Publisher: Berkley
Published: September
6, 2016
ISBN: 978-0425273067
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: Print
Obtained via: Publisher
FOUR HEARTS
Back home after a wedding that wasn’t due to a murder that was,
sisters An’gel and Dickce Ducote are ready to get down to life as usual in
Athena. First up on their agenda is a
meeting of the Athena Garden club to start planning club’s annual home
tour. When they arrive they receive
quite a surprise—former Athena resident, Hadley Partridge has returned and he
plans to restore his family home to its glory days, aka, the days before his
brother Hamish took over. And despite the passage of 40 years, Hadley hasn’t
lost any of his looks or charm. In fact, if anything, he’s even more
attractive, at least to the senior ladies in the garden club. So much so that one of the club ladies are
found dead not long after the meeting ends.
On the heels of Sarinda’s murder, another club member is run off the
road and left for dead. While the sisters
don’t want to meddle and firmly believe in Chief Deputy Kanesha Berry’s
ability, they may have a clue as to who done it. For each question answered, the sisters find
another one pending. And when An’gel’s
car is struck from behind, is it an accident tor is the killer coming after the
octogenarian?
Miranda James is one of my all time forever, favorite cozy
authors. He creates the most wonderful
characters – true to life with marvellous personalities that make you want to
at least sit down and have a coffee with them if not know them personally. Even with some quirky names, like Mrs.
Turnipseed, the characters are realistic in their actions, motivations and
reactions. Added to the mix are some wonderful “southernisms” that appear to be
very much parts of James’ personality.
James’ story telling is a wonderful weaving of past stories with
the current so you can see how the characters are developing over time – and he
does it in a gradual, believable way. when his own twisted secrets are revealed,
there is the desire to know what is driving him. And since the Southern Ladies
are an off shoot of James’ Cat in the Stacks series, readers get to visit Charlie
and one of my all-time favorite characters, Diesel, along with the
sisters.
The mystery in this one had some fun twists and a couple of
surprises along the way.
As much as I like the sisters, I have to say that Endora the cat
and Peanut the labradoodle are the stars of the story. Their antics give you a smile if not an
outright chuckle in the middle of crime solving.
Even though each book builds on the one before, the books do not
have to be read in order. But no matter
which order you read them, you don’t want to miss any.
This is an objective review and not an endorsement of
this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment