Still reeling from the scandal that cost him his badge, Randy Mayhill—fallen lawman, dog rescuer, Dr Pepper enthusiast—sees a return from community exile in the form of a dead hog trapper perched on a fence. The fence belongs to the late Van Woods, Mayhill’s best friend and the reason for his spectacular fall. Determined to protect Van’s land and family from another scandal, Mayhill ignores the sherriff who replaced him and investigates the death of the unidentified man. His quest crosses with two others: Birdie, Van’s surly, mourning daughter, who has no intention of sitting idly by and leaving her father’s legacy in Mayhill’s hands; and Bradley, Birdie’s slow, malnourished but loyal friend, whose desperation to escape a life of poverty has him working with local criminals, and possibly a murderer. A riveting debut novel about family and loyalty, old grudges and new lives, AIN’T NOBODY NOBODY is like a cross between Faulkner and “Breaking Bad”, from a talented new writer with an authentic Texas voice.
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Randy Mayhill loves to sit on his front porch in only his boxer shorts and pistol holster, scheming how to catch feral hogs. He is “retired,” unceremoniously relieved of his duties as sheriff for protecting his felonious best friend, and Mayhill is fully committed to the hermit lifestyle. And for one year, that is all right with him, until a dead body appears draped over a fence he shares with his neighbors (Onie and Birdie, who happen to be his dead best friend's mother and daughter, two people that are more like family to him than mere neighbors). But before he can find out who the dead person is, the body disappears. Hence, the mystery begins.
Ain't Nobody Nobody is the debut novel of Heather Harper Ellett, a zany, witty, and heartfelt ode to rural Texas, where colloquialisms have a wisdom that is hard-earned, and the sleepy town has secrets that can be easily hidden in the wooded areas of private property. Harper Ellett has created a large cast of unique and eccentric characters that would easily fit somewhere between an Elmore Leonard novel and a Coen Brothers movie. The mystery of the dead man on the fence (who he is, how he got there) becomes entwined rather quickly in the history of Mayhill and his relationship with his best friend's family. Moral boundaries are blurred. Illegal activity abounds. It all makes for a riveting mystery wrapped up in literary ambition.
One thing of note: Harper Ellett devises an interesting and fun narrative strategy that straddles the line between third and second person. The narrator knows the cast intimately, although it's never revealed who the narrator is. But the narrator often interjects things about the characters or the citizens of the town that elicits a response from the reader, as if to say, “Don't YOU think so? Don't YOU think that's crazy?” I laughed out loud often to this commentary from the narrator, something akin to the gossipy tone of a group of folks commenting on the foibles of the people they know, then sitting back as if to say, “Those poor bastards.” Pretty funny stuff.
This is a fun read with literary flourishes that drives a murder mystery into a suspenseful, climactic showdown. My only quibble is I wanted more of the backstory and less of the mystery as the novel progressed. Maybe Harper Ellett has another novel in her—set a few years earlier—about Mayhill and Van and Onie and Birdie and Bradley. That would be amazing, don't you think?!
