Book Description:
When Wisconsin veterinarian Doc dies, his family learns that to inherit his fortune, they must decipher the cryptic codicil he added to his will—“Take Doofus squirrel-fishing”—and they can only do that by talking to Doc’s friends, reading the memoir Doc wrote of a Christmas season decades earlier, searching through Doc’s correspondence, and discovering clues around them. Humor abounds as this mismatched lot tries to find time in their hectic lives to work together to solve the puzzle. In the end, will they
realize that fortune comes in many guises?
Doc’s Codicil is a mystery told with gentle humor. It tells the story of a veterinarian who teaches his heirs a lesson from the grave.
It seems my life has been a testament to questionable decisions and lost opportunities. However, my wife of 39 years says she knows of nothing in the record to justify such unfettered optimism.
I was raised on a dairy farm in West-central Wisconsin and exhibited Holstein cattle and Clydesdale horses from the time I was ten-years-old until I graduated from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State in 1969. I practiced veterinary medicine on Wisconsin dairy farms until 1988, when my wife and I packed up our four children and I entered graduate school at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.
I developed the first ante-mortem diagnostic test for proliferative enteritis, a diarrheal disease of swine caused by Lawsonia intracellularis. The test is now the standard diagnostic test for the disease. With adoption of the test, it was also found that L. intracellularis is the most common cause of post-weaning diarrhea in horses.
After 19 years of work on the research and development of bovine and swine vaccines, I am retired. I’m using the scraps of what I can remember to spin stories of a family and veterinary practice, stories that could almost be true. Some of the true stories that didn’t make it into my books can be found on this website.
My first novel, Doc’s Codicil, will be published in October 2015. I have two published short stories: Valentine, published in Straightjacket, the 2012 spring issue, and The Attempted Armed Deposit, in the 2009 California Writers Club Chap Book.
Review:
This is a fun light humorous read. There are a lot of characters in this book and takes a bit of time to figure everyone out but once you do, you will get to love them. The story takes place in 1987/88 and 2014. We flash back a lot to learn about Doc, Linda, Mark & Doofus. Doofus wants to go squirrel fishing and the heirs needs to figure out what this means. Doc's puts his children and nephew through a series of riddles, almost on a wild goose chase to decipher the codicil. There are many Laugh Out Loud chapters in this book and times that you will shake your head at things that are done. I read a few out to my husband as he wanted to know what I was laughing/chuckling about. I love the Nativity scene! It is way too funny and had me almost in tears. Yes, I have a weird sense of humor so this book was right up my alley. I am also a small town girl who spent many summers on a friends farm. I get all the talk of getting up to do chores and working on a dairy farm as that is what my friends had. The author did a very good job with the story line and it flowed well even though we were taken on flashbacks in time and had many characters to follow. Life lessons are a main theme of this book and imaginary friends helping us get through the times. Doc wants to bring the family closer together and keep them interacting after he is gone. I think it is a great thing to do.
I give it a 4 out of 5 stars and look forward to reading more from Gary F. Jones.
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~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~
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