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Zusatztext Praise for the Southern Ladies mysteries “Filled with Southern charm.”— Richmond Times-Dispatch “Remind[s] me of Miss Marple if she were a Southern belle senior.”—Open Book Society “As charming as the day is long.”—MyShelf.com “James is a master at character development.”—Debbie’s Book Bag “Filled with humor [and] realistic dialogue…Excellent from beginning to end.”—Socrates’ Book Reviews Informationen zum Autor Miranda James Klappentext New York Times bestselling author Miranda James returns to Athena, Mississippi, with the first Southern Ladies mystery featuring Miss An'gel and Miss Dickce Ducote, two snoopy sisters who are always ready to lend a helping hand. With the Mississippi sun beating down, An'gel and Dickce are taking a break to cool off and pet sit their friend Charlie Harris's cat, Diesel, when their former sorority sister, Rosabelle Sultan, shows up at their door unexpectedly, with her ne'er-do-well adult children not far behind. Rosabelle's selfish offspring are desperate to discover what's in her will, and it soon becomes clear that one of them would kill to get their hands on the inheritance. Suddenly caught up in a deadly tangle of duplicitous suspects and deep-fried motives, it will take all of the sisters' Southern charm to catch a decidedly ill-mannered killer… Please visit Diesel the cat at facebook.com/DieselHarriscat. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AUTHOR’S NOTE Readers might be wondering how to pronounce the rather unusual names of the Ducote Sisters. Here’s a quick guide: Miss An’gel’s name is pronounced “ahn-JELL.” Miss Dickce’s name is pronounced just like “Dixie.” Their family name, Ducote, is pronounced “dew-COH-tee.” CHAPTER 1 Miss An’gel Ducote fixed her houseguest with a gimlet eye. “I expect you to behave like a proper gentleman while you’re here.” Diesel Harris regarded his hostess unblinkingly for a moment before he meowed. Miss Dickce Ducote snorted with laughter. “Good gracious, Sister, you don’t need to lecture him on how to conduct himself. Diesel has better manners than some of the two-legged fools who’ve set foot in Riverhill.” “True.” Miss An’gel pursed her lips as she continued to regard the large Maine Coon cat. “He is in unfamiliar surroundings, though, and I’ve heard that cats don’t like change. He might be upset because Charlie and the rest of the family have gone off and left him.” She pointed to the frayed Aubusson carpet that covered a third of their front parlor. “I’m not sure this can withstand accidents, if you know what I mean.” “Really, An’gel. That rug has been on the floor for a hundred and twenty years at least and has withstood far worse.” Dickce shook her head. “Diesel is a smart kitty. He already knows where we put his litter box. He’s not going to make a mess on one of our priceless antiques.” “That’s all well and good.” An’gel glared at her sister, at eighty the younger by almost four years. “Even if his bathroom habits are impeccable, what shall we do if he starts clawing the furniture?” “If you were this worried about the contents of the house, why did you ever agree to keep Diesel? Most of the furniture survived the Civil War and troops of Union and Confederate soldiers at various times. How much damage could one cat do?” Dickce glared right back. “Frankly, I seem to recall that you volunteered to cat-sit. Charlie never once opened his mouth to ask you. In fact, he looked mighty startled when you said we’d be delighted , though he’s such a gentleman, he hid it immediately.” She sat back, arms folded over her chest, and waited. There was no arguing with Dickce when she was in one of her contrary moods. An’gel suppressed a sigh as she threw up her hands in mock surrender. Before she could speak, Diesel warbled loudly and placed...
