Dead with the Wind
Southern Ladies Mystery, Book #2
By Miranda James
ISBN: 9780425273050
Author website: http://www.catinthestacks.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Kayt
Synopsis:
The New York Times bestselling author of Bless Her Dead Little Heart and the Cats in the Stacks mysteries brings back the Ducote sisters, two spry Southern sleuths.
An’gel and Dickce Ducote tend to stay put in Athena, Mississippi, but a wedding is a good reason to say a temporary farewell to Charlie Harris’s cat Diesel and go visit relatives. But while their stay in Louisiana is scorching hot, the atmosphere at the wedding is downright cold, with bride-to-be Sondra Delevan putting her trust fund above little things like love and loyalty.
When a violent storm supposedly sweeps Sondra off a balcony to her death, the sisters discover that many of the guests attending the wedding had major reasons to object to Sondra’s marriage. Now, it’s up to An’gel and Dickce to use their down-home instincts to expose dubious alibis, silver-plated secrets, and one relentless murderer who lives for “till death do us part.”
Review:
Miranda James has done it again. I love the Cat in the Stacks books and this is the second in a new series starring 2 wonderful senior southern ladies. Dead with the Wind is the second in the Southern Ladies mystery series and it just as entertaining as the first. Along with sisters An’gel and Dickce Ducote they have their ward Benjy Stephens and Labradoodle Peanut and Abyssinian cat Endora to sniff out the answers to who killed unlikable bride to be Sondra Delevan. And their southern charms and intellect abound in this great cozy. They have traveled to Louisiana to visit old friends and help prepare for a big wedding. That wedding never happens when Sondra passes in the way of an old legend. She takes a dive off the balcony. A terrible storm could be to blame but too many people did not want this wedding to happen.
The trouble starts as soon as this great group arrive at cousin Mireille Champlain’s family plantation. Granddaughter Sondra is not just rude, but demanding and spoiled rotten. The housekeeper warns that she may be in danger due to the legend of a Civil War bride being sweep off the balcony in a storm and a storm is due to hit soon. A tragic death bodes badly for the ladies and the household before the storm even hits. Stranger still is Sondra’s fiancee and his odd behavior. Then there is Sondra’s stepbrother who seems too interested in her. Things really turn badly when the household is checking for storm damage and find the spoiled bride in the front yard dead. The sisters do not believe it was the storm or the legend. They are bound and determined to find answers and protect the deceased young daughter.
Miranda James’ writing style is as always superb and draws the reader in and holds tight. The story builds slowly, but effectively. The characters are all very developed and as odd as some of them are, you cannot help but love learning about them. A bit in the vein of a good PBS mystery, old plantation home, a gaggle of offbeat family members and two wonderful senior sleuths who use charm and intelligence to search for answers. Legends, suspicious characters and a ton of southern charm and lack thereof make Dead with the Wind a fun, entertaining and highly enjoyable read. The mysteries are intricate. I was surprised by the twists and kept wondering who done what.
The second book in Miranda James’ Southern Ladies Mystery series is even better than the first. You could read Dead with the Wind without having read Bless her Dead Little Heart and still truly enjoy it. The author does a good job of getting readers basically caught up while not boring or over loading them with too much backstory. An’gel and Dickce Ducote are delightful characters that remind me of Miss Marple if she were a southern belle senior. The addition of war Benjy and of course the critters really gives even more depth to their sleuthing. This is a wonderful mystery cozy that keeps the reader entertained. This is a great series and seems to be getting better and I can only imagine the third in it will be even more fabulous. I cannot wait. I did miss Diesel of course, but hope to see him in another of the authors Cat in the Stack book soon.
