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“Do you believe in magic, miracles and guardian angels? If so, you'll enjoy Ballard's third cozy to feature ethereal Augusta Goodnight.” —Publishers WeeklyAfter 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 descendants of this secret society, piecing together clues that lead to a special quilt and the mystery behind Cousin Otto's unfortunate demise.

Prentice Dobson has just lost her job, her boyfriend, almost everything that has until now made her feel complete. To collect her thoughts and mourn her younger sister's recent passing, Prentice leaves the city for her small hometown in Georgia. But there is no comfort to be found in the beloved town of her youth-the town is aquiver with the news that her Uncle Faris'grave has been dug up, perhaps by vandals. And Prentice begins to doubt the simple reasons she has been given for her sister's death. She needs help, desperately. Just in the nick of time, in steps the baggage-toting, wisecracking guardian angel, Augusta Goodnight, sent down from Heaven for just such emergencies. Perhaps Heaven's best angel-sleuth, Augusta usually tends to Heaven's vast strawberry fields, but for people at their wit's end, like Prentice, she is always on-call. In her guardian angel, Prentice finds the strength she needs to investigate the lives of her dead relatives, although, in the case of Augusta Goodnight,'dead'is relative. Resourceful, amiable, and literally down-to-earth, Augusta helps Prentice try to both uncover the reasons for her sister's death and cover her uncle's grave. Mignon F. Ballard's charming and funny mystery, starring the unstoppable Augusta Goodnight, is the second in a series hailed by critics as'heavenly.'

When Mary George Murphy finds that her Aunt Caroline fell down a flight of stairs to her death, she's heartbroken. To make matters worse, Mary is sure that Caroline's death was no accident. Enter Augusta Goodnight, Mary's guardian angel. Normally assigned to Heaven's strawberry fields, Augusta died during WWII -- which explains her old-fashioned glamour and love of swing. She appears in Troublesome Creek just in the nick of time-helping Mary unearth an old mystery and the truth about Caroline's death.'Light, bouncy prose, small-town Southern perspective and characters, and a most fetching angel make this first volume in a new series a real charmer.'- Library Journal