Description (from cover):'New York Times bestselling author Miranda James returns to Athena, Mississippi, with an all-new mystery featuring Miss An'gel and Miss Dickce Ducote, two snoopy sisters who are always ready to lend a helping hand. But when a stressed socialite brings murder right to their doorstep, even they have trouble maintaining their Southern hospitality...
With the Mississippi sun beating down, An'gel and Dickce are taking a break to cool off and pet sit their friend Charlie Harris' 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...'
My thoughts:
The Cat in the Stacks mysteries are quite popular in the cozy mystery world and when I learned that the author was going to be writing a new series, well I wanted to read it. I think fans who love the Cat in the Stacks mystery will really love this new series as it seems to tie in some of the characters from that series into this new one. It really makes me more intrigued and wanting to finally get around to reading that series as it sounds as good as this one was. I love An'gel and Dickce Ducote as characters. They seem like cute old ladies who just can't seem but to find themselves in the midst of trouble and chaos. Of course, their snooping and nosy behavior doesn't really help them stay out of strenuous circumstances. If I had to choose a sister that I liked the best, I would have to say that I really enjoyed Dickce's character.
I really enjoyed An'gel's character as well, but Dickce's character seemed to intrigue me early on in this book. I like how she defers to her older sister in all things, but that she has a mind of her own and isn't afraid to share it and she doesn't live in her older sister's shadow. Both of these women are spitfires and can charm the heck out of someone. That's what being raised in the South can do. They open up their lovely home to an old sorority sister who has fallen on hard times. Little do they know, their one act of kindness sends them into a pickle of a mess. Soon they find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery and they are determined to rid their house of the killer and this toxic family.
I really enjoyed this book and had a really hard time putting it down. I was left guessing who the murderer was until the very end and I was overly pleased with the outcome. I can't wait to read the next one in this series as I really enjoyed Miranda James' writing style and her characters. James' sets out to prove that her characters may be of the older generation, but that they still got it and can solve mysteries just as well as their younger counterparts. I think that this book would be a fantastic read for lovers of the cozy mystery genre and that it will not disappoint readers at all. I really have to get around to reading the Cat in the Stacks series soon as I have a feeling that series will be just as good as this one.
Overall Rating: 5
Title: Bless Her Dead Little Heart
Author: Miranda James
Series: Southern Ladies Mystery #1
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: October 7, 2014
Pages: 304
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
