Customer Reviews

Miss Julia Delivers the Goods: A Novel

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

" ... I hope we're doing the right thing," says Sam Murdoch. "I'm never comfortable interfering in the lives of other people."

Miss Julia agrees with her husband. "Well, I'm not either, and, as you know, I rarely do it. It's only when I'm absolutely sure of what's best that I dare to step in. But this is surely just such an occasion." (pp. 58-59)

As we avid readers know, this will not be the first time -- nor, we suspect, will it be the last -- that Julia Springer Murdoch has taken charge of a situation and has run it her very own way. This feisty Southern senior has seen her share of unusual circumstances. And somehow she manages to survive them all and even maintain a certain amount of dignity and composure in front of the others residents of her conservative North Carolina community. What other woman would make a place in her home for her dead husband's mistress and her illegitimate son?

In this installment, the majority of the plotline centers on Hazel Marie's latest problem. I won't reveal what specific challenges it represents. As usual, Miss Julia does what she believes in her heart to be the right and moral thing to do. What other option is there? Hazel Marie will just have to come around to her way of thinking, that's all.

In the meantime, Julia's second husband Sam is still working on researching the legal history of Abbot County. As a retired lawyer, he's the best person to write a book on the subject. But in the midst of Hazel Marie's dilemma, Sam's home is trashed and vital pieces of information are stolen. Does someone want to stop Sam from publishing the truth about a decades-old case? Or was the break-in merely a coincidence? Miss Julia steps in to help Sam and J.D. Pickens with their impromptu investigation, giving an air of mystery and down-home intrigue to the story. And as usual, Julia's housekeeper Lillian is a willing accomplice in the pseudo-adventures.

Since these novels are always written in first person, we readers are always privy to Miss Julia's perspective, assumptions, and thought processes. If we were in Abbotsville ourselves, we could warn her or even the people around her of consequences to actions taken. But we can't; we're only distant bystanders. And that's part of the fun of it. "Miss Julia Delivers the Goods" is another wonderful episode in the series, with both head-shaking and laugh-out-loud moments. Newcomers need not have read the previous books to get a kick out of this one. But it's a given that they'll want to catch up on the rest, afterward.

These books aren't going to set the world on fire with their action-packed, fast-paced story lines, but they sure are fun. Ms. Ross has delivered another good one with 'Miss Julia Delivers the Goods'.

If you haven't read these before, I would recommend you go back to the beginning to truly appreciate the characters -- Miss Julia is a hoot and watching her development over the years has been a treat. She is a "senior citizen" with spunk and style and has definite opinions on everything without being crotchety. You can't help but smile when you find out what she has gotten herself mixed up in and get a chuckle out of the church ladies and other folks that surround her.

This particular installment was very enjoyable but did seem to move a bit slower in the middle sections than I am used to. Even with that, I enjoyed the book tremendously and looked forward to picking it up at the end of a hectic day. Comfortable read with some excitment mixed in -- there is always a mystery somewhere and this time Miss Julia's husband is the catalyst for intrigue.

If you enjoy the Mitford Series by Jan Karon you really should give this series a try -- perfect escapist reading.

Miss Julia delivers the goods was perhaps my least favorite miss Julia novel. In this one, the author stretches out what could've been an interesting although minor incident- Hazel Marie's unfortunate 'illness' into an entire book, with the doctor, Hazel Marie, Mr. Pickens and everyone else running around as though they had nothing but sugar in their heads. Frankly, this one jumped the shark a bit.

The subplot involving who broke into Sam's house which could've been interesting, also felt very flat. There really wasn't much of a mystery involved, and I'm not sure why she spent the effort with it.

Meh. I've read better. It felt like the author was running out of ideas... This one felt very contrived and predictable.

Imagine a 30-minute sitcom that has been stretched out to a full-length movie and that gives you some idea of what this book is like. Miss Julia's friend, Hazel Marie, has a mysterious illness that stretches out
through the whole book, and the other characters' reactions to it are a bit silly. The other plot has to do with a break-in at Miss Julia's husband Sam's house and the convenient ploy of bringing Mr. Pickens back to solve the case in hopes that he and Hazel Marie will patch up their romance. The book had its moments and the characters are still enjoyable, but this book just didn't seem to be as good as the others in the series.

I'm a big fan of the Miss Julia series, but the first chapters in this book are hard to swallow. <sigh> I knew Miss Julia was naive -- that's half the fun -- but this time Ann Ross pushed my my credulity all the way from the Appalachians to the Outer Banks! I can't say more without a spoiler.

So I've put down the book to marinate for a week. Hopefully when I pick it up again -- I will finish it -- I can return to my earlier enjoyment of this series. If so, I will revise this review.

If you are new to this series, please start with the first book. And I can't recommend the audiotape version (with Cynthia Darlow) highly enough. If I had to choose between a print copy and the audiotape for any of the books in this series, I'd go for the latter.

I had looked forward to this latest installment of the Miss Julia books but have been disappointed. I couldn't help but feel the author is tired! The story dragged and could have been either much shorter, or the author should have taken more time to write it in order to add more creativity.

I never miss the latest in Ann B. Ross' Miss Julia series. The latest "Miss Julia Delivers the Goods" really does deliver.

Miss Julia, Sam, Lillian, Hazel Marie, and Mr. Pickens all figure in this latest entry of the Miss Julia series. The novel starts out with Hazel Marie being taken to the hospital and I was certain that the story would end up unhappily. But as Shakespeare says "alls well that ends well" and Miss Julia and the cast of characters in the story assure a very happy ending.

There is a mystery that evolves with Sam's book on small town life and Miss Julia and Mr. Pickens work to solve the mystery of who wants Sam's book to remain unpublished.

I highly recommend this latest in the Miss Julia series as well as all ten in the series. I love them!

As always, Miss Julia is good at getting into trouble. Can't say this is my favorite, but it's okay, and everything gets solved in the end. I look forward to new books in the series. Just hope this is not a downward spiral, since it's surely not the best, but it's cute and reads quickly.

You really can't go wrong with the MISS JULIA series of books. For me, they offer a much needed break from some of the more intense reading I do. MISS JULIA DELIVERS THE GOODS is a great addition to the series, and I was pleased that Hazel Marie took a much more prominent role in this story than she has in the last couple of books. Ms. Ross has left open a great deal of potential for future books with this latest effort. Can't wait to read the next one.

Ann B. Ross has written another wonderful installment in the Miss Julia series. The book was enjoyable from cover to cover. I rate this book 4 stars rather than 5 because of the slightly abrupt conclusion. The loose ends of Sam's mystery were tied up neatly, but the rest of the story was a little less satisfying. I wish Ms. Ross could have squeaked out a couple of extra chapters to satisfy my insatiable curiosity, and most of all, I hope the next book takes us through more than a few weeks of Hazel Marie's pregnancy and really delivers the goods.