Darling Dahlias Mystery
8 total works
"1934, and Prohibition has finally been repealed. While liquor is legal again, moonshine isn't. Sheriff Buddy Norris needs a little luck when he goes into Briar Swamp to confront Cypress County's most notorious bootlegger. And it looks like the music has ended for Darling's favorite barbershop quartet, the Lucky Four Clovers-- just days before the Dixie Regional Barbershop Competition! Another unlucky break: a serious foul-up in Darling's telephone system. Fortunately the ladies of the local garden club aren't afraid of digging around!" --
Just in time for the Confederate Day celebration, the Darling Dahlias are ready to plant Confederate roses along the town cemetery. Of course the plant is in fact a hibiscus.
The Confederate rose is not the only thing that is not what it first appears to be. Earle Scroggins, the county treasurer, has got the sheriff thinking that Verna Tidwell is behind a missing $15,000. But Darling Dahlias president Liz Lacy is determined to prove Verna is not a thief.
And club member Miss Rogers has discovered a secret code embroidered under the cover of a pillow that belonged to her grandmother. With missing money, mysterious messages, and the strange behavior of one resident, Darling, Alabama, on the eve of Confederate Day, is anything but a sleepy little town...
Includes Southern-Style Depression-Era Recipes!
Mildred Kilgore and Earlynne Biddle are planning to open a bakery on the square-if they can come up with the right recipes. Charlie Dickens faces two of the biggest puzzles of his career as an investigative reporter, and one of them involves his wife. Cute little Cupcake's talent as a singer and dancer makes her a tempting target for an unscrupulous exploiter; Lizzy must enlist the Dahlias to protect her, while she herself is confronted by a romantic puzzle. And Sheriff Norris is forced to reopen a puzzling mystery that the town thought was solved and follow a string of clues that lead to a deadly situation at the nearby prison farm.
Once again, NYT best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert takes us to a place where real people have courage, respect their neighbours, and dream of doing their best, even when they're not sure what that is. She reminds us that Christmas is a celebration of friendship, community, and what's right with the world. There's nothing puzzling about that.
As Darling’s town librarian is fond of saying: “Naked Ladies is not a respectable name for a plant.” A lily by any other name would certainly smell as sweet—and look just as beautiful as the Naked Ladies decorating Miss Hamer’s lawn…
It seems Miss Hamer’s house may also be home to naked ladies of a different sort. Rumors sprout that the elderly recluse’s visiting niece and her friend are actually the Naughty and Nice Sisters from the Ziegfield Frolic, known for dancing nearly naked.
When a well-dressed man from Chicago arrives, asking about the mysterious ladies, the Dahlias begin to suspect it may be more than modesty that’s causing both women to lie low. Someone is covering up something sinister…
Includes Southern-Style Depression-Era Recipes!