THE FINAL REVEILLE

A living history museum teeters on the brink of extinction.

Kelsey Cambridge, director of Barton Farm, is just about to pull off the biggest coup of her tenure: a long weekend of Civil War re-enactments capped by a ball. Cynthia Cherry’s foundation has long supported the museum. So Kelsey is shocked when Cynthia’s unlikable nephew, Maxwell, takes her aside and informs her that his aunt’s health is failing, that he’ll be running the foundation, and that Barton Farm will need to look elsewhere for money. During a tour Kelsey gives Cynthia, Maxwell, and his new fiancee, Portia Bitner, Maxwell, who’s highly allergic, is disturbed by bees in the brick-making pit, and Portia comes face to face with Sgt. Wesley Mayes, whom she’d recently dumped for the wealthy Maxwell. When Maxwell is found dead in the brick pit, Kelsey becomes better acquainted with paramedic Chase Wyatt, the handsome nephew of the police chief (and part-time Confederate general), who indulges his uncle by taking part in an occasional re-enactment. Once it’s discovered that Maxwell died from an overdose of insulin, Kelsey, whose father is diabetic, becomes the favored suspect. Chase wants to help prove her innocence, but Kelsey has had trust issues ever since she divorced her cheating husband, her beloved son’s father, who’s just announced he is getting remarried. Juggling all the problems that come with the crowds at the museum and sleuthing at the same time is very stressful, but it’s not as bad as being attacked by a killer who thinks Kelsey is getting too close.

In kicking off her Living History Museum series, Flower (Maid of Murder, 2010, etc.) combines a plethora of suspects, a soupçon of history, and a dash of romance.