Synopses & Reviews
National bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert returns to the small town of Darling, Alabama, in the 1930s—and the Darling Dahlias, the ladies of a garden club who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty solving mysteries… Just in time for the Confederate Day celebration, the Darling Dahlias are ready to plant Confederate roses along the fence of the town cemetery. Of course, Miss Dorothy Rogers, club member and town librarian, would be quick to point out the plant is in fact a hibiscus. The Confederate rose is not the only thing that is not what it first appears to be in this small Southern town. Earle Scroggins, the county treasurer, has got the sheriff thinking that Scroggins' employee Verna Tidwell (also the Darling Dahlias’ trusted treasurer) is behind a missing $15,000. But Darling Dahlias president Liz Lacy is determined to prove Verna is not a thief. Meanwhile Miss Rogers has discovered her own mystery—what appears to be a secret code embroidered under the cover of a pillow, the only possession she has from her grandmother. She enlists the help of a local newspaperman, who begins to suspect the family heirloom may have larger significance. With missing money, secret codes, and the very 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
Review
“Colorful characters and evocative period details will keep cozy fans absorbed.”—
Publishers Weekly “As always in any Susan Wittig Albert’s series including this one, the reader feels transplanted in time and place as the meticulous interwoven tidbits bring to life late 1930.”—The Mystery Gazette
“Well-researched.”—Kirkus Reviews
Review
Praise for the Darling Dahlias novels: “[Albert] hits all the right notes…The plot’s believable, the Southern color brims with authenticity, and the characters are charmingly and realistically drawn...Here’s hoping the ladies have many more opportunities to dig into crime.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch “As always in any Susan Wittig Albert’s series including this one, the reader feels transplanted in time and place as the meticulous interwoven tidbits bring to life late 1930.” —The Mystery Gazette “This sweet book captures the true tone of a small town.” —Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Review
“Captivating…Charming characters, a fast-paced plot, and a strong sense of history help make this a superior cozy.”—
Publishers Weekly
“[Susan Wittig Albert], a master of the cozy mystery, fills her novels with vibrant local color that evokes a distant time and setting.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
Praise for the Darling Dahlias series:
“Cozy fans will be delighted…another exceptional series.” —Booklist (starred review)
“[Albert] hits all the right notes…The plots believable, the Southern color brims with authenticity, and the characters are charmingly and realistically drawn...Heres hoping the ladies have many more opportunities to dig into crime.” —Richmond Times-Dispatch
“The author of the popular China Bayles mysteries brings a small Southern town to life and vividly captures an era and culture—the Depression, segregation, class differences, the role of women in the South—with authentic period details. Her book fairly sizzles with the strength of the women of Darling.” —Library Journal
Review
Praise for the Darling Dahlias Mysteries
“Albert once again tells a sweet story laced with personable characters and a strong sense of time and place. Readers can always bank on the talented author for a terrific tale.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Cozy fans will be delighted…Another exceptional series.”—Booklist (starred review)
“The author of the popular China Bayles mysteries brings a small Southern town to life and vividly captures an era and culture—the Depression, segregation, class differences, the role of women in the South—with authentic period details. Her book fairly sizzles with the strength of the women of Darling.”—Library Journal
“This sweet book captures the true tone of a small town.”—The Times-Picayune
“Captivating…Charming characters, a fast-paced plot, and a strong sense of history help make this a superior cozy.”—Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
The good old ladies of Darling, Alabama, are determined to keep their town beautiful. The Darling Dahlias garden club is off to a good start until rumors of trouble at a bank, an escaped convict, and a ghost digging around their tree surface. If anyone can get to the root of these mysteries, it's the Darling Dahlias.
Synopsis
A brand-new mystery in the "exceptional" (Booklist) series by the national bestselling author. Rumors are sprouting in Depression-era Darling, Alabama. The town's newest visitors, Nona Jean Jamison and Miss Lake, may be the Naughty and Nice Sisters from the Ziegfeld Frolic, who specialize in dancing nearly naked.
The Dahlias suspect more than modesty when Nona denies her association. They'll have to dig through clues to get to the root of the mystery...
Synopsis
The country may be struggling through the Great Depression, but the good ladies of Darling, Alabama, are determined to keep their chins up and their town beautiful. Their garden club, the Darling Dahlias, has just inherited a new clubhouse and garden, complete with two beautiful cucumber trees in full bloom.
But life in Darling is not all garden parties and rosemary lemonade.
When local blond bombshell Bunny Scott is found in a suspicious car wreck, the Dahlias decide to dig into the town's buried secrets, and club members Lizzy, Ophelia, and Verna soon find leads sprouting up faster than weeds. The town is all abuzz with news of an escaped convict from the prison farm, rumors of trouble at the bank, and tales of a ghost heard digging around the cucumber tree. If anyone can get to the root of these mysteries, it's the Darling Dahlias.
Synopsis
From the national bestselling author of the China Bayles Mysteries—the second novel in a new series featuring the ladies of a garden club in Darling, Alabama, who also dabble in digging through clues—the Darling Dahlias. 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!
Synopsis
From the national bestselling author of the China Bayles Mysteries—the second novel in a new series featuring the ladies of a garden club in Darling, Alabama, who also dabble in digging through clues—the Darling Dahlias. 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!
Synopsis
New York Times bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert transports readers to the summer of 1934, when a sensational murder shakes up the small Southern town of Darling, Alabamaand pulls in the ladies of the Darling Dahlias garden club, who never let the grass grow under their feet when theres a mystery to solve
The eleven oclock lady has always been one of garden club president Liz Lacys favorite spring wildflowers. The plant is so named because the white blossoms dont open until the sun shines directly on them and wakes them up.
But another Eleven OClock Lady is never going to wake up again. Rona Jean Hancocka telephone switchboard operator who earned her nickname because her shift ended at eleven, when her nightlife was just beginninghas been found strangled with her own silk stocking in a very unladylike position.
Gossip sprouts like weeds in a small town, and Rona Jeans somewhat wild reputation is the topic of much speculation regarding who might have killed her. As the Darling Dahlias begin to sort through Rona Jeans private affairs, it appears there may be a connection to some skullduggery at the local Civilian Conservation Corps camp. Working at the camp, garden club vice president Ophelia Snow digs around to expose the truth
before a killer pulls up stakes and gets away with murder.
Includes Southern-style Depression-era Recipes
About the Author
Susan Wittig Albert grew up on a farm in Illinois and earned her Ph.D. at the University of California at Berkeley. A former professor of English and a university administrator and vice president, she is the author of the China Bayles Mysteries, the Darling Dahlias Mysteries, and the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. Some of her recent titles include Widow's Tears, Cat's Claw, The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose, and The Tale of Castle Cottage. She and her husband, Bill, coauthor a series of Victorian-Edwardian mysteries under the name Robin Paige, which includes such titles as Death at Glamis Castle and Death at Whitechapel.