What Are You Wearing to Die? (Thoroughly Southern Mysteries, No. 10)
MacLaren Yarbrough, Hopemore, Georgia, magistrate and business owner (Yarbrough Feed, Seed, and Nursery), is incensed when her husband, Joe Riddley Yarbrough, handcuffs her leg to her desk to keep her from investigating a brutal murder. Young mother Starr Knight, daughter of taxidermist Trevor Knight, is found beaten to death, leaving her father devastated and her young son, Bradley, an orphan. Curiously, the flamboyant Starr is found conservatively dressed, leaving Mac to wonder why, especially when another young mother, known for her conservative dress, is later found dead wearing a cocktail outfit. Although Mac promises Joe Riddley she won’t look for the murderer, she changes her mind when she can’t resist her grandson and the three now-motherless children’s plea for her help. Folksy, well-developed characters; plot twists; details of taxidermy; and a glimpse of the trials of small-business owners in rural America add to the story. --Sue O'Brien