Shadow of an Angel
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
After the sudden death of her husband, Minda Hobbs returns to Angel Heights, S.C., the home of her forebears, to seek peace and purpose in her life. Instead, she finds her n'er-do-well cousin Otto as cold and stiff as yesterday's grits in the ladies' room at the historic Minerva Academy.
Shocked by her cousin's murder and still grieving over the loss of her husband, Minda has mixed emotions when she's greeted by her guardian angel, Augusta Goodnight. Shimmering with church window radiance, and smelling of strawberry jam, Augusta is a temp who's come on a double mission-to help Minda solve Otto's murder and to take care of unfinished business from an assignment in 1916.
Even though Otto could be unbearable at times, an annoying laugh is hardly cause for murder. Minda's only lead is a tiny gold pin, found wedged in a Minerva Academy bathroom stall, and its connection to a club called the Mystic Six. Together, Minda and Augusta trace the descendents of this secret society, piecing together clues that lead to a special quilt and the mystery behind Cousin Otto's unfortunate demise.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Do you believe in magic, miracles and guardian angels? If so, you'll enjoy Ballard's third cozy (Angel at Troublesome Creek; An Angel to Die For) to feature ethereal Augusta Goodnight. Angel Augusta fills in as a "temp" guardian for young widow Arminda Hobbs, who finds her cousin Otto dead in a ladies' room stall at the local museum, once the home of the Minerva Academy girls' school. Childish mysticism, an overly complex plot and a cast of characters so large it requires a list at the front may put off some readers, but those willing to suspend disbelief will be engrossed by Minda's efforts to track down Otto's killer now that she's returned to her sleepy hometown of Angel Heights, S.C. Our heroine learns of the Mystic Six, a secret society formed decades ago by six young women at Minerva Academy and of a duplicitous teacher who liked to do more to his pretty students than instruct them in their schoolwork. Minda lays her life on the line several times to find and interpret a quilt (incorporated into the primitively charming if somewhat frenetic jacket design) that the Mystic Six made and uneasily passed around to one another after graduation. Fortunately, her guardian angel is on hand to guide and protect her. By the end Augusta Goodnight fans are sure to have built up an appetite for the next book in the series, just as Minda develops a taste for her angel's homemade muffins.
