This was sent to me for a BookCrossing book exchange we've started in my building. I'd read almost all of the Southern Sisters series besides this one, most by audio-read. I've enjoyed the unlikely duo of Sister and Mouse, the glimpses of Birmingham, and the peripheral characters that populate these cozy mysteries, southern style. It was nice to dip back into the books, a nice break from the gritty mysteries I've been reading of late. I like the way George fills the pages with everyday tidbits of life: conversations between long-marrieds, walking the dog (with the wonderful name of Woofer), wandering Birmingham's shops and streets, the joys and worries over children and grandchildren, and lots of food, lots of ways. It seems sweet tea and orange biscuits can stand up to the coffee, cigarettes, and open faced sandwiches of nordic noir just fine. And only one dead body, poisoned, not bludgeoned is also a refreshing change. Blackmail, jealousy, and secrets can be deadly too, it seems.

Even though George left her fans with only 8 books in this series before her death, they are delightful. Her other books, outside the series, (or at least the ones I've read) are good, too. She was a talented author and poet. (In fact a poetry collection of hers was nominated for the Pulitzer in 1993 and she was state poet for Alabama 5 or 6 years before her death.) I think I've got one more of the series to read, but I'll wait to do so, and then savor it like a delectable bon-bon.

Tags: an-author-i-read, bookcrossing, cozy-type-mystery, part-start-of-a-series, read ( )

Great series, these ladies are no holds barred! ( )

Two very southern sisters have another adventure, the sixth in a series. Their neighbor's first wife is poisoned and he is accused, then targeted for death.

The story is light and breezy. There are some nice details about food (apparently the characters just about always eat out or get take-out), and some interesting family details. The mystery is a disappointment, in that we find out lots of details at the very end that we couldn't have known; a more gradual pace of revelation would have enabled the reader to solve the mystery along with the protagonists. ( )

Sixth “Southern Sisters” cozy mystery set in Birmingham, Alabama and featuring two sixty-something sisters, Patricia Anne (Mouse) and Mary Alice (Sister.) This book sees Patricia Anne’s neighbor and good friend Mitzi pulled into a murder investigation when her husband Arthur is accused of killing his first wife, Sophie. Sophie had recently returned to town and had some chronic medical problems. She had changed her will to name Arthur executor just two days before she was poisoned—while eating lunch with him. Sister and Mouse just happened to be in the Hunan Hut at the same time and are drawn into the whole mystery as usual. Enjoyable visit to Birmingham as usual, and it saddens me to know the series only has two more books to go. ( )

Another in the Southern Sisters series.

In this episode, Patricia Anne's next door neighbor, Mitzi Phizer, invites
the sisters to join a ladies' investment club that's just now forming,
patterned after the Beardstown Ladies. But just before the first meeting,
the girls spot Mitzi's husband of 40 years, Arthur, in a corner booth at the
Hunan Hut restaurant, holding hands with a pretty blonde woman. Before the
girls can finish their own lunch, the mystery blonde has collapsed, gone
into convulsions and died. Days later, after Mitzi has wept and shared
secrets at Patricia Anne's kitchen table, Arthur is arrested for murder.
But when the Phizer's house catches fire in the middle of the night, and
poor Arthur gets shot in a place no one wants to be shot in, the sisters
know they have to do something to help. Everybody involved seems to have a
secret and there's a lot of digging to be done to get to the bottom of this
one.

Again, this was a good little read and I enjoyed it. ( )