff in southeastern South Dakota. Part of the Dakota diaspora, the author has lived in half a dozen states, including New Mexico, but returns to the prairie at every opportunity.

Reviews

[Patrizia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I libri di questa serie mi fanno sempre pensare.... Qui, al centro della trama ci sono alcuni poveracci che faticano ad arrivare alla fine del mese e sono trattati malissimo dagli altri. Ti viene da riconsiderare quello che pensi dei senzatetto...
A un certo punto ho temuto che il colpevole fosse uno dei due personaggi che, nonostante le avversità, mostravano di aver una gran umanità. Per fortuna il finale ti tira un po' su e ti fa pensare che ci sia ancora un po' di speranza al mondo.
A parte queste considerazioni quasi filosofiche, le storie della sceriffo e dello zio detective sono sempre interessanti e ben scritte. Ora vorrei solo che lei trovasse un po' di serenità nella sua vita privata...

[Josette Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dakota Mysteries

I got the first book awhile ago and read it. Picked it up again and read it again, even knowing the end. Realized there were more books to the series and kept reading. I have now read all seven and look forward to more. Besides each book having a topic--drugs, dreams, homeless, adoption, etc--family dynamics make interesting topics. Kept coming back for more. Highly recommend this series.

[Linda Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story!

Awesome series! Characters are so real I feel like I could visit them if I went to South Dakota! I look forward to reading more of M.K.'s build-Up really like this author's style!

[Linda Pobanz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor

This was good, mysterious, and intriguing but it ended a good series. I can't wait until M.K. Coker writes another book about Reunion. I really like those books. I don't want them to end. Hope there is more.

[Kay Walden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

I have enjoyed all the books in this series.
Highly recommend this series from M.J Coker following this author for sure

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the seventh book in M.K. Coker’s series about South Dakota Sheriff Karen Mehaffey and her Uncle and Chief Detective Marek Okerlund. There’s a lot of background to the characters, and I would not recommend starting the series here. However, if you’ve been following the story all along, this is a great addition.

In the previous book, Dead Hot, Karen and Marek traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico to explore the possibility of working there after Karen lost her election bid. That book ended with the two of them in a hot air balloon as they received word that Karen had actually won the race in a recount, and that her opponent, Bob Bunting, was found dead. Since they had an air-tight alibi of being in a different state at the time, they come home to investigate the murder.

What follows is a story set amidst the poorest of the poor in Eda County, South Dakota. Bunting was found in the latrine at a local park which sits next to a campground and a trailer park. As they interview potential witnesses, they strip away the curtain from those who live a hand-to-mouth existence on the edge of poverty. There is a homeless camp in the park that park director wanted removed in his bid to make this a state park. Bunting was involved in that, as well as an illegal eviction scheme at the nearby trailer park. None of these people have any place else to go.

Parts of Dead Poor are depressing as Karen and Marek find people who are on the edges of live and barely surviving. Karen does her best to cut them a break and help them out. It’s also a time when she reflects on her own upbringing and how fortunate she really was. Her family wasn’t wealthy or anything, but there was security and love that she didn’t appreciate at the time. Bunting is both a horrible person, and, in the end, an unlikely hero as things pan out.

To read my full review, please go to: https://thoughtsfromthemountaintop.co...

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satisfying read 📚 👌

A beautiful and triumphant story.
Meandering through the twists and turns I never did figure it out.
I love the depths of the characters.
This is a well-written series. 🙏