Good old fashioned Southern Crime Fiction by Norman E. Morrison. See also the other Cowchip/AL related works.

"Clang! A most satisfying, if short ringing sound, unlike a bell, but every bit as rousing. The nerves of the hand and wrist perceived the minute vibrations of the instrument even as the music quickly melted. It was the sound of cast iron whacking a melon, only it was a large frying pan and it wasn't a melon at all."

Mr. Poppin's Basement Improvement is a murder mystery set near Cowchip/AL in the rural Poppin Hill community. It's the culmination of a long line of events that began shortly after the Civil War and ended just yesterday with a frying pan being deposited inside a man's head.
It's fairly obvious from the outset who the culprit is. The question, is... will he be caught, and how?

Rated PG. No naughty stuff. Just good clean murder by pan. Volume #8. Print Length: 50 pages.

This is a fun tale in the Cowchip/AL series of uniquely written books, always a quarter turn out from what you expect.