Arkansas Traveler

Benni Harper #8

by Earlene Fowler

Folk-art expert Benni Harper is thrilled to be back in Sugartree, Arkansas, with her friend Elvira, who's this close to getting engaged to Benni's cousin. But Benni's got a bad feeling that she just can't shake, and soon she knows why. Racism has come to Sugartree and it's rearing its ugly head as the merger of two churches with racially mixed congregations comes under fire, and the first black woman to run for mayor faces opposition from a gang of white supremacists. And when one of the supremacists gets himself killed, Benni gets snagged by a murder mystery, unraveling clues that form a very shocking pattern.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Quilting, Fiction, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Romance

304 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2001

About the author

Earlene Fowler was raised in La Puente, California, by a Southern mother and a Western father. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Allen, a purple pickup truck, and many pairs of cowboy boots. She is currently working on the next Benni Harper mystery.

Series:
* Benni Harper Mysteries
* Love Mercy Johnson Mystery

Reviews

[Sabine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Benni Harper und ihr Mann, der Polizeichef Gabe Ortiz, machen Urlaub in Sugartree, einer Kleinstadt in Arkanas und Heimatstadt ihrer Grandma Dove. Zusammen mit ihrer besten Freundin Elvia Aragon fliegt sie dorthin, während Gabe nachkommt und Grandma Dove mit ihrem Freund Isaac bereits dort ist. Benni verbindet mit Sugartree schöne Kindheitserlebnisse und hat noch viele Freunde dort. Ihr Cousin Emory ist hier aufgewachsen und freut sich schon sehr, seiner Familie seine Freundin Elvia vorzustellen. Benni dagegen freut sich, ihre Jugendfreundin Amen wiederzusehen, die gerade als erste farbige Frau für das Amt des Bürgermeisters kandidiert. Das alleine ist schon Zündstoff. Doch zugleich versuchen die beiden Kirchen von Sugartree zu fusionieren, da keine von beiden alleine finanziell überleben kann. Dass die eine von der farbigen Bevölkerung besucht wird und die andere überwiegend weiße Anhänger hat, macht die Angelenheit brisant.

Obwohl oberflächlich alle Bewohner friedlich miteinander umgehen, entdeckt Benni bald Risse in der Fassade. Besonders die rassistischen Attacken des jungen und verwöhnten Toby Hunter schüren den Hass. Sein Vater ist der momentane Bürgermeister und Gegenkandidat von Amen. Er fährt mit Freunden durch die Gegend und bedroht und beschimpft Farbige als "Nigger". Als er öffentlich Amens Großmutter beleidigt und am nächsten Morgen mit eingeschlagenen Schädel auf der Landstraße gefunden wird, schießt sich die Polizeit auf Amens Neffen Quinton als Täter ein. Als Benni, Gabe und Elvia am nächsten Tag öffentlich von Tobys Freunden beleidigt und bedroht werden und die herbeigerufene Polizei nicht die Übeltäter sondern Gabe festnehmen wollen, wird Benni erst bewusst, wie schlimm die Lage in dem kleinen Städtchen wirklich ist. Die Polizei scheint korrupt und damit zufrieden, Quinton als Täter festzunageln. Aber Benni wäre nicht Benni, wenn sie trotz der hochexplosiven Lage nicht selbst recherchieren würde. Bald schon wird ihr klar, dass die Rassentrennung offiziell zwar in den 60er Jahren aufgehoben wurde, doch in den Herzen der Menschen noch immer weiter existiert..


Ein sehr emotionaler Benni Roman, der mich nachdenklich gestimmt und traurig gemacht hat. Benni liebte die Zeit, die sie als Kind und Teenager in der Heimatstadt ihrer Großmutter verbracht hat. Sie verbindet sie mit schönen Erlebnissen und hat, so dachte sie, viele Freunde zurückgelassen. Doch oftmals trügt der Schein und nicht jeder ist das, was er zu sein vorgibt. Bei näherem Hinsehen und Hinhören wird Benni klar, dass sie sich in so manchem getäuscht hat. Der Rassenkonflikt ist noch immer allgegenwärtig und damit kann Benni nichts anfangen. Ihr Mann und ihre beste Freundin sind Hispanos und sie kann nicht verstehen, wie Menschen in der heutigen Zeit solche Vorurteile haben können. In Sugartree scheinen die Uhren langsamer zu gehen.

Der Mord selbst scheint niemanden so wirklich nahe zu gehen, was nicht verwundert, da man Toby Hunter als wirkliches Scheusal erlebt. Auch seinem Vater scheint die Kandidatur wichtiger zu sein, als der Tod des Sohnes. Es sind die Hintergrundgeschichten, die dieses Buch ausmachen. Da sind die Schwestern Dove und Garnet; Bennis Oma und Großtante, die sich hitzige Wortgefechte und ständige Wettkämpfe liefern. Wer kann besser kochen und backen oder wer die meisten Spenden für den Wahlkampf sammeln. Ich musste manches Mal schmunzeln über die armen Männer. Während Garnets Mann WW die Wettkämpfe gutmütig erträgt und weiß, wie man sich neutral raushält, ist der arme Isaac oftmals in der Schusslinie und gerät zwischen die Fronten.

Dann ist da noch die Beziehung zwischen Elvia und Emory, die man schon aus den vorherigen Büchern kennt. Hier hat Emory endlich Elvias Liebe errungen, doch die unterschwelligen rassistischen Beleidigungen von manchen Leuten aus Sugartree gegenüber Elvia sind eine schlimme Belastung für das junge Glück und bald schon ist unklar ob die Beziehung das überlebt.

Das Buch ist ein bittersüßes Highlight der Benni Harper Reihe und regt viel zum Nachdenken an. Mir hat er bisher am besten gefallen von allen Büchern und ich bin neugierig, wie es in den nächsten Bänden weitergeht mit Benni, Gabe & Co.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benni, Gabe, Elvia, and Emory travel back to Sugartree, Arkansas for a homecoming celebration at Sugartree Baptist Church. Elvia wants to see where Emory grew up before making any commitments to him, and Gabe wants to see where Benni spent her summers. It all starts out innocent and fine until the murder of the white supremacist son of the mayor running for re-election against Benni's childhood friend, who happens to be black. Race and prejudice have always been a recurring theme in this series as Elvia and Gabe react to prejudice in California as Hispanics. But in this Southern town where racial hatred is boiling over, they are both caught up in a vortex of bigotry as their non-white skin becomes an issue for both. Because of the themes, this book is deeper and a little darker than the earlier books which made it quite satisfying, although the trademark humor is there along with the cast of quirky characters. The murderer was easy to guess, but the why doesn't come until the end. Good story.

[Karol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been enjoying this series, but somehow it seemed like the characters and the author's pace jelled in this one. An interesting mystery, and interesting plot line involving the impact of racial discrimination.

There is a Christian tone to this series and that was more evident here, as part of the plot involved two Baptist churches, racially segregated. But the book was not "preachy" by any means. It did show the values that either guided people, or were ignored by them.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm rounding up from 2.5 stars. The book was as much about Benni's hometown and her childhood relationships as it was about the mystery. There was a little bit about quilts in one chapter, but that was totally peripheral to the plot and seemed to be included because quilts are the theme of this series.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read most of this series, but I do like Benni Harper and her entourage. This book was all about homecoming and about who your family really is--good, bad, ugly, chosen, et. al. And I do like a familiar, cozy view of small-town life, especially reading this during our county fair. As Miranda Lambert sings so accurately, "Everybody dies famous in a small town."

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 3 out of 5]

review of
Earlene Fowler's Arkansas Traveler
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - July 20, 2024

I've read 2 other Fowler Benni Harper mysteries prior to this. In my review of the last one read I noted how formulaic the 2 I'd read had been. I reckon this one breaks away slightly from the formula by having the action take place in Arkansas instead of California & by having racism be a main theme. I reckon that was an improvement for me but I doubt that I'll ever read anything by Fowler again. As w/ the other bks, there's a dedication to the "Lord", a description of the "Arkansas Traveler" quilt pattern, & then an opening argument between Benni & a close other:

""Benni, we are sitting in a restaurant, the term loosely applying, being gawked at by grown men wearing plastic pig faces on their heads. Need I say more?" She grabbed a napkin from the dispenser and irritably scrubbed at a dried egg spot on the table. "I can't believe I agreed to come with you."" - p 2

It appears that each Benni Harper bk takes place about 2 or 3 mnths after its predecessor. In this case, it's about a yr later than Dove in the Window, the last one I read & reviewed.

"Emory had been in love with Elvia for twenty-four years, since the summer he was eleven and I was twelve. He had come to visit my family on our ranch outside San Celina on the Central Coast of California to heal from his mother's recent death. Twenty-three years later, he'd moved back out West specifically to woo and win her hand in marriage. After a year of persistence, it looked like he was finally in the homestretch." - p 3

These Benni Harper novels are, at least partially, romance novels as well as mysteries. It's my understanding that romance novels are targetted primarily or entirely to women. Is there an equivalent for men? War novels? Sports novels? Novels about experimental composers? Even tho Fowler is a devout Christian, sex humor is, apparently, ok.

"the second floor where there were six bedroom suites, five bathrooms, and a huge master bedroom suite with a separate sitting room.

"Her face was troubled. "It's . . . bigger than I expected."

""My exact words to Gabe on our wedding night," I said, grinning." - p 33

Gabe has an extra buttock that he & Benni refer to as his "separate sitting room". This, of course, leads to tree house envy.

"The one advantage to having a rich cousin is you got to play with all his expensive toys, including the tree house his dad had had designed by a prize-winning architect from Atlanta. With a row of built-in bookshelves, three windows with shudders, and a tile roof with a skylight, it was big enough to host a party for six people. Emory joked that if he could move it to New York City he could rent it for three thousand a month." - p 42

Amen is a black friend of Benni's who's running for mayor in the small Arkansas town Benni's from that she's revisiting. The mayor she's running against, surprise, surprise, is a white guy. At the same time, 2 Baptist chuches, one black, one white, are considering merging for their own financial survival. There's opposition to both these things.

"["]Man, I hope Amen wins."

""Me, too, sweetcakes, but some people are real upset about her running, and she's also part of the group who started this church merger idea, so there's that hostility to contend with, too. Lots of people in this town are still mentally livin' in the days before Martin Luther King, Jr. made his 'I Have a Dream' speech, and they want to keep it that way."" - p 44

So, yes, there're white supremacists.

"He walked over to the passenger side of a bright green jacked-up Chevy pickup with a Confederate flag in the back window. Painted on the truck's door in fancy script were the words WHITE IS BEAUTIFUL. John started jabbing an angry finger at the young, blond man looking down at him. The man was handsome but had a spoiled, sullen expression on his face. A cigarette dangled from his thick lips." - p 49

"John Luther stopped. "I don't really want to get into it. He's just one of those jerks who can't believe someone would say no to him. But then, what do you expect? He's a Hunter."

""As in Grady Hunter, the mayor?"" - p 50

& then Toby Hunter spits tobacco juice on an old black lady's nice clean fancy dress.

""Well, I hope that little jerk Toby gets what's coming to him. The picture of him spitting on Miss DeLora is something that my brain will never forget. Believe me, if ever I've felt murderous thoughts in my heart, it was at that moment."

"And, we found out the next morning, I wasn't the only one." - p 71

Benni Harper is a sociable person, not really a detective. Her husband is a police chief. Benni investigates by having conversations w/ the many people she knows or gets to know. It's this aspect of the character that's interesting to me b/c it's something any sociable person can do.. she doesn't have to endure the endless beatings that hard-boiled detectives do.

""Besides, I'm a little curious about what your friend Amen will reveal."

"I slid down off the stool. "Ha! You're always telling me I'm the nosy one. Admit it, you're just as nosy as me."

""I was a homicide detective for five years. I have a professional reason to be curious. You, on the other hand, are just a busybody."" - p 137

Can a person buy deer scent?

""Oh, sure. Hey here's something right up your alley. An advertisement for deer scent. Guaranteed with two drops to arouse sexual interest and curiousity in both bucks and does. And look, they've got another lure made from doe urine. Says it's one hundred percent natural doe-in-heat urine collected during the twenty-four-to-thirty-six-hour breeding period. How do you figure they do that?"" - p 138

Well, whaddya know?! Deer scents are, indeed, for sale online. I'd like to know how they do that too. I assume the scents are used to attract deer for killing. Is there an S&M scene where women use a powerful "I'm-in-heat" scent & then lure their prey into stepping into a bear trap?

The Arkansas townfolk are having a carnival that involves dropping 10,000 ping-pong balls w/ prizes written on them over a very small area where the people are gathered to catch the balls.

"Finally the plane arrived, its chattering engine sounding like a large mechanical insect above us. A collective groan rose up from the crowd when it flew over and nothing fell from the sky.

""What's wrong?" I asked a large-bellied man wearing green army fatigue pants and a "Fish Tremble at the Sound of my Name" T-Shirt. He held a huge black umbrella, open and ready. "Why didn't he drop any balls?"

""Testing the wind drift," he said. "Last year he was off about a quarter miler 'cause of the wind and about ten houses up yonder got their yards plumb trampled."" - p 256

NOW, here's where I get to apply my own personal relevant experience. On my birthday in 1997 & 1998 I flew in a small airplane over BalTimOre (1997) & over CMU's campus, Pittsburgh (1998). In both cases it was to drop roughly 950 paper airplanes. These were kept in a large garbage bag & handfuls were thrown out as quickly as the throwers cd manage. Given that the plane was going roughly 100mph just to stay up, miles were covered before the planes were all released.

"Air Drops" {vaudeo version 2}
- using snippets from Current Affairs Films' "UFO'S: WHO'S WATCHING US?" & George Antheil's 2nd Piano Sonata: "The Airplane" (1st movement)
- 35mm filmstrips, 8mm vaudeo, slides, stills, audio cassettes -> 1/2" VHS cassette -> 640 X 480, 29.97p, Stereo
- 14:20
- september '97 - november '98
- on my onesownthoughts YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/HnT-zipCquM
- on the Internet Archive here: https://archive.org/details/air-drops

SO, keeping in mind that the target in this story was just a small town gathering place probably no more than a half-mile long & keeping in mind that the plane's going AT LEAST 100mph that means that the people in the plane had 1/200th of an hr, i.e.: roughly 20 seconds to release 10,000 ping pong balls. That means 500 ping pong balls a second. Not likely. Just remember, folks, you read it here 1st (probably): a pedantic (but casual) analysis of a ping pong drop story.

Amen.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could have easily given this book a 4 instead of a 3 except for one thing that annoyed me greatly throughout the book Benni’s and Emory’s way of speaking seems to completely change from in the previous books in the series. Even Gabe’s seems to get a little simplified in a couple places. Gabe says Benni’s accent had thickened considerably after she’s only been in Arkansas for a few days, but her grammar also seems to deteriorate immediately. She’s maybe made one or two grammatical mistakes in each of the seven earlier books, but in Arkansas Traveler, there’s one in practically every conversation, whether it’s “ain’t,” or “good” instead of “well,” or double negatives, I shuddered mentally quite a few times.

Even Emory, the journalist who writes for a living, seems to dumb down at home. I don’t remember him making any actual grammatical mistakes, but he doesn’t use many, if any, of the “big” words he’s famous for, and which cause Benni’s ex-brother-in-law Wade Harper to say of Emory something like “looks like someone’s trying to tell us they went to college” in Dove in the Window (A Benni Harper Mystery #5). Now, in Emory’s case, this could be the author’s commentary on how people from other parts of the country view the south. I have heard that some people equate a deep southern accent with ignorance, and Emory could have decided to dial up the big newspaper words so show Californians he’s no stupid redneck. The flaw in that idea is that it is hard to believe that Emory could just turn that way of speaking off so easily once he comes home, and the fact that the first time we encounter Emory is through phone conversations with Benni in Kansas Troubles, when he had no need to show off. In fact, I found him pretentious and obnoxious in that book, but I’ve since come to love him.

One of my criteria for giving a book a 4 is if it made me cry, and it did that a couple times, but the annoyance factor was enough to knock it down a star. Maybe it’s just me, easily-peeved English major here, but no one else seems to have been bothered by this, judging by reviews. The shift is probably not nearly as obvious if you read the books as they were published, or at least with other books in between each one, but I’ve just read six in a row, so it really stood out. The rift between Emory and Elvia was sad, and like Benni, I knew everything would work out in the end. The racism is heartbreaking, especially among the younger people who are running around acting like they can practically lynch someone of color because they feel like it, when they should be the ones growing up more colorblind and trying to change the ways of the older people who lived through segregation. I was disappointed that we didn’t get to see Gwenette’s reaction to finding out that her ex-husband Duck is marrying a black woman, Amen, and that she will be the step-mother to their daughter. That will, without doubt, cause a lot more trouble and sadness for that family down the road, though.

[PamG · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is the second book I have read by this author, it is the eighth in the Benni Harper series. Despite this, I had no trouble getting into the story. While this is a murder mystery, it also shows how racial issues and bigotry are still alive in the 21st century. It has an interesting cast of extended characters and Fowler brought depth to many of them. Overall, this was a good mystery with a few twists and turns that was set in a small town in Arkansas. I look forward to reading other books in this series.

[Kevin Kern · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this series of books immensely. I am a quilter, born and raised in Southern California. I seriously want to slap some sense into Benni, because she throws herself into danger with little thought of what is going to happen. She and Judge Deborah Knott have a lot in common and this series enfolds Benni's family, too, altho it is much smaller than the Judge's. If you like Fowler's books, read Maron's and vice versa. I am going to pass all my Fowler on, to my dear reading friend, Debbie Stone. I have most of the series, except the one where Benni is in Bakersfield and it talks about DeWar's candy store. I have friends who are the children and grandchildren, of that family, so I gave it to one of them.
And for all you reviewers who thought Benni's grammar skills went south in this story, shame on you. She just lapsed into some of the colloquialism of that region. For Heaven's sake, if you don't like the language, go write your own story. If you grew up in Arkansas, you should be able to depict the state in a story as well as Fowler does.

[Marty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benni Harper Ortiz goes back to her hometown of Sugartree, Arkansas, for the celebration of her Baptist Church “Homecoming.” Her best friend, Elvia came with her, more to see the place where her boyfriend was from. Coming to a small town in Arkansas was a challenge not only for Elvia, but for Bennni’s husband of 2 years, Gabe. Both Gabe and Elvia were Hispanic, and although this was the 1990s racial prejudice was still alive although somewhat repressed in the area. Benni’s best childhood friend, Amen, a well-educated black woman was challenging the incumbent white mayor of the town for the top office. The mayor’s son is a leading member of the local white supremacy group, but soon winds up murdered. Amen’s nephew is the prime suspect. Along with these people, there are many other town characters that add up to the wonderful life of small-town Arkansas. The small town life and the romantic ups and downs of its characters are really more important than the murder story. A better-than-average mystery.

[Elizabeth Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series and all of its characters. In this one, yu can see echos' of today's issues in the USA concerning race reflected in the time period that this book takes place in, the 1990s. Nearly impossibly there is a black church and a white curch trying to merge and not quite making it, interracial marriages, a black woman running to be the black mayor in a southern town that is not welcoming, and two elderly sisters who argue every minute. But, as the saying goes, it mostly comes out in the wash. this is romantic and funny and horrifying all at once. Great addition to the series.

[Mailis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book in the series takes the action deeper to south and gives us juicy tidbits of local slang and human nature. The racial issue is shown compassionately and honestly, with a good dose of humor pitched between the two hard sides. I understand prejudice and probably am not completely free of the fault, but i do think skin color does not determine the value of a person. Sadly the lethal combination that blots the beauty of this world is stupidity combined with egotism.

[Grey853 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benni goes home to Arkansas in this one. She finds that her hometown is rife with racial tensions and there are some ugly words and situations. Still, I like how Benni handles it along with the help of her husband Gabe.

There are a lot of strong female characters in the book and it shows where Benni got her spunk.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this 8th installment in the Benni Harper mystery series. In this book, Benni, her family and friend Elvia travel back to her hometown of Sugartree, Arkansas for a church homecoming. The group encounters racial tensions and a murder. Benni's sleuthing skills are once again called upon to help solve the murder. I love this series and can't wait to read the next one.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benni and her best friend Elvia go back to Sugartree, Arkansas for a Baptist church homecoming festivity. They arrive in the middle of a racially charged mayoral election which takes a mean turn when one candidate's son is murdered. Benni of course, figures out who did it. Interesting view of small town southern Baptist festivities and the racism that still exists in said small towns.

[Lori Limberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 8 in the Benni Harper series

Benni, Gabe, Elvia and Emory go to Alabama for Benni's family reunion. They have to contend with racism as Benni is married to Gabe (an hispanic) and her cousin is dating Elvia (also an hispanic).

A young white supremecist is murdered. Turns out his father killed him.

Emory proposes to Elvia. She accepts his proposal.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Western Cattle Rancher isn't my thing by any stretch, but there is enough "other" stuff that it's not overpowering. The Folk Art Museum is a nice backdrop and setting for each different story, but there is definitely a difference between every book in the series. They aren't all rehashes of the previous books.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bennie, Gabe and Elvia, Dove and Isaac visit Benni's hometown, Sugartree, Arkansas. They get caught up in the mayoral election, the possibility of the two Baptist churches merging, and the murder of a young trouble man. Benni sets out to find the young man accused innocent. Lots of secrets in the town.

[Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the Benni Harpers series. This was a good book, I like the fact that she has an Arkansas connection, but I think I like her books that take place in California better because I like to read about the food and the area. I get plenty of Arkansas...

[Belinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a disappointing book! I thought it would be more about quilting. All of three pages were devoted to the subject. I was very disappointed with the plot and all the stereotypes it included about people from the south. Finally, the ending was absolutely unbelievable.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Well written and very interesting book. I love how the writer is developing her characters and how her skill as a write has improved over the series. this is one of the best of the series so far.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a murder mystery set in the South and also had plenty of interaction between the characters and local color. I liked it and will read more of Earlene Fowler.

[Kieraanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every time I read this book it reaffirms to me that I never ever want to live in the deep south. Hate groups are scary...

[Cws]

M Fow

[Karen Wahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow...a whole different type book for Benni & family. A realistic look at prejudice. Excellent!!! Plus loved different side of Dove & her relationship with her sister.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

a bit too churchy

[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the quilt references, and Benni Harper is good--sometimes I find her a little annoying but she is largely a good character

[Kira]

Some steamy stuff

[Francie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it o be a lighter kind of mystery and entertaining.

[Marti]

Passed on to me by Mom.