Way Down Dead in Dixie

April 9, 2007
A coffin in the parlor of Indigo Island's Pinkney Plantation is the set piece for the locals—including three cousins, Lindsey Fox, Margaret Ann ("Mam") Matthew and Bonnie Lynn Tyler—to pay their respects to the deceased eccentric Miss Eliza Comfort Bailey at the start of the pseudonymous Cousins's atmospheric third cozy set on the South Carolina coast (after 2005's Marsh Madness
). Dripping with sweat in the early July sun, the cousins later discover more than weeds in the overrun graveyard when they clean up the cemetery in advance of Miss Eliza's burial. Lindsey literally trips over the skeleton of Miss Eliza's granddaughter Becky Bailey (identified by her high school ring), who supposedly drowned in Hurricane Camille more than 30 years earlier. Add the discovery of Becky's diary and a missing heirloom diamond to the mix, and the plot heats up like the Low Country summer. Fans will appreciate the camaraderie among the three cousins in this breezy beach read.

June 1, 2007
The South, they say, is full of secrets, and Indigo Island is no exception. When cousins Mam, Bonnie, and Lindsey ("Fiddle Dee Death; Marsh Madness") find a skeleton buried in a shallow grave, their discovery leads to the unveiling of several 40-year-old mysteries. The authors, actually a trio of cousins, do up the South in fine fettle. For readers who like Rhett MacPherson and Nancy Martin's "Blackbird Sisters" series. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 2/1/07.]

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