Mockingbird in the Moonlight

Is that a nice Southern title? Full disclosure: "Mockingbird" is not true crime but fiction. That aside, MM is first rate miscreant material. The setting is Macon, GA. Dixie Mc Clatchey, a former Atlanta cop, opens a bookstore. One night, she discovers the body of a woman from her volunteer group in an alley behind her shop. And then? And then the plot thickens as the former big city police officer-who should know better- investigates the murder on her own, considerably complicating her life. Her new potential boyfriend is a Macon cop, but Dixie keeps even a whisper away from him. Memo to Ms. White: That little dance with the guy adds nothing to MM! Fans of the Sue Grafton series ("A is for Alibi", etc) will identify right away. Would Kinsey Millhone, the licensed PI, have handled things more smoothly? What happens? A good review would never divulge but the resolution here is sudden and real. One can hear that door slam. Nothing is sugar coated. Authoress White, a Georgia native and former cop, entwines nice local color with the plot. The typesetting and general layout makes reading a pleasure. That is a pattern with Ms. White's hardcover releases, softening the impact of higher prices. The bottom line is that "Mockingbird in the Moonlight" is a very solid crime tale and highly recommended. One wonders how many of White's real life episodes in Atlanta have influenced the "fictional" story line herein.

A great novel for a Southern lazy hot summer. Friends of the Library are implicated in a senister plot. Reccomended.