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The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover
Susan Wittig Albert, author
NYT bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert returns to Depression-era Darling, Alabama, where the ladies of the Dahlias, the local garden club, are happy to dig a little dirt! It looks like the music has stopped for Darling's favorite barbershop quartet, the Lucky Four Clovers—just days before the Dixie Regional Barbershop Competition. Another unlucky break: a serious foul-up in Darling's telephone system—and not a penny for repairs. And while liquor is legal again, moonshine isn't. Sheriff Buddy Norris needs a little luck when he goes into Briar Swamp to confront Cypress County's most notorious bootlegger. What he finds upends his sense of justice. Once again, Susan Wittig Albert has told a charming story filled with richly human characters who face the Great Depression with courage and grace. She reminds us that friends offer the best of themselves to each other, community is what holds us together, and luck is what you make it.
Reviews
In bestseller Albert’s sweet seventh mystery set in 1930s Darling, Ala., and featuring the ladies of the local garden club (after 2015’s The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O’Clock Lady), the town’s telephone system is suffering from equipment failures because half-owner Whitney Whitforth won’t chip in for repairs. More seriously, the Lucky Four Clovers barbershop quartet is struck by disaster when one of its members is killed before the Regional Barbershop Competition. Was it an accident or murder? Sheriff Buddy Norris is on the case, with a little help from Ophelia Snow, Elizabeth Lacy, and the other Dahlias, who soon find a possible link to local bootlegger Bodeen Pyle. Might there also be a connection to Whitworth’s disappearance? Along with a good puzzle, Albert provides details on such matters as Liz Lacy’s gardening column for the Darling Dispatch and how people manage when money is scarce. Fans old and new will welcome this charming look at a Depression-era small Southern town. (BookLife)
