Three Times Lucky

“Didn’t like the starch of his shirt, or the crease in his pants. Didn’t like the hook of his nose, or the plane of his cheekbones. Didn’t like the skinny of his hips, or the shine of his shoes. Mostly, I didn’t like the way he didn’t smile.”

Mo expresses her suspicions of Detective Starr upon their first meeting. Her characterization of Starr as a suspicious character is a red herring, or misdirection; the reader is meant to suspect Starr rather than the later-introduced Deputy Marla.

“Miss Lana says the good thing about living in a small town is everybody knows your business, and they pitch in. The Colonel says the bad thing about living in a small town is everybody knows your business, and they pitch in. It cuts both ways.”

Mo points to a humorous quality in small-town life, which is that the same trait can be seen in two totally different ways. In Mo’s life, the sense of community in a small town is positive because it means support, company, and unconditional friendship. The people of Tupelo Landing stick together.

“Lavender’s handsome in the NASCAR way, and if I was old enough I’d snatch him up and marry him before sundown. I’ve asked him plenty of times already, starting the day I turned six.”

Mo has a lot of gumption and isn’t afraid to say exactly what is on her mind. She has always had a crush on Dale’s older brother and frequently tells him so. This description of Lavender demonstrates Mo’s more sensitive, emotive side.

“The crowd rose like a thousand open-mouthed puppets played by the same string, and I held my breath as Lavender hung sideways on the track—sliding, sliding, sliding—cars swerving miraculously by.”

This passage uses a simile, comparing something to something else using “like” or “as”; in this case, the throng is akin to “a thousand open-mouthed puppets played by the same string.” It speaks to how connected and similar the people of the town are. Repetition—“sliding, sliding, sliding”—builds tension.

“I’m wondering if maybe he just up and died. Maybe there ain’t no murder. Like the fish weren’t biting and he died of boredom. It happens. Boredom kills. I’ve had close brushes myself, during math.”

Even in the wake of a local murder, Mo’s attitude remains light, bright, and matter-of-fact. She attempts to defend Dale, worried that he is going to be falsely convicted of Mr. Jesse’s murder, but does so in a highly unrealistic and exaggerated way. The mention of dying by math introduces a comic element.

“Normal means ordinary, Mo. The drab among us have that covered.”

Miss Lana is an eccentric woman who isn’t afraid to be exactly who she is. Like Mo, she says how she feels and expresses herself to the fullest extent. Miss Lana affirms Mo’s uniqueness, and Mo’s desire for what she calls a “normal” family slowly extinguishes, replaced by love of her found family.

“Mama, I am a murder suspect over at Mo’s if you need me. Please do not worry. Your loving son, Dale.”

Dale lacks a certain awareness of himself and others that has nothing to do with selfishness and everything to do with simply not thinking things through. When Dale’s mother reads back his note to him, the extent of Dale’s unawareness is clear; he calls himself a murder suspect and asks his mother not to worry at the same time. The mention of him being a murder suspect and going to Mo’s house in the same breath strikes a note of humor, much like when Mo talks about death by math.

“The warm water crept to me knee as my foot sank into the soft creek bed and I stepped forward, mud slurping at my shoes.”

Mo makes her way into the creek by Mr. Jesse’s house. The passage uses alliteration, or the repetition of consonant sounds: “my foot sank into the soft creek bed and I stepped forward, mud slurping at my shoes.”

“Fame changed him. He got in the Impala a terrified kid. He stepped out a rock star.”

Mo notes the contrast between Dale’s attitude before he receives attention and afterward. Dale is a simple person who thrives on simple achievements, and becoming the center of the town’s attention, even briefly, is an exciting experience for him. Mo compares Dale to a rock star, emphasizing his sense of notoriety.

“That’s another thing about a small town: Everybody knows everybody’s schedule. We spin around each other like planets around an invisible sun.”

This passage uses a simile, comparing the townspeople to planets orbiting one another, emphasizing their closeness. Small-town life is central to the story, especially when Dale reminds Mo how the whole town is there for her. Like the Colonel, Dale, and Miss Lana, the townspeople are Mo’s found family.

“A forsythia swayed outside the window, sending a mosaic of faint shadows across her face and coarse linen blouse.”

Turnage names the flowers, trees, and plants that decorate Tupelo Landing, providing a connection to the North Carolina landscape.

“As it turned out, Mr. Jesse was way more popular dead than alive.”

In a moment of dark humor, Mo comments on the irony of Mr. Jesse’s posthumous popularity. She observes that Mr. Jesse was lonely in life and fairly disliked but that in death, people show up to pay their respects. This passage exemplifies her usual candid tone.

“From beyond the church door, a weak voice followed a plink-plink piano tune like a tired dog trailing a rabbit.”

When Mo hears Anna-Celeste practicing at the church, she uses a simile to describe Anna-Celeste’s voice, one that reflects her emotional state—“a weak voice followed a plink-plink piano tune like a tired dog trailing a rabbit.” Mo can sense from the way that Anna-Celeste plays that something is wrong and ends up stepping in to defend Anna-Celeste despite not liking her.

“When you feel lost, let the stars sing you to sleep. You’ll always wake up new.”

When Miss Lana is taken by Robert Slate, Mo feels completely lost and afraid, a strong contrast from her usual brave and authoritative attitude. She thinks about something the Colonel once said to her while they were camping, about how sleeping on one’s thoughts and emotions can lead to new perspectives in the morning. It becomes important advice that helps Mo get through a scary and difficult time.

“I awakened in a wrecked car, in a raging storm, my head howling. Winds roared. Trees fell. Worlds drowned.”

In the scrapbook that Miss Lana gave her, Mo has a letter from the Colonel that details the day he crashed into Tupelo Landing and found Mo. The use of the verb “howling” to describe his headache alludes to the typical howling of a massive storm. His emotion is palpable, particularly in the short declarative sentences.

“You some kind of pervert, calling up little girls and asking if they’re alone? Because I’m not allowed to talk to perverts. That’s a rule. Miss Lana made it for me. If you don’t believe me, ask her.”

When Mo has a chance to speak to Slate on the phone, she fully emanates the values she learned from the Colonel about Being One’s Own Authority. She doesn’t follow Starr’s instructions, using the opportunity to tell Slate exactly what she thinks of him. While Mo does manage to strike an authoritative tone, she also still talks like a young person, which makes her attempts at intimidating Slate comic.

“I woke up snuggled deep in Miss Rose’s feather bed, sunlight filtering through her lace-trimmed curtains and playing along her faded wallpaper.”

In direct contrast with the chaos and heartache of the night before, Mo awakes in the comfort of Dale’s home, surrounded by signs of a loving mother. While Mo’s own family is missing, Dale and Miss Rose step in without hesitation, demonstrating The Power of Unconditional Friendship and the sense of community within the town.

“Dale pumped like he could out-pedal the storm, me balanced on his handlebars, the storm’s flat, angry hands shoving us along the blacktop.”

This passage uses personification, giving human qualities to the storm, a nonhuman entity. The storm is anthropomorphized with “flat, angry hands” and the power to push. The storm magnifies the tension of the moment, as Dale and Mo are inches away from solving the case.

“The Colonel says sometimes all a leader can do is see which way everybody’s going and try to get in front. This looked like one of those times.”

Mo often recalls adages that the Colonel and Miss Lana have told her over the years, indicating that their influence on her has been a huge part of making her the person she is today. Being one’s own authority is a personal value of the Colonel’s and one that Mo shares with him. She doesn’t plan to give up until the case is fully solved and intends to be part of it every step of the way.

“A hurricane spins up like you’re nothing, and takes your world apart like it’s nothing too. There’s no time in it, no sense of the sun moving, no waxing or waning light. All you can do is breathe, and ignore the world flying to pieces beyond your door.”

The Colonel’s advice always runs through Mo’s mind, and the Colonel believes that it is foolish not to be afraid of hurricanes. The town’s resilience and sense of community hold it together. Because a hurricane is such a massive storm, it has the effect of appearing to swallow the sky, isolating everything within itself.

“He looked at her the way a cat looks at a bird, his eyes glinting.”

When Dale’s father, Macon, has drunk too much, he becomes violent and aggressive, and Mo bears witness to this on the night of the storm. She uses a simile comparing his glare to a cat staring at a bird. This emphasizes the predatory nature of Macon and how Miss Rose becomes the object of his aggression.

“He sat still and quiet as a rabbit, his long, fine-boned hands draped delicately across the shotgun.”

The narrative uses a simile to compare the Colonel’s stance to a rabbit; both can remain so still that their stillness appears to be unreal. The Colonel has an air of authority and self-possession, which Mo finds comforting in such uncertain times.

“I pictured the Colonel pulling me from the flood, smoothing a bedroll beneath the stars, sitting at Miss Rose’s table with his forehead resting in his hands.”

Mo’s family history includes both simple, everyday moments and moments of great drama and significance. Both are important and define the people she loves, like the Colonel, who saved her life and chose to take care of her as his own.