Product Description

Patricia Anne would swear that either she or her sister Mary Alice were switched at birth, except they were both born at home.Flashy, flirtatious Mary Alice is one foot taller, twice the body weight of Patricia Anne, and three times as likely to do something completely off the wall. But now Mary Alice's impulsive behavior has land them both in the Birmingham jail!

It all begins with a call from their good friend Mitzi Phizer, who's starting an investment club -- kind of a Beardstown Ladies group. Patricia Anne is willing to make a small, conservative investment in a thriving chain of HMOs; Mary Alice is hot to trot to put her money on Viagra. But before the club idea gets off the ground, the sisters spot Mitzi's supposedly faithful husband in a chummy little huddle with a redhead -- and the next thing they know, Arthur is accused of murdering the mystery woman. Nothing about the whole sordid story fits the kind, gently Arthur, and Patricia Anne is doing her best to console her good friends. But when their house catches on fire, and Arthur is shot in a place that won't allow him to even sit down at his own murder trial, the sisters know they have to stand up for the poor fellow. And that means checking out everyone -- from low-down cads to highbrow bank presidents -- to find a no good gun-toting arsonist who believes big money is to kill for.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172310 in Books
• Published on: 2000-06-01
• Released on: 2000-06-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
George's Southern Sisters mysteries, which launched in 1997 with the Agatha Award-winning Murder on a Girl's Night Out, feature two siblings, sensible Patricia Anne Hollowell and rich, erratic Mary Alice Crane. These lifelong residents of Birmingham, Ala., may be in their 60s, but they are still up for a lively bout of sleuthing. As this sixth series entry (after Murder Gets a Life) opens, Arthur Phizer, Patricia Anne's next-door neighbor of 40 years, is accused of murdering his ex-wife by poisoning her at a local restaurant. Patricia Anne can't believe that her mild-mannered neighbor is really a fiendish killer, so she determines to find out who is framing him for murder. Then someone tries to burn down Arthur's house, and a sniper shoots him in the buttocks. George has a sure touch for creating comedic dialogue and believable characters. Her predilection for filling the narrative with brand names can annoy, but this light, amusing romp of a mystery makes good use of the tradition of Southern eccentricity, exuding a properly cozy atmosphere and a nifty web of subplots and domestic complications. Author tour. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Mary Alice is a large, ladylike woman, even if she has buried three husbands and keeps revising her age downward. Her younger sister, Patricia Anne, tiny, brazen, on the far side of 60, has been contentedly married to the same man for decades. In a Birmingham, Alabama, world full of families who have known each other forever, the two sisters find themselves looking for the real culprit when Patricia Anne's longtime neighbor finds himself accused of murdering his first wife. In other events in this southern honey-flavored cozy, Patricia Anne finds her son's wife camped in her living room when her son strays and is coaxed into e-mail when her daughter moves to Warsaw; and Mary Alice lies outrageously about her age to impress a new British suitor. Woofer the dog tangles with a possum (and loses), old newspaper articles provide vital clues, and iced tea and food of all sorts figure mightily. GraceAnne A. DeCandido

From Kirkus Reviews
Murder Shoots The Bull ($22.00; Jun. 8; 256 pp.; 0-380-97688-9): Those Mutt-and-Jeff sisters of Dixiemarried, petite Patricia Anne Hollowell and predatory, plus-size Mary Alice Crane (Murder Gets a Life, 1998, etc.)are off and running once again when an investment club partnership with Patricia Anne's neighbor Mitzi Phizer leads to rumors of adultery for Mitzi's mild husband Arthur, and then to even nastier (though properly genteel) rumors when his alleged inamorata is found dead. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Just a hoot!!
These sisters keep you laughing, make you think and truly make you miss your sister or wish you had one. This book just keeps you looking for the next one---and makes you re-read the others while you wait.

The best gift I've given my friends, according to them, was an introduction to this series of books

One of my Favorites- light, funny and enjoyable
Anne George is one of my favorite authors. The Southern Sisters are hilarious. Patricia Anne, the skinny retired teacher, once again teams up with her sister Mary Alice, the widowed three times sister to solve a murder.

In this story there is a complicated cast of characters that Anne George manages to gather together in a murder mystery. The long time next door neighbor is under suspicion for murder and their house burns down. Throughout all of this the sisters manage to join an investment club, solve the murder, and deal with a daughter in law who moves in. In the end, everything turns out just fine.

I laughed out loud at Mary Alice's story of what happened of Ruffner Mountain

Enjoy.

Pepsi Out My Nose!
That is exactly what happened when I read a particular paragraph in the book about the funeral of the woman Mitzi's husband is accused of killing. I have read all of Anne's books, and although it is difficult to choose, I think Murder Shoots the Bull is my favourite. It is rare that I buy a hardcover, but I take exception with the Southern Sisters mysteries. I love the 'girls' and the talent of their creator, Anne George. I love a good light hearted mystery, and it doesn't hurt that I actually learn something in each of them...be it about folk art or endangered animals. In this one, I learned it's not a good idea to be entomed on a windy day! Thanks Anne, for another great book.