Anne George (1927–2001)

Sister and Mouse, the Southern Sisters from Birmingham, are at it again,
finding dead bodies where they least expect it. This time, they are looking
for their cousin, Pukey Lukey's (so named from an unfortunate case of car
sickness when they were all kids) wife of forty one years, Virginia, who has
apparently left him for a preacher they hired to paint their house. Their
search leads them to a small mountain church where an odd group of
snake-handlers meet. Of course, they find a body, this show more time a beautiful
woman with a broken neck, laid out nicely on the front pew, but no Virginia.
The mismatched sisters (Mouse -- or Patricia Anne -- is a sensible petite
retired English teacher and Sister -- Mary Alice -- is the six feet tall,
flamboyant and impulsive three-time widow with dyed hair) are off and
running to find Virginia and get the other side of this strange story. When
Virginia's car is found in Tennessee with the dead body of the itinerate
preacher draped across the front seat, a victim of multiple snake bites, the
plot thickens and it becomes obvious that they have to find Virginia while
she's still alive. What in the world was she thinking to fall in with a
bunch of kooks like these snake-handlers?

These two sisters are what my mother always
called "as common as cornbread" (which means home folks) and I quickly felt
that I'd known these ladies for years. The book is written with humor and
not a whole lot of suspense, but it makes for a nice little cozy read and I
enjoyed it. I'll give it a 4, since I figured out whodunit before they did.
LOL show less

Patricia and Mary Alice attend an Elvis impersonator benefit concert at the Alabama Theatre in Birmingham. One of the impersonators dies, falling into the orchestra pit. The sisters help the police sort through the suspects until the murderer is found. There's plenty of Southern humor in this novel. It has a strong sense of place. Readers familiar with the area will really appreciate all the mentions of local places. Cozy mystery readers will appreciate that one of the characters is reading show more a cozy by Carolyn Hart featuring Max and Annie Darling in one scene. A fun read. show less

This is my first book by this author. She was a southern author and this is the first in this series (1996). Even though the pages were yellowed and it was a mmpb (small print of course) I wanted to read because it's about two sisters one 60 and the other 65 (hard to find books sometimes with characters in that age group) and a Southern light mystery.

Patricia Anne, "Mouse" and Mary Alice, "Sister" are sisters and totally opposites. "Sister" is loud and brassy, divorced (the book said but show more then I read widowed) and weighs 250 lbs. and "Mouse" is demure, 105 lbs and a retired teacher and married for 40 years. Sister decides to buy a country and western bar in Alabama, where they live, which is a hot commodity according to "Sister," since she and her boyfriend like to hang out there. The former owner is murdered and no one knows who did it. The sheriff is questioning everyone especially them but they definitely don't know since Sister only met him once when she bought it and then the next day when she took Mouse to see the bar. I've read many cozies but this one is very funny in places due to the sisters ribbing each other but yet get along.

I liked how it didn't totally focus on the murder of the owner all the time. Of course the murderer didn't come to light until almost the end and of course I never figured it out and it wasn't obvious like some other mysteries.

This is one of the better cozy mysteries I've ever read I think. show less

This is it, the last of the Southern Sisters series. Bittersweet all the
way through, knowing that there will be no more after this one. *sigh*

The famous statue of Vulcan, that has stood on the side of a mountain
overlooking Birmingham for decades, is in dire need of restoration and has
been taken down. Money must be raised to repair his cracks and blemishes,
so Sister and Mouse attend the gala benefit variety show program eagerly.
Mary Alice is about to marry husband number four (and, no, show more I'm not going to
tell you who he is! LOL), and her soon to be step-son-in-law is appearing
in the Elvis extravaganza. The stage is filled with a dozen Elvis
impersonators, each more outrageous than the one next to him and the crowd
goes wild. Mary Alice and Patricia Anne have seats in front row center and
have the best seats in the house to witness one of the "Elvi" go tumbling
head first into the orchestra pit right in front of them. Turns out he
didn't just trip and fall, but was stabbed in the back. A few days later,
the murder weapon turns up in Patricia Anne's handbag and when she
accidentally finds it while shopping at the Big, Bold and Beautiful shop
with Sister, she keels over in a dead faint. Without some fancy lawyering,
she's gonna end up in the pokey with a murder rap, sure as shooting. And
both the sisters end up being held hostage by the lunatic murderer before
the book is over. What else did I expect? LOL

This book was great and I loved every page. Wanted to read it slowly
because I knew it was literally "all she wrote." Anne George passed away
and took Mouse and Sister with her in early 2001. This book was published
in August. 2001, and the last chapter has obviously been re-written to try
to tie up the loose ends in the backstory and send the Southern Sisters into
immortality with a satisfying ending. It was just a tad contrived, but
there was one line in that last chapter that brought sad tears to my eyes,
even while it brought a smile to my lips. Yep, the series is at an end, but
with enough of a hook at the end to leave the reader imagining future
escapades for our favorite retired school teacher and her flamboyant older
sister.

Read it and laugh, read it and weep. It's a good 'un. 5+ Long live Mouse
and Sister! show less