Dead with the Wind

 

Dead with the Wind
A Southern Ladies Mystery

Miranda James
Berkley Prime Crime, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2015

The two grand ladies-of-a-certain age are back for another murder mystery. This time they travel to St Ignatiusville in Louisiana for the wedding of a cousin’s granddaughter. Together with their “ward” Benjy (he is a college age young man who came to stay with them during the last book when his mother was killed) and their two rescued pets, Peanut the Labradoodle and Endora the Abyssinian cat, they help the local police solve the murder of 3 (or is it 2?) distant relatives.

Main Characters

*An’gel Ducote, the elder of the two unmarried sisters and the more direct of the two. She puts herself in the middle of the investigation of the accidental(?) death of her goddaughter, even when the local police say its’ an accident. She is not at all pleased when said police officer treats her condescendingly as an “old girl.” She stands toe-to-toe with him and only backs down when good manners insist upon it.
*Dickce Ducote, the younger of the sisters and more easygoing than her sister. She is charming, a bit flirtatious and dotes upon their goddaughter’s little girl – something An’gel would never do!
*Benjy Stephens, travels with the sisters but mostly looks after the animals. He also brings information he gleans from around the country home to the sisters to help solve the mystery.

Secondary Characters
*Mirielle Champlain, matriarch of the stately Southern home, Willowbank. She is afraid of conflict of any sort so when her granddaughter tears up an antique wedding gown during a temper tantrum, she has a massive coronary and is absent for most of the book.
*Jacqueline Mims, daughter of Mirielle and goddaughter to An’gel and Dickce, and even more afraid of conflict than her mother. She kowtows to both her husband and daughter and weeps through most of the book.
*Sondra Mims, spoiled rotten brat daughter of Jacqueline, is used to getting everything she wants when she wants it. She’s beautiful and knows it and is about to marry an equally beautiful man; only she refuses to wear the antique wedding gown her grandmother wants her to. She is a true ‘bridezilla’ and causes her mother and grandmother no end of grief at least until someone tosses her off the third floor balcony!
*Lance Perigord, Sondra’s intended and equally as beautiful and as dumb as she is. But he is also gay – which begs the question, why would Sondra knowingly marry a gay man?
*Horace Mims, second husband of Jacqueline and supposedly a shrewd business man but is in cahoots with another man in a bid to recover from some bad investments.
*Estelle Winfield, housekeeper for Mirielle and unbelievably rude to everyone she comes across. Tactfulness is not her watchword!
*Jackson, mild-mannered elderly butler at Willowbank. Certainly Jackson isn’t the murderer! He’s too caring and sweet!
*Trey Mims, son of Horace from his first marriage, has an EXPLOSIVE temper and is not happy that Sondra is marrying Lance.
*Richmond Thurston, long time family friend and lawyer for the Champlain family, is privy to family financial secrets.

So, there you have all the players in this multiple murder mystery. Read it and see if you can figure out who did the killing!

Another great book from Miranda James – a nice little cozy mystery about Southern families and traditions. James does an outstanding job of capturing the atmosphere and familial interactions of well-to-do Southerners. However, I would really like to see her (him) turn her hand – or pen, as it were – toward the not so well off folks of the South; there are just as many eccentric characters in the lower income demographic as there are in the upper incomes!

Rating: 4 out of 5 paws

Reviewer: BobbieSue 

Miranda James, aka Dean James

Its a labradoodle like Peanut!!

Its a Ruddy Abyssinian like Endora!!!