It's Christmastime in the seemingly tranquil town of Stone's Throw, South Carolina, but amid all the caroling, cookies, and cheer, a murderer casts a not-so-jolly pall on the holiday season.
Augusta Goodnight, guardian angel, sometime sleuth, and welcome boarder with longtime resident Lucy Nan Pilgrim, comes to the aid of her friends when, as Lucy Nan is searching for the perfect Christmas tree on her grandmother's abandoned estate, a mysterious stranger plummets to his death from the mansion's balcony. Lucy Nan can't shake off childhood stories of the ghost of a girl who fell from the same spot long ago---has the ghost come back to haunt the living, or is there an all-too-human murderer at work?
Mysterious events are soon heating up faster than spiced punch left on the burner, and it will take Augusta's help, not to mention some celestial Southern cooking, for peace to be restored and Christmas lights to shine once again in the little town of Stone's Throw.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
At the start of Ballard's sweet seventh mystery to feature Lucy Nan Pilgrim and her guardian angel, Augusta Goodnight (after 2006's The Angel and the Jabberwocky Murders), the folks of Stone's Throw, S.C., are preparing for Christmas when Dexter Clark, a not very nice man with a criminal record, falls to his death from a balcony at Willowbrook, Lucy Nan's grandmother's plantation home. Then someone drugs Idonia Mae Culpepper, who'd begun dating town newcomer Melrose DuBois, and steals a locket DuBois had given her. Later, Opal Henshaw, DuBois's landlady, breaks her neck in a fall from a church balcony. Might Opal have known too much about the locket's provenance? Could Melrose be a thief and a killer? Augusta as always makes a delightful earthbound angel in a Southern cozy fragrant with holiday spices and, yes, a selection of enticing recipes. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Ballard writes with great warmth and sassy humor." --Publishers Weekly
"Ballard's warmth and compassion for her characters makes this series a must for readers who like their mysteries on the cozy side." --Publishers Weekly
"Light, bouncy prose, small-town Southern perspective and characters, and a most fetching angel..." --Library Journal
"[Ballard] keeps you reading with an offbeat succession of small-town characters and Augusta's quirky warmth." --The Charlotte Observer
"Mignon Ballard creates an entrancing world suffused with cozy Southern charm, female friendships, and intrigue...but the best is the strawberry-scented guardian angel Augusta, who adds a touch of wisdom and wit---not to mention killer desserts." --Sarah Strohmeyer, author of Sweet Love
"Augusta has got to be one of the cleverest and wittiest angels ever to grace a cozy mystery!" --The Baldwin [Kansas] Ledger
"Ballard's inspiring series, featuring guardian angel Augusta Goodnight, deserves a golden halo." --Carolyn Hart, author of the Death on Demand Mysteries
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
CAKES, COOKIES, AND MURDER,
This review is from: Hark! The Herald Angel Screamed: An Augusta Goodnight Mystery (with Heavenly Recipes) (Augusta Goodnight Mysteries) (Hardcover)
While everyone would probably like to have a Guardian Angel Lucy Nan Pilgrim of Stone's Throw, South Carolina actually has one. Mind you this is not just your garden variety Guardian Angel but it is Augusta Goodnight, a heavenly figure who often finds herself on terra firma in order to help straighten things out. She's a bit of a sleuth with an uncanny or unearthly knack for solving mysteries. As Lucy Nan describes Augusta: "I must admit I had my doubts when she first showed up on my doorstep in her voluminous emerald cape, but there was something so right about her, something so good, I soon invited her into my life. I haven't regretted it." Lucy Nan's friend, Ellis, is the only other person who can see and speak to Augusta. That's because as Augusta explained it Ellis could use a little looking after, too. One day shortly before Christmas this trio is at Willowbrook, Lucy Nan's grandmother's deserted plantation house. They're looking for a tree and greenery to decorate the church. Augusta suffers from the cold ever since her winter at Valley Forge with George Washington, so she retires to the car in an effort to keep warm. Therefore, she's not on the spot when a body is found "in the center of the porch between two Doric columns." It appeared that the late unlamented Dexter Clark had fallen from the balcony as a railing was broken. As if this were not enough of a puzzlement it is not long before Idonia Mae Culpepper is drugged and a locket that her gentleman friend, Melrose DuBois, has given her is stolen. Next, Opal Henshaw proprietress of a local B & B, The Spring Lamb, falls from a church balcony breaking her neck. What a tangled web has been woven! If you've missed the first six Augusta Goodnight stories and like your mysteries mixed with warmth, humor, and recipes you'll not want to miss Hark! The Herald Angel Screamed. (The recipe for Aunt Eula's Lemonade Cake alone is well worth the price of the book!) - Gail Cooke
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
CAKES, COOKIES, AND MURDER,
This review is from: Hark! The Herald Angel Screamed (Paperback)
While everyone would probably like to have a Guardian Angel Lucy Nan Pilgrim of Stone's Throw, South Carolina actually has one. Mind you this is not just your garden variety Guardian Angel but it is Augusta Goodnight, a heavenly figure who often finds herself on terra firma in order to help straighten things out. She's a bit of a sleuth with an uncanny or unearthly knack for solving mysteries.
As Lucy Nan describes Augusta: "I must admit I had my doubts when she first showed up on my doorstep in her voluminous emerald cape, but there was something so right about her, something so good, I soon invited her into my life. I haven't regretted it." Lucy Nan's friend, Ellis, is the only other person who can see and speak to Augusta. That's because as Augusta explained it Ellis could use a little looking after, too. One day shortly before Christmas this trio is at Willowbrook, Lucy Nan's grandmother's deserted plantation house. They're looking for a tree and greenery to decorate the church. Augusta suffers from the cold ever since her winter at Valley Forge with George Washington, so she retires to the car in an effort to keep warm. Therefore, she's not on the spot when a body is found "in the center of the porch between two Doric columns." It appeared that the late unlamented Dexter Clark had fallen from the balcony as a railing was broken. As if this were not enough of a puzzlement it is not long before Idonia Mae Culpepper is drugged and a locket that her gentleman friend, Melrose DuBois, has given her is stolen. Next, Opal Henshaw proprietress of a local B & B, The Spring Lamb, falls from a church balcony breaking her neck. What a tangled web has been woven! If you've missed the first six Augusta Goodnight stories and like your mysteries mixed with warmth, humor, and recipes you'll not want to miss Hark! The Herald Angel Screamed. (The recipe for Aunt Eula's Lemonade Cake alone is well worth the price of the book!) - Gail Cooke
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great read and wonderful author,
By denelle m. manick "MARIE" (TRAVERSE CITY) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Hark! The Herald Angel Screamed: An Augusta Goodnight Mystery (with Heavenly Recipes) (Augusta Goodnight Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Mignon F. Ballard is the queen of mystery and suspense. She keeps you on the edge of your seat until the last work on the last page.
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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green cottage, caroling party, choir room Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lucy Nan, Preacher Dave, Opal Henshaw, Dexter Clark, Stone's Throw, Aunt Eula, Jeremiah Tansey, Dave Tansey, The Thursdays, Martin Shackelford, Louella Tansey, Dinah Tansey, Terrance Banks, Kemper Mungo, Nathan Culpepper, Augusta Goodnight, Mae Edna, Nellie Virginia, The Messenger, Glen Smiley, Spring Lamb, Chief Harris, Ellis Saxon, Dulcimer Man, Mickey Mouse Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
green cottage, caroling party, choir room Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lucy Nan, Preacher Dave, Opal Henshaw, Dexter Clark, Stone's Throw, Aunt Eula, Jeremiah Tansey, Dave Tansey, The Thursdays, Martin Shackelford, Louella Tansey, Dinah Tansey, Terrance Banks, Kemper Mungo, Nathan Culpepper, Augusta Goodnight, Mae Edna, Nellie Virginia, The Messenger, Glen Smiley, Spring Lamb, Chief Harris, Ellis Saxon, Dulcimer Man, Mickey Mouse Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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