This is the eleventh book in the Maggody series, so permit me to introduce the uninitiated to some of the more important characters. There's Estelle Oppers, beautician and proud owner of the tallest beehive hairdo in the state. Her best friend, Ruby Bee Hanks, owns the Flamingo Motel as well as Ruby Bee's Bar and Grill. The "leading family" in Maggody is the Buchanons, whose abundance is the result of generations of inbreeding.

As the novel notes, "if Charles Darwin had encountered the Buchanons, he might well have abandoned his life's work and checked into a monastery." The mayor of Maggody is Jim Bob Buchanon, who regularly cheats on his wife Barbara Ann Buchanon Buchanon, who in turn seeks solace from Brother Verber, a lay minister who assiduously studies pornography – on a purely theological basis, of course, to learn more about the perversities he might have to confront someday.

The only moderately normal resident is Arly Hanks, Ruby Bee's daughter and Maggody's chief of police (actually, she's the entire police department since her deputy was arrested for murdering the love of his life). Years ago she temporarily escaped Maggody by marrying and moving to New York, but after her divorce she came back home until she could decide what to do with her life. Eleven books later, she's still around, playing straight man to Maggody's colorful characters.

The majority of Misery Loves Maggody takes place away from Maggody, when Estelle and Ruby Bee utilize a bargain fly-by-night travel agency ("C'mon Tours") to take an ill-fated Elvis bus tour. Ruby Bee ends up in the hospital, and Mayor Jim Bob is accused of murdering a member of the tour. Arly, who is back in Maggody, trying to convince a paranoid minister that Satanists are not breaking into his church, abandons this hopeless task and catches up with the Elvis tour somewhere in Mississippi to figure out what is going on. She knows that Jim Bob may be a lyin' cheatin' philanderer, but he's no murderer. Estelle is sure that the tour was being followed by some shady characters, who might be more logical suspects.

Meanwhile, back in Maggody, Kevin Buchanon, who is as sweet as he is stupid, searches for his missing 300-pound wife, Dahlia, and Brother Verber strikes gold by writing a song that features an alphabetical list of sins.

Misery Loves Maggody, like the previous novels in the series, is pure fun, and woe betide any reader who is easily offended or bothered by the fact that the mystery is usually just a minor part of the plot. I have to be in the right mood to read a Maggody novel because it is difficult to emotionally involve myself with this cast of wackos, although the author clearly views her characters with as much genuine affection as wry disdain. Actually, I was surprised to find some genuine depth of emotion in this installment, as Arly worries about the usually unflappable Ruby Bee's health and even admits how much her mother means to her.

After a particularly stressful week at work, a Maggody novel was the perfect antidote. Far from reality, bizarre and funny, it was rewarding to reacquaint myself with this crazy set of characters whose lives are a lot more messed up than mine. If you can deal with this Beverly Hillbillies meets Adams Family insanity, hang on and enjoy the ride. You won't find any universal truths in a Maggody novel, but you'll find yourself smiling, and that's no small feat. Altogether, now, let's sing with Brother Verber: "atheism, bestiality, cunnilingus, drive-in movies, evolution and excessive body hair.."

--Susan Scribner