May 14, 2021
During their garden party on a Sunday in May 1935, the Darling Dahlias, the garden club in the small southern Alabama town of Darling, debate whether to cut the stunning but noxious flower from a rare blooming voodoo lily (Amorphophallus konjac). Aunt Hetty, the club's senior member, warns that a legend contends that if the blossom is cut, a death will follow. Alas, the plant is knocked over, its stem broken. Before the party ends, Emma Jane Randall, a resident at the boardinghouse for genteel elderly ladies, is found dead, along with a mostly consumed chocolate cake. As the Dahlias go about their lives in the offices and shops throughout the town, they gather tidbits about Emma Jane and share other news and recollections of her family history. When the young sheriff takes one of their own into custody, they go into high gear. Albert continues this series with an amiable blend of meticulously researched Depression-era life and times, ongoing stories of a group of strong women who are the true backbone of the town, and several engaging subplots.
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