Magnolias, Moonlight, and Murder

Settling her family - Air Force pilot Mitch, baby Nathan, and daughter Livvy - into their new home in Georgia, Ellie Avery is busier than ever. With two children under four, a party to plan for Mitch's promotion, and new contacts to develop for her organizing business, Ellie's eager to relax by taking Rex, the family Rottweiler, for a peaceful stroll. But what they find is anything but tranquil. As evening's shadows fall, Ellie stumbles into an abandoned graveyard disturbed by flooding from a recent storm. It's a chilling enough setting without the shocking spectre of two dead bodies...unearthed from the same grave. The skeleton that belongs in the washed-out gravesite is that of a young casualty of World War I. The probable identity of the fresher corpse leads Ellie into a missing-person case centred around Jodi Lockworth, a vibrant young woman who once lived in the house the Averys are now renting. Although Jodi was a beloved member of the community, her part-time gig as a newspaper reporter may have put her on the wrong side of a few prominent citizens. When Ellie discovers a vital clue in her very own home, she becomes the next target of a sinister schemer who'll stop at nothing to protect a deadly secret. Now, with a double mystery brewing and dozens of guests about to arrive in her back yard, Ellie's agenda is once again packed. The only thing she hasn't pencilled in is one killer of a party crasher who intends to make this celebration Ellie's last.

Rosett's engaging fourth Mom Zone mystery (after 2008's Getting Away Is Deadly) finds super efficient crime-solver Ellie Avery living in a new subdivision in North Dawkins, Ga., near Taylor Air Force Base with her air force pilot husband and their two children. While taking the family rottweiler for a walk, Ellie discovers skeletal remains in a forgotten cemetery at first suspected to be those of their home's first occupant, Jodi Lockworth, a freelance reporter who's been missing for 10 months. Instead, they belong to Albert Chauncey, a WWI veteran who died in 1919, and William Nash, an African-American youth missing since 1955. Jodi's parents are grateful when Ellie offers her keen organizing skills in their search for Jodi. A notebook hidden in Ellie's home offers vital clues, but the closer she comes to solving the mysteries of Nash's murder and Jodi's disappearance, the more she puts her life in danger. Some nifty party tips help keep the sleuthing on the cozy side. (Apr.)
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