by Ann B. Ross
Part of Miss Julia
First published 2019
Miss Julia faces a houseful of complications when her usual physician takes a vacation. The substitute doctor, Don Crawford, seems pleasant enough, so she invites him and his wife Lauren to dinner. Lauren proves painfully awkward at social gatherings, stumbling through conversation and avoiding eye contact. While Miss Julia and her husband Sam attribute this to simple shyness, their friends Hazel Marie and Binkie detect something more troubling about the good doctor himself. Meanwhile, Lloyd celebrates getting his first automobile, and LuAnne starts working at the funeral home after her recent divorce, desperately needing wardrobe advice for her new career. Despite juggling these various concerns, Miss Julia cannot shake her unease about the Crawford couple. Something feels wrong, though she cannot identify exactly what. Her instincts tell her to dig deeper, and Miss Julia has learned to trust those feelings. She commits to uncovering whatever secrets the Crawfords might be hiding, no matter how much chaos already fills her daily routine.
Genres: american-fiction, mystery, contemporary, adult-fiction, comedy, womens-fiction
Vibes: character-driven, cozy, humorous, lighthearted, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, found-family, nosy-neighbor
Setting: funeral home
320 pages · Kindle Edition · Penquin Books