Miss Julia Lays Down the Law

In bestseller Ross’s pleasing 16th Miss Julia novel (after 2014’s Miss Julia’s Marvelous Makeover), Connie Clayborn, a newcomer to Abbotsville, N.C., and the well-traveled wife of a top business executive, invites Miss Julia Murdoch and a dozen other socially prominent ladies over for coffee at her house in the county’s only gated community. At the gathering, Connie proceeds to berate and belittle her guests, about whom she appears to know a lot. Needless to say, the ladies of Abbotsville aren’t pleased. At the urging of a local pastor, Larry Ledbetter, Miss Julia agrees to have a word with Connie. But when Miss Julia calls on Connie, she discovers the woman lying dead in a pool of blood on her kitchen floor. Did Pastor Ledbetter have some ulterior motive for sending her to a crime scene? Miss Julia wonders. Cozy fans who appreciate genteel Southern manners will be enthralled. Ten-city author tour. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents. (Apr.)