This book is the seventh in the series but the first one of the series that I have read. I had the good fortune of receiving an Advance Reader Copy (there was a happy dance at the mailbox – and it’s a community shared box so there may have been talk).

I have read a few of this author’s books and each time I am very pleased. The author writes in a couple of genres and shows talent in each. This series is based in the 1930’s in a small town named Darling in Alabama. From the beginning letter to the reader to the ending recipes for pies this book made me happy.

The main characters are mostly charming ladies from the Darling Dahlias, a gardening club. The rich descriptions of flowers and vegetable gardens almost made me want to plant something but with my black thumb that is never a good idea. As always with this author the subject matter and time period are well researched. Being a bit of a history buff this always makes the story even richer.

There is a bit of mystery and intrigue to the story line. The theme consists of good people in a community that work together to survive the national economy and the local situations.

This book is currently on pre-order and will be available on March 6.

BLURB

It is 1934. FDR is in the White House, the New Deal is in full swing, and Prohibition has finally been repealed. Bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert returns to Darling, Alabama, where the ladies of the local garden club aren’t afraid to dig a little dirt if that’s what it takes to cultivate a mystery . . .

When the Lucky Four Clovers run into a string of bad luck, it looks like the music may have ended for Darling’s favorite barbershop quartet—just when the Dixie Regional Barbershop Competition is about to take place. To complicate things, there’s a serious foul-up in Darling’s telephone system—and Myra May and Violet don’t have a penny for repairs. The town’s party lines may have to go out of business, which would be bad news for the gossips.

And it doesn’t help that newspaper editor/publisher Charlie Dickens is facing a crisis of confidence in his new wife, Fannie. Or that Liz Lacy (the Dahlias’ president) has to decide whether she’s ready for a do-over in her ill-fated romance with Grady Alexander. And what’s that secret her old friend Fremon is keeping? What does he know about what happened to the unlucky Clover on that dark night on the Jericho Road?

While liquor is legal again, moonshine isn’t, and as Sheriff Buddy Norris discovers when he goes into Briar Swamp to confront Cypress County’s most notorious bootlegger, it helps to have a little luck. But whatever the challenge, the Dahlias know that pie fixes everything. And you will, too, when you hear what they’re baking for Darling’s pie supper.

Once again, author Susan Wittig Albert has brought us a charming story of richly human characters who face the Great Depression with courage and grace. She reminds us that friends offer the best of themselves to each other, community is what holds us together, and luck is what you make of it.

Traditional Southern pie recipes (and a little cookery history) included!

Click here to Preorder The Darling Dahlias and the Unlucky Clover on Amazon