Where Armadillos Go to Die

Jeremiah Spur Mysteries #3

by James Hime

Sylvester Bradshaw owns the Bouree restaurant, home of the best catfish within a hundred miles of Brenham, Texas. Besides being known for his cooking and for being one of the town’s nastiest residents, he also happens to have invented a machine that several venture capitalists and one former NFL star would like to invest in at almost any cost. But Bradshaw---stubborn and miserly---can’t be enticed no matter what offer they put on the table. Nobody gets a look and nobody gets to know how the device works, not even his family.

When the restaurant is ransacked and he goes missing, the only person willing to take his disappearance seriously is Jeremiah Spur. The retired Texas Ranger and rancher is a dedicated customer, if not a friend, which makes him the only man on whom the Bradshaws can pin their hopes.

James Hime’s Where Armadillos Go to Die eloquently captures the voice and spirit of a small Texas town with troubles every bit as big as the whole state, making for some of the most engaging crime fiction on bookshelves today.

Genres: Mystery, Mystery Thriller

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Jim grew up reading the Hardy Boys and enjoyed Sherlock Holmes.
Met Paulette Toellner and wed in 1974.
Graduated U.Texas.
Son Travis b 1978
Son Josh b 1982

Graduated law school in 1976

Has run 19 marathons

Reviews

[Byron Washington · Rating 5 out of 5]

MORE PLEASE!!!

The last of the Jeremiah Spurs series penned by James Hime. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be anymore coming down the pike. Such an shame, because this protagonist, created by Hime, is so compelling, and makes such a good read.

Buy them, read them, and enjoy.🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had low expectations for this Texas mystery, so I was amazed that this became a page turner that I devoured in one day. I am an urban Texas resident and found myself wondering, "do rural Texans really talk like that? Using words like dadgum?" The language felt a little cliche, but every time I'd start to be annoyed by the stereotypical country bumpkin language, the writer would insert the most mind blowing life observation that would knock me off my feet. The author has a surprising knack for understanding the subtleties and beauty of life's everyday pain.

[Mahi Pallapolu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow start and kinda dry mid-book but closes off strong and on a positive-ish note

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Restaurant owner Sylvester Bradshaw is a curmudgeon who believes he's invented a process that improves the taste and shelf-life of food, but he doesn't want to give up control (over the invention or over his downtrodden family) by dealing with marketers. When Sylvester disappears mysteriously, his daughter asks retired Texas ranger and small-scale rancher Jeremiah Spur to find him. Jeremiah is concerned that his wife has come down with food poisoning, but his presence in her hospital room makes her fidgety, so he goes looking for traces of Bradshaw. Meanwhile, the town's one genuinely rich man, a retired African American athlete, is trying to keep his unruly family under control while finding some new investment possibilities. More and more people get involved in the case, including Spur's kindly old family doctor, who is behaving very oddly, and the Hispanic D.A., who has her sights set on higher office. Really enjoyable.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty fun book. Our daughter gave it to me for Christmas for two reasons: 1. she hasn't given me any armadillo things in a good while, and 2. we were in Dallas, and this was a book by a local author. Good characters, fair plot. The hero is a retired Texas Ranger, and there were a lot of jokes about his being a football player. No, he was a Real Texas Ranger. A man who owns a catfish restaurant has invented a machine that takes all the 'fishiness' from the catfish, but he won't market the process. He turns up dead in the first or second chapter. There's a retired pro football player and his sons and entourage. There's the dead man's family. Who else? Oh, lawyers, doctors, and nurses. And a wife or two. This was an easy little read that kept you turning pages. I won't search the library for this author, but I would read another of his books, if I ran across them.

[Jmrathbone · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Hime brings back retired Texas Ranger Jeremiah Spur and puts him right in the middle of murder, corporate espionage, his wife’s serious and partly unexplained illness, a redneck family, and a star football player’s family. Amazingly he brings all these components together and forms them into a highly readable story.

[John Hendricks · Rating 3 out of 5]

On this 3rd outing of Jeremiah Spur, the regular characters don't progress much, and there's a multitude of secondary characters that are broadly drawn, but still a good slow-paced novel.

[Laura Gary]

third book in a trilogy about small town texas and its residents... in my opinion , the best one of the three

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book four stars, not necessarily because of the story line (which at times I had trouble following) but because of the characters. Loved his humorous development of the characters :-)

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story

[Beau Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superior tough guy crime. Witty, funny and knuckle busting.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Interesting characters. Action takes place in a small Texas town. Colloquialisms aplenty.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read a mystery, and although this is, it wasn't as much of a page turner as I had hoped. It is interesting, but I found it slightly predictable and I had to push myself to finish it.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author! I hope the library gets more of him soon, I want to read his style more. Write more, Mr. Hime!!!

[Mary Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great dialogue in this Texas murder mystery

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great characters (the author has a real ear for Texans) but the mystery ended up being pretty obvious.

[Kevin Graves · Rating 1 out of 5]

forced. did not care for this book at all.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun mystery read with quirky characters in a small Texas town and a slightly veiled warning about the safety of our fresh food.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyable read. Character, plot pacing all satisfactory, nice sense of place