Product Description

Though unalike as snowflakes, sisters Patricia Anne and Mary Alice share a sympathetic heart for their distraught cousin Luke -- known affectionately in his boyhood as "Pukey Lukey," because of his penchant for getting sick in moving vehicles. Luke is desperate to hunt down Virginia, his wife of forty years, who has run off with a housepainter/snake-handling preacher named "Monk." And the sisters have graciously agreed to accompany their stricken kinsman on his search...in Luke's car, of course.

But, while practical "Mouse" and flamboyant "Sister" are unable to find their runaway cousin-in-law among the asp-loving faithful on Chandler Mountain, they do manage to stumble upon the corpse of a pretty young redhead who was prematurely sent to her eternal reward. And before you can say "anaconda," they are hot on the serpentine trail of a killer who'd like nothing better than to sink a pair of poisonous fangs into two meddling Southern sisters!

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #150061 in Books
• Published on: 2001-07-01
• Released on: 2001-07-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Sixtyish sisters Patricia Anne and Mary Alice return for more wacky fun and adventure in their seventh mystery in this popular series from Agatha-winner George. Soon after returning home to Birmingham, Ala., from Christmas in Poland, Patricia Anne and Mary Alice agree to help their cousin Luke track down his wife of 40 years, Virginia, who's run off with a house painter-cum-preacher with the Salinger-esque name of Holden Crawford. They start their search at Crawford's Jesus is Our Life and Heaven Hereafter Church, where someone hits Luke over the head and the two sisters find the neatly laid out body of an unknown woman in a pew. While Luke is in the hospital, the renegade preacher turns up in Virginia's car, dead of a snakebite. Patricia Anne and Mary Alice, aided by the local sheriff, unearth plenty of signs of jealousy, blackmail and adultery as they strive to clear Virginia's name and get to the bottom of her disappearance. Hilarious dialogue and small details (pimento cheese sandwiches?!) enrich a plot that's spread thin over past events and secondary players. Some questions are left unresolved, while othersAless important to the storyAare addressed by a person who appears only in the final chapters. Despite a weak ending, the eccentric characters and southern flavor should endear the book to cozy readers. George has written another genuinely funny mystery, and fans will be glad to see many familiar faces from earlier escapades.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Petite Patricia Anne and hefty Mary Alice, series sister-sleuths in their sixties, hasten to the aid of their cousin Luke, whose wife has apparently run off with a painter. They search for the woman and discover a dead body in a "snake-handling" church; much-married Mary Alice meets and flirts with the investigating sheriff; police find the painter dead; and someone "hides" a rattlesnake in Mary Alice's car. Loads of excitement, then, accompanied by sisterly repartee, mostly humorous family complications and narrow escapes; light reading for most collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The "southern sisters" of Birmingham, Alabama, grow in depth and delight in their latest adventure. Mary Alice, called Sister, is a large figure of a woman: she keeps revising her age downward and now is not much older than Patricia Anne, or Mouse, who is small, feisty, and sixtyish. Sister and Mouse have just returned from Warsaw, where Mouse's newly married daughter is living. Their lugubrious cousin Luke turns up to say his wife of a zillion years has run off with the house painter, and soon the sisters are embroiled in the search for the errant Virginia. The trail leads to a church famed for its snake handlers--the house painter was also a preacher there--and the murder of both the painter-preacher and his lovely daughter-in-law. Sister and Mouse tackle all of this with generous helpings of sororal sniping, loving e-mails from Warsaw, large plates of food, and a keen eye for family foibles. They make great company. GraceAnne A. DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Customer Reviews

A Fun cosy
Birmingham, Alabama's Southern Sisters are tired after just returning home from spending two weeks in Warsaw, Poland celebrating the wedding of Patricia Anne's daughter. However, their idyllic breather ends even before it begins when cousin Luke "Puke" Nelson asks for their help. Apparently, Virginia, Luke's wife of forty years, left him for a house painter, Holden "Monk" Crawford. Reluctantly Patricia Anne agrees to accompany her more enthusiast sibling Mary Alice in finding the runaway.

Mouse and Sister as Patricia Anne and Mary Alice are more commonly known trace Virginia and Monk to a remote church on Mount Chandler. However, instead of finding the runaways, the Southern Sisters find the corpses of two murdered people, neither being Monk or Virginia. As they continue their inquiries, Sister and the local Sheriff seem stuck on one another. Ultimately, they locate a dead Monk, but they still have not found the missing Virginia.

Fans of the series will fully enjoy the seventh cozy in the Southern Sisters series. MURDER CARRIES A TORCH centers more on Mouse's humorous asides with the reader about the excessive behavior of Sister than on detective work. Still, that should not surprise fans of the series, as that is the essence of all the novels.

Harriet Klausner

Solid Gold for Mystery Lovers!
Anne George continues to top herself with each Southern Sisters mystery. I became interested in them initially, because I, too, had an Aunt Sister, but the lively plots and characters keep me coming back again and again. There are very few books that make me laugh out loud, but these do and in particular, her latest entry. Patricia Ann and Mary Alice get mixed up with snake-handling holy rollers and all hell breaks loose! I could not put it down and literally read all night. Don't miss this one!

Anne George Does It Again!
I love the Southern Sisters Mystery series by Anne George. Murder Carries a Torch is the seventh serving of this wonderful series. Sister and Mouse encounter a missing cousin, snake-handlers and two murders on this latest romp thru Birmingham and places nearby. Most authors get stale after writing about the same characters, but not Anne George. The seventh book is as fresh as the first. My only regret is that I'll have to wait another year before another Southern Sister Mystery comes out. I don't know if I can stand the suspense. If you are looking for a lighthearted good read with a heart, you need to read Murder Carries A Torch.