The Blight Way: A Sheriff Bo Tully Mystery

I must admit that I was expecting more of his semi-autobiographical essays in a fictional mystery format. The Blight Way, however, doesn't go for the belly buster on every page. There is much humor in the book, but it's toned down a notch from what we're used to reading from Pat. I did find myself coming to care about the characters, so I'm sure I'll stick out the series for a while. Mr. McManus did come up with an elaborate mystery that comes together quite nicely at the end, but the story takes a back seat to the banter between the main characters. In fact, I wish he had flushed out more of the mystery earlier in the book. There's at least one instance I recall of Sheriff Tully getting some important information that the author doesn't share with us. I admit that always puts me off a bit when I'm reading a mystery -- I feel like I'm not being given a fair shot to solve it. In the end, though, the characters are enjoyable, and I'm curious what happens next to Bo Tully of Blight, Idaho.

"The Blight Way" is a nice, easygoing story with a good sense of place, engaging characters, and an acceptably involving mystery to unravel. I also enjoyed the relationship between Sheriff Bo tully and his grizzled father, the former sheriff of the town: their primary way of expressing affection for each other is to exchange jibes and criticism, though they both know they don't really mean it. A variety of colorful supporting characters, the kind that often turn up in rural, small-town mysteries, lend additional entertainment value.

Just be warned... the flavor and pace of "The Blight Way" reminded me of those old "Motel 6" radio commercials with the guy with the friendly drawl telling you "don't worry, we'll leave the light on for ya," as the country fiddle plays in the background. In other words, the book is relaxing, inoffensive, but a little corny. But that was okay with me. Though I usually gravitate to grittier, edgier fare when I pick up a mystery or thriller, a book like this, for me at least, is a nice change of pace from time to time.

When I finished reading "The Bight Way" by Patrick McManus, I quickly went online to see of there were any more Sheriff Bo Tulley mysteries out there. Unfortunately not yet, but I'll be watching. It was a quick -- one long evening read, with a set of real-to-life characters and situations that made me laugh aloud many times. The mystery plot involving rural folks in a current-day Idaho town is lively and keeps you interested, as does the humerous dialog which McManus is so well known for in his non-fiction writings.

I like the author's short stories as much as anyone. However this book proves he should stay away from full length books. First of all this book has none of the usual humor of his other work. It just a flat dull read. The main character is a smug little twit. He's apparently dated every woman in his county, which just goes to show how desperate rural women with no options can get. His lawman job is a sinecure he inherited from dad. The dad is also a character in the book and a living legend in the county. We know this because the author tells us, not because old pop ever does much. As our hero was preparing for a date with yet another unlucky target of his desire I just reached my limit and called it quits. I'll finish the book when I'm as starved for entertainment as the average resident of the book. No on second though I'll never get that starved.

It takes a village, all right, but I won't ruin it for you to tell you why. The problem I had with THE BLIGHT WAY was with me and not with the author. I am so used to reading McManus nearly every month in Outdoor Life, that it took me awhile to forget the inept, lovable outdoorsman persona of McManus, and focus on a newer, more challenging other voice.

This is not a complicated novel. Anyone can read it in a few hours. It is a wonderful diversion, a decent murder mystery, and I really expect it to be made into a tv movie, perhaps with Kevin Bacon playing Sheriff Bo Tully and Patrick McManus himself playing Pap, Bo Tully's father.

If you want to get away from the evening news, the price of oil, the serious in-depth stories of the meaningless and superficial, this is the book to read. Find a nice, quiet place, turn off most of the lights, get comfortable, and get lost in the town of Blight, where the best restaurant in town fries everything, where the mob is muscling in, where there is an unlikely CSI team, and the most unusual gas station owner. Not only can you get gas, you can get gassed. But that's telling you more than I should.....

Once again Mr. McManus delights his reading audience with pure McManus gold.

After following Pat's splendeferous hero's and Villians for what seems like all my life, He surprises me with an Excellent Who dunnit. His wonderful humor is intact with a modern Idaho County Sheriff faceing multiple murders in a dangerous scenario.

His women are beautiful and the game is deadly.

Thanks Pat for including a disguised Rancid Crabtree in the plot

he always adds seasoning to the stew!

After buying and reading all of Patrick's books prior to this one, we had high hopes. His humorous writing was great. This series is very different. We are on the second in the Bo Tully set, and are very disappointed. The hero (Tully) is a jerk, to be blunt. After reading all his earlier books, we see some reasons why Patrick created Tully as a character, but we already purchased the full Bo Tully series, and think we will regret doing so. We highly recommend all his earlier books, with less enthusiasm for the last (Horse in My Garage, which is a collection of leftovers). We should have stopped with that one. We loved reading his early books, often buying them as gifts.

I love McManus' short stories but this was a wonderful addition to my McManus collection. It hooked me and I wasn't able to put it down. His light humor was evident but he kept to the subject, a murder mystery. Easy reading for the whole family.

A great mystery combined with McManus' home spun wit and wisdom. How can it fail? Tulley has little concern for the letter of the law, but he metes out a rough-hewn justice for the residents of Blight.

I hope another Bo Tulley book is coming soon!

I have read many of Pat's humor books and this one really surprised me. It truly was a great mystery novel. I ended up finishing it pretty quickly because it was interesting, suspensefull, and I was surprised at the end. Now I'm looking forward to a whole new McManus type of books. I think I will pre-order the one coming out in Mar 07.