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MacLaren Yarbrough is a magistrate for Hopemore, Georgia and is a co-owner of Yarbrough Feed, Seed, and Nursery, which she owns with her husband Joe Riddley. She also has a habit of finding dead bodies. Joe pressures Mac to join the Magnolia's Ladies' Investment Club so she can be closer to her daughter-in-law, Cindy who just inherited a lot of money. Mac is not at all interested in joining the club, which is filled with very rich and snooty dowagers and heiresses. She knows she just wouldn't fit in with them but Joe persuades her to join because Cindy is a member. During the coffee break of Mac's first meeting with the club, she goes to the bathroom. The door won't open so she pushes harder. Then she sees the body of Willena Kenan, the president of the investment club, on the floor. Because this was Willena's last night as president, just moments before, Willena's cousin Wilma Kenan, the new president of the club, presented Willena with a sterling silver bar set complete with a monogrammed stainless steel corkscrew as a retirement gift. The corkscrew is now embedded in Willena throat. Very shaken by seeing Willena that way, Mac immediately calls her nemesis, Charlie Muggins, the police chief of Hopemore. Mac doesn't tell any of the members about the body and waits for Charlie to get there to start his investigation. When the women do find out they are all shocked and horrified at Willena's death. But as Mac starts to think about where each member was during the coffee break, she discovers that no one has a real alibi. Any one of the women might have murdered Willena. When Charlie finally lets all the club members leave Cindy discovers that her car keys are not in her bag. She and Mac go back to the meeting hall where Charlie then informs them that Cindy's keys were found under Willena's body and he has to take Cindy in for questioning. Mac knows her daughter-in-law is not a murderer but she and her family also understands that mistakes can be made where the law is concerned. Things just get worse when Mac and Joe receive a phone message from their son, Walker who is also Cindy's husband. In the beginning of the recorded message he says that he wants his father to hear the message but not Mac. Since she is an officer of the court and must report anything illegal that she finds out, Mac realizes that Walker might want to discuss something to do with the murder. So unhappily Mac leaves the room. But when she sees how upset her husband is after hearing and deleting the message she's sure that something is terribly wrong. Mac tries to call Walker's cell phone, Cindy's cell phone, and their children's cell phones but she discovers they are all shut off. Now Mac is sure that Walker has whisked his family away from Hopemore and the murder. That act itself is against the law. More determined than ever to find Willena's murderer to clear her daughter-in-law's name, Mac finds herself not only scrutinizing all the members of the investment club but also all the inhabitants of Hopemore to find who the real killer is. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DIE by Patricia Sprinkle is a marvelous little cozy. The inhabitants of Hopemore are very realistic and I love the relationship between Mac and Joe Riddley. They're not a young couple but two people who have been married for many years, know each other well and still loves each other a lot. The mystery aspect of the book is wonderful. Anyone could have been the killer even though there is no motive at first glance. There are quite a few people involved and like her other books in this series, Sprinkle gives us a list of characters at the very front of the book just in case you get a little confused. I appreciated that. Spend a day with Mac and her family and friends in Hopemore. There's always a murder to solve and Mac is always there to discover the body and the killer. You'll have a fun time helping her out.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, March 2007
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