Grooster, Indiana is a small town on a par with Eureka or Twin Peaks; it’s inhabitants are definitely not working on all cylinders and dwell partially in the Twilight Zone…a veterinarian who carries on two-way conversations with his patients,  a psychic who sells scarves made from “gently-used” men’s underwear,  a newly-arrived couple looking like Addams-family relatives, a columnist for the “Grooster Rooster”who writes in alliteration, and a dred-locked individual who may or may not be a devil-worshipper.  In the middle of it all, Clancy Brown muddles along, raising her family and tending to her home business.  Clancy’s come a long way since her husband Drew died five years before.  She’s become independent and determined.  A good mom owned by a rowdy pack of canines, she still misses her husband and the love she had for him.  Clancy also has a slight problem.  She’s a klutz, tripping over her own feet, falling over a doggy body and tossing the grocery bag containing a carton of eggs down the driveway…you name it, it’s happened.  Of course, she doesn’t believe any of this is by her own clumsiness…it’s all the fault of that little imp who rides on her shoulder…an invisible personage she’s dubbed “Tad.”  When she discovers her son Adam in his underwear,  tied and taped in the garage, she doesn’t blame Tad, however.  She has more reason to suspect his sister Jennifer, aka The Princess, is to blame…but why?  When another boy at school is found in the same condition, the question is compounded.

Then the ol’ plot starts to thicken, just like one of Clancy’s badly-cooked meals.  Out riding, she sees a stranger, a gorgeous cowboy who fills his jeans to perfection.  Later, she learns he’s an FBI agent, investigating  rumors—fully substantiated—of drugs being brought into Grooster.  Then, she meets the agent in person; his name’s Thaddeous, (“Call me Tad,”) and he soon lets Clancy know he’s interested in more than marijuana deals.  Now, she has a lovable imp and an impish lover to worry about.  (Oh, did I mention there are also Satanists practicing their craft in the park?)  And The Princess and some of the other teenagers may be involved.  And who knows what Adam and his friends are up to?  Thaddeous wants Clancy to stay out of it.  He’ll investigate and discover the truth.  Clancy can’t.  She’s too independent for that.  Besides, those are her kids who may be out there in black robes dancing around that campfire and hunting for pot among the puppy-poop in the park!  (Oops, I’m getting alliterative, too!)

When The Princess disappears along with the son of Clancy’s best friend, it’s Mom to the rescue, in spite of Thaddeous’ orders to the contrary.  Risking her prospective suitor’s ire as well as the danger of the mob moving drugs into the little town, Clancy and a motley crew made up of best friend Jeffrey, veteranarian  Schmee,  and other town characters, head for a showdown at the town’s abandoned movie drive-in.  And what a showdown it is!  Involving an exploding toilet, an incontinent ferret named Plucky, and a wolf-dog named Were.  

MY OPINION:  Funny and entertaining.  Grooster, Indiana, should join those other eccentric small towns being immortalized on television.  When I started reading this novel, I found the fact that Clancy never saw her daughter and only knew she was around by evidence such as wet bath towels and clothes in the hamper.  I certainly had my teenager constantly underfoot.  Then, I got into the swing of things and accepted this as just one more letter in the word “weird” which best describes Grooster’s townsfolk.  Go into reading Dancing with Tad by Sam Cheever with your disbelief well-suspended and one eye toward the ridiculous, and you’ll have a blast!

(The copy of this novel was supplied by the author and no remuneration for the review was involved.)