March 1, 2007
Who stole Miss Julia's rings, which she left in a candy dish on her dresser? And who stole all Hazel Marie's good jewelry? With her husband, Sam, on a trip to Russia (planned long before their recent wedding), and Hazel Marie vacationing in Mexico, Abbotsville, North Carolina's redoubtable doyenne decides not to wait for the police to solve the case. Instead, she enlists Little Lloyd, disreputable Etta Mae Wiggins, and drunken PI Frank Tuttle in a scheme to drive down to Florida and recover the stolen jewels herself. If most of these names don't mean anything to you, it's because you aren't yet one of the Miss Julia series' many readers. Leaving behind the cozy stay-at-home setting of the last few books, this, the eighth in the series, has a lot in common with the earlier " Miss Julia Takes Over "(2001), another title in which she takes matters into her own hands, hires a private investigator, and embarks on a wacky and mildly suspenseful escapade. Fans will enjoy the change of pace and appreciate all the familiar elements that have made the series so popular.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)