Parnell may be the son of the richest man in town, but he's mean and snobby, and Dovey can't stand the fact that he's courting her sister, Caroline, or the way he treats her brother, Amos, as if he were stupid just because he can't hear.So when Parnell turns up dead, and Dovey's in the room where his body is discovered, she soon finds herself on trial for murder. Dovey Coe makes no secret that she can't stand Parnell Caraway. I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next person, but I didn't kill him.' sums up the theme of this book perfectly. I'm here to lay the record straight, to let you know them folks saying I done a terrible thing are liars. The sentence ' My name is Dovey Coe and I reckon it don't matter if you like me or not. the main character Dovey Coe is a 12 year old tomboy that is accused of murder.

Read moreĪs you read this book you can almost hear the southern twang of the USA. And it is after all written for a much younger reader than myself - a 50 year old father of two, who is on a kick of reading YA novels lately. However, the first person narration is so well written, and Dovey is so likable (at least to me) that the weaknesses of the book are easily forgiven. hadn't solved the issue before it reached the courtroom. The story line is interesting, but by the time we get to the true meat of the plot, the astute reader will have already solved the mystery, and the courtroom drama feels rushed with a solution so obvious it stretches credibility that the sheriff, judge, attorneys, etc. After a miserable summer of barely tolerating her big sister's vile suitor, the young man is found murdered, with young Dovey Coe standing beside him, bloody knife in her hand. Dovey Coe is a 12 year old girl in the mountains of North Carolina in 1928.

The appealing strength of 'Dovey Coe' rests entirely on the shoulders of the feisty but charming eponymous narrator.

Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell