Frankly My Dear, I'm Dead

September 1, 2008
Gone with the Wind
provides the inspiration for Washburn's fun Literary Tour mystery, the first in a new cozy series. Divorcée Delilah Dickinson, who owns an Atlanta travel agency, has high hopes for her new tour to sites associated with Margaret Mitchell and her landmark novel. Unfortunately, by the time the group reaches “Tara” for a dinner dance, which includes local actors portraying the famous characters, nothing's running smoothly. Then Steven Kelley, the actor playing Rhett Butler, turns up dead in the mansion's garden. In classic Agatha Christie fashion, a sheriff's department investigator tries to catch the killer by keeping the group at Tara overnight—with Delilah's unasked for assistance, of course. Much like the charismatic Rhett, Steven had an eye for the ladies, but otherwise lacked any Clark Gable charm. Washburn (Murder by the Slice
) supplies an amusing, breathlessly quick resolution to what proves a featherlight crime of passion.