There’s a lot of plot to “The Coffins of Little Hope.” But Mr. Schaffert’s style is so gossamer-light that the story elements don’t become cumbersome. His book can accommodate a large cast of characters who bump into one another with an almost screwball regularity ... Mr. Schaffert’s sly wit and frank affection for his characters can make him sound like a very American Alexander McCall Smith ... Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“Charm buzzes all around Timothy Schaffert’s new novel, but don’t be fooled. It’s the story of a steadfast, multi-generational family in a small Nebraska town . . . that just happens to be obsessed with death and missing children. “The Coffins of Little Hope” is like an Edward Gorey cartoon stitched in pastel needlepoint. Its creepiness scurries along the edges of these heartwarming pages like some furry creature you keep convincing yourself you didn’t see….alluringly strange to the very last page.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“A witty, sometimes profound story about media, mortality and rash acts undertaken in the name of love.”—People Magazine

“It’s small town, big drama in Schaffert’s sublime latest . . .  Schaffert spins out the story and its offbeat characters with compassion, spoofing the nation’s voracious appetite for “news” and suggesting that perhaps not all stories are created equal. Piercing observations and sharp, subtle wit make this a standout.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The Coffins of Little Hope is great summer reading—a lazy river that carries you away and drops you off much farther downstream than you expected to go . . . Part Fannie Flagg, part Stephen King, Shaffert spins a tale that’s funny, poignant and, at times, macabre.” - Jeremy Kohler, St Louis Post-Dispatch

“Timothy Schaffert’s fourth novel,The Coffins of Little Hope, is a smart, droll and gleefully morbid story of an unsolved small-town mystery.” - Dallas Morning News

“Schaffert is a master at mixing the serious and the absurd.”—Jonathan Messinger, Time Out Chicago

“Schaffert’s fourth novel, The Coffins of Little Hope is another triumph of storytelling, featuring quirky characters, humor, compassion and insight into human strengths and foibles . . .This enchanting novel is perfect for readers looking for realism with a heart by an author who cares about his characters and wants you to, too . . . I don’t want to quote the last lines, because they’re blow-your-mind perfection.” - Nancy Pearl

“Such a sweet reading experience . . . it is a rare gift to not make anyone over 70 too wise or adorable. But Schaffert got Essie down perfectly, and in fact the whole book is a great obituary to the obit star herself. She would be pleased with the lack of sentimentality, the ability to see the uniqueness of character, and the acknowledgement that life will be a little bit less without her.” - -Leslie Reiner, Inkwood Books

“COFFINS OF LITTLE HOPE has a lot of moving parts—an aging alcoholic obituary writer as a narrator, small town trials and tribulations, a missing girl who may or may not exist, a macabre children’s book series—but Schaffert handles them all with aplomb. An engrossing read from start to finish!”—Jenn Northington, WORD

“Timothy Schaffert is blessed with empathy, creativity, imagination, and a masterful way with words. The prose in this latest book gave me goose bumps . . . Schaffert zeroes in on human strengths, failings and foibles with a sharp eye and compassionate heart.  This is an exceptional book and highly recommended.”—Laurel Johnson for Midwest Book Review

“Like Tom Drury in The End of Vandalism, Schaffert captures perfectly the way that the ground-level dailiness of life is magnified in a small town. He tosses in a couple of fascinating sparks to energize an otherwise stagnating community, and then he lets the immeasurable power of story take over—the condensed life stories in S Myles obituaries, the newspaper that finds the stories “we want to be told,” the story (told or made up?) of Lenore and Daisy, the stories that take hold of an entire culture and run wild… I think you’ll want to read this one.” —Emily Pullen, Skylight Books

The Coffins of Little Hope is filled with humor and a warmth that only Timothy Schaffert can deliver.  As Janet Maslin from The New York Times writes, ‘Mr. Schaffert does not take his material lightly.  He only makes it seem that way.’  By the time you finish this book, you will love its eccentric characters as much as Mr. Schaffert does. Don’t miss this one!” —Nancy Simpson, Book Vault

Narrated by the local newspaper’s elderly obituary writer, the disappearance of a young girl sparks rumors that grow into a monstrous blaze. While the search drags on, the outside world starts to focus in on all of the secrets small towns have. The feisty main character will find many fans young and old, and the story is perfect pitch for the modern prairie. A sparkling gem hidden away in a small midwestern setting. - ‘Geoffrey Jennings, Rainy Day Books

“I LOVED COFFINS OF LITTLE HOPE. I think this one is going to be big. Any bookseller who has lived through the Harry Potter craze will laugh out loud. You have the looking back and the looking forward. And a magic shop? It does not get better than that. There are Fannie Flagg tones.  And the skewering of “precious” small towns. Great.”  - —Valerie Koehler, Blue Willow Books

Schaffert perfectly captures the clash of life in small towns today in COFFINS OF LITTLE HOPE. Two events cause the small town where Ess Myles writes obituaries for the paper her family has owned for almost a hundred years to be caught in the spotlight—a local girl disappears (or does she?) and the final book in a popular children’s book series (a la Harry Potter) is being printed on the presses of the family newspaper. When the furor fades and Ess’ son decides to close the paper, Ess gives voice to millions who no longer have a voice, “What about all the things that aren’t worth anything to anyone but us?” The story is poignant and memorable. - Vicki Erwin, Main Street Books

“I read this book in a growing state of appreciation for the high-wire act Schaffert was attempting to pull off - small town changes, missing daughters, spunky but still aging little old ladies, two completely different literary cult figures, and looming over it all, the question of what makes love work between two people and what makes a family. I loved it.” - My3Books.com

“A book not to miss” - Bluffton News

“Timothy Schaffert’s abundant plot never becomes tiring, largely because of its cozy familiarity…the book is big-hearted: Schaffert’s ability to care so deeply for these characters, to convey so much investment in such a plot, is impressive.” - KGB Bar Lit Magazine

“The Midwest setting Shaffert creates at times evokes Donald Harington’s impassioned descriptions of Ozark mountain towns. At his best Schaffert’s ethereal setting ,with ghosts of the past around every corner, channels Thornton Wilder. Readers that enjoy a book with a setting as detailed as the characters that inhabit it will love The Coffins of Little Hope.”—The Well-Read Wife

“His best book to date…I would recommend The Coffins of Little Hope to all readers and book discussion groups.”—Rundpinne, knittingmomof3

This is a story about a girl who may or may not have gone missing, because she may or may not have ever existed.  It’s also the story of the small town who became famous because of her, no matter her existential state.  But more than that, it’s a story of a family, who owns the small newspaper that writes about the search for the missing girl.  It’s also the story of a reclusive yet extremely famous YA novelist, creator of much beloved and obsessed about fictional characters whose story is about to come to an end.  These 4 story lines are all told by an 80+ year old obituary writer, who slowly weaves them into a collective whole that reveals some, but not all, of the answers to the questions in the book.  I loved this book, its short chapters and compellingly garbled tales keeping me up late into the night as I told myself, “just a few more pages…”.  But above all, I love that the reader is left with things to figure out for themselves—this ongoing trying to puzzle things out will make the book’s impact last long after the covers are shut.