Miss Julia Paints the Town by Ann B. Ross

Synopsis

Development threatens Abbotsville, but not for long when Miss Julia takes on the cause

When developers threaten to bulldoze the old courthouse to make way for condominiums, Miss Julia is dismayed. She enlists the help of Etta Mae Wiggins in a plot to scare off the money by exposing the town's many eccentric characters. Abbotsville has plenty of local color of the kind not usually listed in brochures for upscale condos: Tonya's sex change, Julia's stint as a biker chick, Brother Vern's evangelistic passion, and a mysterious apparition on a church wall. As if this isn't enough to keep Miss Julia busy, she soon also discovers that several of her friends' husbands have vanished—and her own husband seems to be as scarce as hen's teeth. Marriages, divorces, fraud charges, and reconciliations all play out against a backdrop of Miss Julia's struggle to save Abbotsville's historic courthouse, her marriage, and her sanity. Miss Julia Paints the Town is another rollicking good ride for fans of the winning series.

Publishers Weekly

A local busybody and amateur sleuth, Julia Springer Murdoch tackles the disappearance of three of her friends' husbands and a plan to turn the old North Carolina courthouse into condos. Although Cynthia Darlow has read other Miss Julia novels, she doesn't sound like a native Tarheel. All of Julia's female friends sound pretty much alike, especially during rapid-fire verbal exchanges. Despite differences in social background, they all drawl out their sentences and place interrogative emphasis and extra syllables on important and final words. The Black women (who all seem to work as housekeepers) have deeper voices and poor diction. Except for references to Viagra and automobile accidents, the novel could be set in the antebellum South. Darlow keeps the tone light and quick, but the audio doesn't end quite fast enough. Simultaneous release with the Viking hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 7). (Mar.)

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Biography

Ann B. Ross holds a doctorate in English from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. She has written eight novels featuring her popular heroine, Miss Julia.