Books*Reviews*Etc: THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE ELEVEN O'CLOCK LADY by Susan Wittig Albert

THE DARLING DAHLIAS

AND THE

ELEVEN O'CLOCK LADY

BOOK SIX

Susan Wittig Albert

BOOK DETAILS
(from NightOwl Reviews)

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, Alabama—and pulls in the ladies of the Darling Dahlias’ garden club, who never let the grass grow under their feet when there’s a mystery to solve… The eleven o’clock lady has always been one of garden club president Liz Lacy’s favorite spring wildflowers. The plant is so named because the white blossoms don’t open until the sun shines directly on them and wakes them up. But another Eleven O’Clock Lady is never going to wake up again. Rona Jean Hancock—a telephone switchboard operator who earned her nickname because her shift ended at eleven, when her nightlife was just beginning—has been found strangled with her own silk stocking in a very unladylike position. Gossip sprouts like weeds in a small town, and Rona Jean’s somewhat wild reputation is the topic of much speculation regarding who might have killed her. As the Darling Dahlias begin to sort through Rona Jean’s 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

Number: 9780425260623
Release: September 1, 2015
Author: Susan Wittig Albert
Availability: Print-Book
Genre: Suspense
Tags: * SUSP: Mystery, * SUSP: Cozy
Publisher: Berkley

REVIEW
I haven't read any of Ms. Albert's books but this cozy mystery was fun and interesting to read. Setting: Summer 1934, Darling, Alabama. It's a continuation of Liz Lacy and Verna Tidwell's lives and their Darling Dahlias Garden Club, although it is more focused on some other engaging characters. As we follow Verna and Liz, there's a new sheriff in town, Buddy Norris. Buddy is young and is trying to show the people of the town that he can do the job efficiently. This book's mystery is wound around Buddy and his efforts to solve the crime.You will want to turn those pages in order to discovery the answer to the mystery. We also meet Charlie Dickens, who is the editor of the local newspaper. Lucy, Myra May, Violet and Ophelia Snow are the important characters of The Dahlias.The author, Ms. Albert writes the story at a time that any reader finds themselves fitting in to their lives. It's as though you were back in the 1930's and thinking about being a part of The Garden Club. The author used such descriptive words that you can sense that a storm is near from the stifling heat and humidity of the day. You can smell the dryness in the air as the wind lightly blows up the storm. These characters become like friends and as you finish this wonderful cozy mystery, you'll be wanting more. More of the Darling Dahlias and their lives in Darling, Alabama. What kind of adventure or mystery will they find themselves in the middle of next? I hope the series continues and you will too!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author, Susan Wittig Albert and NightOwl Reviews for my unbiased review. No other compensation took place.

I would give this book 4 STARS.

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 New York Times bestselling author of the China Bayles Mysteries, the Darling Dahlias Mysteries, and the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. Some of her recent titles include Death Come Quickly, Widow’s Tears, The Darling Dahlias and the Silver Dollar Bush, 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.