Kate Mulcay is a youngish widow, reporter on an Atlanta newspaper, still living in the rural log cabin she and her husband had lovingly restored. The farmland around it has gradually given way to expensive housing, but the shabby house of Miss Willie Wilcox has been empty since she was put into a nearby nursing home by her selfish, newly rich, realtor son Garney and his piggish wife Voncile. Now Garney has been found dead--poisoned, electrocuted, and bashed over the head. Miss Willie, powerfully motivated by the revelations of granddaughter Cheri, claims to have killed him. But Kate, utilizing her longtime kinship with the locals, young and old, patches together the connections that get Miss Willie off the hook--and that help Sergeant Mellie Alvarez solve a second killing. A warm, unassuming, mildly engaging story--the first in a series by a much-published author (Children, My Children, 1981, etc.; the memoir Turned Funny, 1988) and syndicated columnist. Kate's further adventures are anticipated with pleasure.
