"An Atlanta ex-cop comes to sleepy Lake Sackett, Georgia, seeking peace and quiet--but he hasn't bargained on falling for Frankie, the cutest coroner he's ever met. Frankie McCready talks to dead people. Not like a ghost whisperer or anything--but it seems rude to embalm them and not at least say hello. Fortunately, at the McCready Family Funeral Home & Bait Shop, Frankie's eccentricities fit right in. Lake Sackett's embalmer and county coroner, Frankie's goth styling and passion for nerd culture mean she's not your typical Southern girl, but the McCreadys are hardly your typical Southern family. Led by Great-Aunt Tootie, the gambling, boozing, dog-collecting matriarch of the family, everyone looks out for one another--which usually means getting up in everyone else's business. Maybe that's why Frankie is so fascinated by new sheriff Eric Linden...a recent transplant from Atlanta, he sees a homicide in every hunting accident or boat crash, which seems a little paranoid for this sleepy tourist town. What's he so worried about? And what kind of cop can get a job with the Atlanta PD but can't stand to look at a dead body? Frankie has other questions that need answering first--namely, who's behind the recent break-in attempts at the funeral home, and how can she stop them? This one really does seem like a job for the sheriff--and as Frankie and Eric do their best Scooby-Doo impressions to catch their man, they get closer to spilling some secrets they thought were buried forever. With Ain't She a Peach, Molly Harper proves once again that she "never lets the reader down with her delightfully entertaining stories" (Single Titles)"--
I can't think of a single book Molly Harper has written that I haven't enjoyed on some level; even if the plots aren't always solid, the snarky humor and solid character dynamics that revolve around family and friends makes up for it.
This was the case with Ain't She a Peach. It's part of a series of books that aren't serial, called Southern Eclectic; they share a common setting and characters, but act as stand alone reads. Comparing story structures between this one and Sweet Tea and Sympathy, Ain't She a Peach lacks the central plot that pulled ST&S together. Here, Frankie's story is far more focused on her struggle for maturity and autonomy, as the only-child/cancer survivor to older parents. The romance is secondary, and the resolving the break-ins to the family mortuary tertiary, and by far the weakest link in the plot.
Still, any fan of Molly Harper's will find a lot to like here. Few authors I read come close to the engaging and engrossing dialog Harper spills across her pages and she creates characters that are likeable, hilarious, strong and noble - characters that really are the people you wish your friends and family could be - without making them into after-school-special paper constructs.
Not her best, but still enjoyable, and exactly what I've been needed to read the last few weeks.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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5 July, 2018:
Finished reading
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5 July, 2018:
Reviewed