PEACH CLOBBERED

A divorce and a life change turn out much weirder than a new B&B owner could ever have imagined in this series kickoff from the prolific Gerard (Fool’s Moon, 2018, etc.).

Using her settlement from her golf pro ex-husband, Nina Fleet buys a lovely Queen Anne house in Cymbeline, Georgia, where she lives with her Australian shepherd, Mattie, who protects her from the likes of Harry Westcott, who claims his great-aunt was planning on leaving the place to him. Arriving at Nina's house wearing a penguin suit on a 90-degree day, he passes out on her porch. It turns out that he’s the mascot of the Taste-Tee-Freeze Creamery, a hunky if annoying guy who claims to be an actor. Although he appreciates Nina’s hospitality, Harry still plans to see her in court. Meanwhile, Mayor Melissa Jane Green, who’d refused to grant Nina a zoning change to start a B&B, asks if she can open the business the very next day to accommodate some nuns kicked out of their convent by developer Gregory Bainbridge. After hustling to prepare the rooms, Nina joins the nuns’ protest against Bainbridge the following day. During their lunch break, a tourist begs Nina to help another man dressed as a penguin who’s been stabbed in a nearby alley. Once the paramedics cut the suit off, they realize the victim is Gregory Bainbridge. So was the killer after Harry, who claims he’s being stalked by a crazy fan, or Gregory, who’s crossed many of the town’s citizens? Even though she’s a newcomer, Nina manages to pick up plenty of gossip and assistance when she decides to do a little sleuthing. Harry needs a place to stay in town and strikes a deal with Nina to move into a tower room she didn’t know existed, and the delightful nuns have a lot of insight to offer even though they’re all suspects.

Filled with Southern charm and enough ditzy characters to keep readers guessing and laughing.