Way Down Dead in Dixie »

Caroline Cousins is a pseudonym for Meg Herndon, her sister Gail Greer, and Nancy Pate, their "one-and-a-half" first cousin (their mamas are sisters and their daddies are first cousins). Meg, a former elementary-school teacher, and Gail, a floral designer, live on Edisto Island, South Carolina. Nancy, former book critic for the Orlando Sentinel, lives in Orlando, Florida.

Indigo Island and Pinckney Plantation are sweltering under the South Carolina sun as tourists invade in advance of the Fourth of July holiday. But when three cousins who fancy themselves amateur sleuths come upon a long-ago runaway's skeletal remains, the cold case casts a chill on summer fun. Still, it doesn't keep the cousins from planning for a parade and a picnic even as they dig into the island's haunted history while hunting for treasures at an estate sale. Then there's a fire, a suspicious death, and fireworks aplenty as the tables turn. Someone is after the cousins. Is it because they may have discovered a priceless piece of antique jewelry? Or because of what's hidden in the pages of an old diary a secret to die for? Southern manners again meet mystery as our heroines try to solve the case. Readers everywhere will welcome the return of the detective trio Publishers Weekly calls "a triple treat."

Carol Edwards - Charleston Post & Courier

This isn't just a mystery. It's also about these women's lives in a small Lowcountry community. It's a Southern story written by Southerners, which is a pleasure in itself because they get the accents and eccentricities right.

Partially because of all the side issues, partially despite them, "Way Down Dead" is a delightful addition to the series. It's light and fun, witty and entertaining.