Miss Julia Inherits a Mess

February 22, 2016
Cozy fans more interested in character than plot should enjoy Ross’s 17th series mystery set in the small North Carolina town of Abbotsville (after 2015’s Miss Julia Lays Down the Law). When Mattie Freeman breaks her hip in a fall and goes into the hospital, elderly widow Julia Freeman, who barely knows the woman, is flabbergasted to learn that Mattie, who has no known living relations, has given her power of attorney. And Julia’s responsibilities to a relative stranger become even more onerous after Mattie dies of her injuries, having named Julia the executor of her estate. Julia finds that Mattie’s bequests exceed the estate’s value, and she becomes suspicious when a man calling himself Andrew F. Cobb turns up out of the blue and claims to be Maddie’s great-nephew. Ross provides plenty of local color, though some readers may be uncomfortable with the cartoonish portrayal of Julia’s servant, Lillian (“Yessum, they’s a whole box full in the pantry”). Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents.