**The *New York Times* bestselling author of *Dead with the Wind* and *Bless Her Dead Little Heart* is back with more of those sleuthing Southern belles, the Ducote sisters...** An'gel and Dickce Ducote, busy with plans for the Athena Garden Club's spring tour of grand old homes, are having trouble getting the other club members to help. The rest of the group is all a-flutter now that dashing and still-eligible Hadley Partridge is back to restore his family mansion. But the idle chatter soon turns deadly serious when a body turns up on the Partridge estate after a storm... The remains might belong to Hadley's long-lost sister-in-law, Callie, who everyone thought ran off with Hadley years ago. And if it's not Callie, who could it be? As the Ducotes begin uncovering secrets, they discover that more than one person in Athena would kill to be Mrs. Partridge. Now An'gel and Dickce will need to get their hands dirty if they hope to reveal a killer's...
Praise for the Southern Ladies Mysteries
“[A] classic and classy whodunit, but also a romp filled with Southern charm, Southern eccentrics, and, of course, the antics of the engaging Diesel.”
—
“James is a master at character development, as well as weaving a complex and well-layered mystery.”
—Debbie’s Book Bag
“This series gets off to a brilliant start . . . Filled with humor, realistic dialogue, and oozes with charm . . . Excellent from beginning to end.”
—Socrates’ Book Reviews
“James’s characters are perfect . . .
—Lesa’s Book Critiques
“Elderly characters in cozy mysteries . . . always seem to be so feisty and fun. A prime example is An’gel and Dickce Ducote . . . I loved this book. Loved, loved, loved it . . . One of the best new series of 2014!”
—Melissa’s Mochas, Mysteries & Meows
“What a clever spin-off . . . As charming as the day is long, this story with its many complex characters and threads kept me glued to my seat.”
—MyShelf.com
“An’gel and Dickce Ducote are delightful characters that remind me of Miss Marple if she were a Southern belle senior.”
—Open Book Society
MURDER PAST DUE
CLASSIFIED AS MURDER
FILE M FOR MURDER
OUT OF CIRCULATION
THE SILENCE OF THE LIBRARY
ARSENIC AND OLD BOOKS
NO CATS ALLOWED
BLESS HER DEAD LITTLE HEART
DEAD WITH THE WIND
DIGGING UP THE DIRT
BERKLEY PRIME CRIME
Published by Berkley
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Copyright © 2016 by Dean James
Penguin Random House supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.
BERKLEY is a registered trademark and BERKLEY PRIME CRIME and the B colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
eBook ISBN: 9780698148307
First Edition: September 2016
Cover art by Dan Craig
Cover design by Lesley Worrell
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, my fervent thanks go to my wonderful editor, Michelle Vega, and her exceptional assistant, Bethany Blair. The art department at Berkley always manages to deliver beautiful, eye-catching covers, and I am immensely grateful.
I didn’t give my usual manuscript readers much of a shot at this one. I can only hope they won’t be disappointed when they read the final version. But I thank them for their friendship and support, which always make the process easier. Amy, Bob, Julie, Kay F., Kay K., Laura, and Susie–—I’m so glad you put up with me and allow me to participate virtually.
Finally, a great big thank-you to Nancy Yost and the amazing crew at Nancy Yost Literary: Adrienne, Natanya, and Sarah E. You’re the best!
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 1
Miss Dickce Ducote wanted a clear view of her sister An’gel’s face when she broke the news. She wished there were a discreet way she could set up the video camera on her cell phone to record the moment. Then she could threaten to show it to the rest of the Athena Garden Club to annoy her sister. An’gel needed to be wound up occasionally, Dickce thought. Older sisters could get to be a little too stuffy otherwise.
Miss An’gel Ducote looked up from where she knelt at the edge of the flower bed, trowel in one gloved hand, while the other hand brushed back a stray lock of gray hair. She grimaced. “What is it, Sister? You’ve obviously got something to tell me. You’re practically bouncing on the ground.”
