Celestine Sibley again has Kate Mulcay playing at being a detective. She is called to Ila Island where she has a cabin. Strange things are going on and people are ending up dead. Are they accidents or is someone commiting murder? Kate has a hard time figuring out why someone would want these people dead. She ends up in trouble herself but is aided by Ash of all people. Sibley writes so you can feel like you are there and a part of these people. No bad language, no gory details, but a good mystery.

I collect true inspirational stories. One of the disadvantages of shopping "on-line" is you don't always know what you are getting. That was the case with "Southern Christmas: Literary Classics of the Holidays." If you are looking for mostly Southern flavored fiction by Southern autors with a heavy dose of narratives about racial prejudice against blacks,this is for you. Especially nice non-fiction pieces come from Robert E. Lee and Harper Lee punctuate the volume. One page bios of the authors are helpful and interesting. If you want something more traditional and inspirational, save your money.

At last a collection which reveals the many faces of Christmas in the South. Too many anthologies about Christmas show only the sweet and often unrealistic side of Christmas. For those who have both laughed at absurdities and cried at frustrations on this day, this anthology is for you. Twenty-eight of the finest Southern writers allow us entry into their Christmas experinces. Buy this book, you will not be sorry. Contributors inlcude Rick Bragg, Robert E. Lee, Dori Sanders, and Harper Lee.

I saw this book around at bookstores last year but never picked it up until I saw a mention of it recently and decided to order a copy. It is a very nice mix of Christmas stories by Southern authors--most predictible and a few I'd never heard of and was intrigued to discover. My favorite was Lillian Smith's recollection of the chain gang coming over for Christmas dinner. Some authors I'd hoped for are missing, but generally I really enjoyed it and recommend it to others as the holidays draw near.

I only made it about 2 chapters in this one. Again, Sibley's writing style is fairly good, but she doesn't do needed research. The protagonist was so silly in the previous book that I nearly didn't open this one, but I'd checked it out and thought I'd give her another chance. One of the characters is supposed to be an Episcopal priest, and, admittedly, Episcopalians come in some pretty strange forms these days, but I can't imagine one who would have an Advent wreathe with three purple candles and one white for Christmas (three purple and one rose, and a white one in the center for Christmas; or four purple and one white in the center for Christmas) nor "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" would be sung in the service before Christmas itself. NOT during advent. Episcopalians aren't that hard to research. Why didn't she inquire? It wasn't worth finishing the book.

What a treat to again get a glimpse of the wonderful world of Celestine Sibley. The stories always end too quickly or rather you wish they would just continue.

Any protagonist who is stupid enough to put up with what Kate Mulcay does in this book deserves the results. She doesn't make sure the relatives are actually related; she keeps being devestated by their well meaning but dreadful attempts to help around the house; but never so much as suggests that they check with her before doing things. She gives them cash to spend even when she knows that it goes for liquor instead of food, and then she hands over a credit card and doesn't require it back. When handed the perfect excuse that it's "mislaid", she neither demands nor cancels it. Besides that, I figured out the perpetrators of the murder before it even happened. I would not have finished up the book if I hadn't been hard up for reading material. The one positive point for this book is that the author has a reasonably decent writing style.