From Publishers Weekly
George's Southern Sisters mysteries, which launched in 1997 with the Agatha Award-winning Murder on a Girl's Night Out, feature two siblings, sensible Patricia Anne Hollowell and rich, erratic Mary Alice Crane. These lifelong residents of Birmingham, Ala., may be in their 60s, but they are still up for a lively bout of sleuthing. As this sixth series entry (after Murder Gets a Life) opens, Arthur Phizer, Patricia Anne's next-door neighbor of 40 years, is accused of murdering his ex-wife by poisoning her at a local restaurant. Patricia Anne can't believe that her mild-mannered neighbor is really a fiendish killer, so she determines to find out who is framing him for murder. Then someone tries to burn down Arthur's house, and a sniper shoots him in the buttocks. George has a sure touch for creating comedic dialogue and believable characters. Her predilection for filling the narrative with brand names can annoy, but this light, amusing romp of a mystery makes good use of the tradition of Southern eccentricity, exuding a properly cozy atmosphere and a nifty web of subplots and domestic complications. Author tour. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Mary Alice is a large, ladylike woman, even if she has buried three husbands and keeps revising her age downward. Her younger sister, Patricia Anne, tiny, brazen, on the far side of 60, has been contentedly married to the same man for decades. In a Birmingham, Alabama, world full of families who have known each other forever, the two sisters find themselves looking for the real culprit when Patricia Anne's longtime neighbor finds himself accused of murdering his first wife. In other events in this southern honey-flavored cozy, Patricia Anne finds her son's wife camped in her living room when her son strays and is coaxed into e-mail when her daughter moves to Warsaw; and Mary Alice lies outrageously about her age to impress a new British suitor. Woofer the dog tangles with a possum (and loses), old newspaper articles provide vital clues, and iced tea and food of all sorts figure mightily. GraceAnne A. DeCandido
