Miss Julia Inherits a Mess (Miss Julia Series #17)

by Ann B. Ross

Overview

In this entry in Ann B. Ross's New York Times bestselling series, Miss Julia finds herself an executrix on a desperate hunt for a valuable antique so she can honor her friend's last wishes. Don't miss her newest, Miss Julia Raises the Roof, coming April 2018 from Viking.

When Miss Julia hears that Miss Mattie Freeman has taken a fall and is in the hospital, she wishes she'd spent more time getting to know the woman—and not just because she's last to hear about the accident! So when the tumble proves fatal, the last thing Miss Julia expects is a phone call from Ernest Sitton, Attorney at Law. Suddenly Miss Julia finds herself the executrix of Miss Mattie's estate, and from what Ernest has to say, Miss Mattie's coffers weren't exactly full. 

Determined to find something of value for Miss Mattie's beneficiaries, Miss Julia is faced with a room full of clutter that's now hers to disperse. With the lovelorn caretaker Etta Mae Wiggins working overtime, her good friend Mildred Allen on bed rest, and Helen Stroud cataloging Miss Mattie's furniture, Miss Julia soon realizes she's got a blue-million things to do to honor her friend's last wishes. Thank goodness for Miss Mattie's handsome young neighbor, Nate Wheeler, who's ever ready to help out, and of course for Sam, who's always willing to lend an ear.

But when a young man claiming to be Miss Mattie's great-nephew turns up, demanding to live in her apartment while he writes a family history, Miss Julia will find herself closer to Mattie Freeman and her mysterious family than ever before. In this seventeenth installment in the Miss Julia series, Ann B. Ross delivers another hilarious and big-hearted novel celebrating the South's favorite steel magnolia and the unforgettable residents of Abottsville.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143108658
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/04/2017
Series:	Miss Julia Series , #17
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	398,090
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 7.74(h) x 0.84(d)

About the Author

Ann B. Ross holds a doctorate in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has taught literature at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. She is the author of sixteen previous novels featuring the popular southern heroine Miss Julia, as well as Etta Mae's Worst Bad-Luck Day, a novel about one of Abbotsville's other most outspoken residents: Etta Mae Wiggins. Ann Ross lives in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Ann Ross and the Miss Julia series

"Ann B. Ross develops characters so expertly, through quirks, names, and mannerisms, that they easily feel familiar as the reader is gently immersed into the world Miss Ross has created . . . A delightful read."—Winston-Salem Journal

"Miss Julia is one of the most delightful characters to come along in years. Ann B. Ross has created what is sure to become a classic Southern comic novel. Hooray for Miss Julia, I could not have liked it more."—Fannie Flagg, author of The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion

"Yes, Miss Julia is back, and I, for one, am one happy camper."—J.A. Jance, author of Cold Betrayal

From the Publisher

02/22/2016
Cozy fans more interested in character than plot should enjoy Ross’s 17th series mystery set in the small North Carolina town of Abbotsville (after 2015’s Miss Julia Lays Down the Law). When Mattie Freeman breaks her hip in a fall and goes into the hospital, elderly widow Julia Freeman, who barely knows the woman, is flabbergasted to learn that Mattie, who has no known living relations, has given her power of attorney. And Julia’s responsibilities to a relative stranger become even more onerous after Mattie dies of her injuries, having named Julia the executor of her estate. Julia finds that Mattie’s bequests exceed the estate’s value, and she becomes suspicious when a man calling himself Andrew F. Cobb turns up out of the blue and claims to be Maddie’s great-nephew. Ross provides plenty of local color, though some readers may be uncomfortable with the cartoonish portrayal of Julia’s servant, Lillian (“Yessum, they’s a whole box full in the pantry”). Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

2016-01-20
No good deed goes unpunished for Miss Julia. Like any good friend, Miss Julia is always willing to pitch in. But she's taken aback when she learns that Miss Mattie Freeman, who's fallen and broken her hip, has given her a general power of attorney. No sooner has she heard about this unsought honor than the unfortunate Miss Mattie dies, leaving Julia in even more of a pickle when her friend's attorney informs her that she's also the executor of her will. Miss Mattie's left a long string of bequests to her people, her church, and her charities, and although Julia is loath to take on the job, she knows that if she doesn't, the meager estate will have to pay someone else to do it. With the help of one of her still-living friends, she finds an appraiser to help value the items that fill Miss Mattie's apartment while she takes on the task of sorting through years of paperwork and collecting the small items that are supposed to go to charity. Enter Andrew Cobb, who claims to be a long-lost relative. He has no plans to contest the will but asks to see Miss Mattie's family papers and the needlework he claims she was famous for. Julia is pleased to learn that some of her friend's furniture is quite valuable but horrified when someone steals a lovely little cellaret. With her husband away on a fishing trip, Miss Julia enlists a friend to stay with her at night in the apartment until the auction gallery picks up the furniture. Gentle complications follow. Slow as molasses, Miss Julia's 16th (Miss Julia Lays Down the Law, 2015, etc.) barely qualifies as a mystery, counting instead on Southern charm to delight the fan base.

Kirkus Reviews