Miss Julia Delivers the Goods

February 9, 2009
An unplanned pregnancy, a destructive break-in and a nasty gazpacho incident are just a few of the problems facing Julia Murdoch in Ross's diverting 10th cozy to feature the North Carolina matron (after 2008's Miss Julia Paints the Town
). When naïve Hazel Marie, the former mistress of Miss Julia's first husband, learns that her flulike symptoms have another cause, it's up to the enterprising Miss Julia to patch things up between Hazel Marie and her estranged PI boyfriend, J.D. Pickens. Meanwhile, a burglary at the house of lawyer Sam Murdoch, Miss Julia's second husband, means trouble. The disappearance of Sam's meticulous files on local court cases suggests there are parties who don't want information on Abbot County's philandering judge and corrupt sheriff to see the light of day. Those who prefer a leisurely pace, a touch of screwball comedy and gentle puzzles in their mysteries will enjoy this paean to smalltown nosiness and steadfast loyalties. 6-city author tour.

February 1, 2009
A starchy North Carolina lady finds herself with some perplexing problems no proper lady should ever have to face.

Julia Springer Murdoch has raised many an eyebrow with her eccentric adventures. Taking in her first husband's 40-something mistress, Hazel Marie, and her son Lloyd has turned out to be such a blessing for Miss Julia that she's alarmed when Hazel Marie falls sick. It's quite a while before the correct diagnosis is made: pregnancy with twins. Hazel Marie refuses to share the news about her pregnancy with much-married private eye J.D. Pickens, who's just broken up with her. Pickens is in the process of moving out of Abbotsville, but when the house of Miss Julia's husband Mr. Sam, a retired lawyer, is broken into and some of the paperwork for his book on the legal history of Abbot County is stolen, Pickens returns to sleuth. Most of the people Sam first interviewed for the book now refuse to talk to him. So it's especially important that Miss Julia, who has her hands full promoting a marriage between Pickens and Hazel Marie and trying to hide Hazel Marie's pregnancy from her solicitous friends, help Sam and Pickens figure out who stole his notes and what in them was worth stealing.

Ross's tenth (Miss Julia Paints the Town, 2008, etc.) focuses more on Hazel Marie's plight than on the thin mystery. But fans will be delighted that quirky Miss Julia is back.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 20, 2009
Verdict: As evidenced in the tenth book in her "Miss Julia" series, Ross (Miss Julia Paints the Town) has a solid handle on the matronly know-it-all who can't stop meddling in the lives of her loved ones. Although the mystery angle is lukewarm, fans of the series will enjoy. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 12/08.] Background: Enterprising busybody Julia Murdoch learns that her unmarried housemate (and her late husband's mistress) Hazel Marie is pregnant with twins and that the father is leaving town following their break-up. Who else can be counted on to right such a monumental wrong? Miss Julia knows that Hazel Marie, already a single mother, will be the town outcast-but Miss Julia must juggle the attempted reconciliation with solving the mysterious burglary of her current husband's home, where the only things missing are interview tapes.-Natasha Grant, New York

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2009
Genteel and proper Miss Julia has had a lot to contend with ever since her husband of 44 years, Wesley Lloyd Springer, died, and his mistress, Hazel Marie, showed up at her front door, son in tow. Since then, Hazel Marie and Little Lloyd have become like familya family thats about to get bigger, since Hazel Marie is unexpectedly pregnant with twins. Unfortunately, Hazel Maries on-again, off-again relationship with the father, private detective J. D. Pickens, seems to be off again, and J. D. has left town. How to hide the mother-to-bes condition from the well-meaning but easily scandalized townfolk of Abbotsville, and get the couple to the altar? And whats behind the theft of some of the records Miss Julias new husband, Sam, was using to compile his legal history of Abbot county? Series fans will enjoy finding all the familiar elements in place.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)