The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County

A tenderly drawn, multi-generational novel about the bonds of family, food, faith, and the rallying sustenance of small-town communities.

 

In The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County, Claire Swinarski debuts her first adult novel, a poignantly refreshing story centered on the bonds of family, food, faith, and small-town communities.

 

At the helm is Esther Larson, a warm, 82-year-old, Wisconsin widow—a mother and grandmother. Esther and a group of local women, ‘The Funeral Ladies,’ have shared a bond for decades, providing luncheons for the bereaved in the basement of St. Anne’s Catholic Church. When the ‘funeral ladies’ learn that Esther’s been conned out of $30,000, they--along with Esther’s family--devise a plan to write a local cookbook. Can they raise enough funds to save Esther’s home?

 

Along the way, a pie Esther serves at a funeral arranged by celebrity chef, Ivan Welsh-- his wife dies in a tragic car accident--wows him enough to take notice. After Ivan and his Chicago-based adult stepson, Cooper, and Cricket, the 13-year-old daughter Ivan shared with his deceased wife, visit the town for the burial services, they decide to stay on. They rent an Airbnb from Esther’s adult granddaughter, Iris, who falls romantically for Cooper, a former paramedic who now works “flipping pancakes” at the local diner. Cooper harbors a secret that impinges upon his life—might it affect Irises’ life, as well?

 

Serious themes--underscored by tenets of love, acceptance, and forgiveness--are compassionately threaded through Swinarski’s (What Happened to Rachel Riley?) tenderly drawn story that will hold multi-generational appeal.

 

The Funeral Ladies of Ellerie County by Claire Swinarski

Avon Books (Harper Collins), $30.00 hardcover, 9780063319875, 272 pages

Publishing Date: March 12, 2024

To order this book on INDIEBOUND/Bookshop.Org, link HERE

 

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review as originally published on Shelf Awareness (March 12, 2024), link HERE 

Merry, Merry Ghost

Not since Clarence Oddbody (It's a Wonderful Life) and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future (A Christmas Carol) has there been a more charming character than Bailey Ruth Raeburn in MERRY, MERRY GHOST written by Carolyn Hart.  

Bailey Ruth and her husband died in a capsized cabin cruiser off the coast of Texas. But when a staid, stuffed shirt in charge of Heaven's Department of Good Intentions decides to send Bailey Ruth back to earth to protect a little boy and foil a murder plot, her cheerful spirit is gleefully recharged.

The novel opens at Christmas - a time to cherish family and the spirit of giving. One night, a young boy, Keith, is dropped off anonymously at the house of his ailing grandmother, Susan - a wealthy woman whom he has never met. Susan is thrilled by the boy's sudden appearance. She believed she no longer had any direct descendants of her own. Years before, she'd lost a daughter, then her husband. Her only son recently died as a war hero in Iraq. Ailing Susan, thinking she was alone, had taken in and become the matriarch of her deceased husband's relatives. They all live on her dime and on her ranch in Adelaide, Oklahoma - which is also Bailey Ruth's old stomping ground. With Keith's mysterious arrival and the announcement that his father was the war hero, the tribe of relatives grows increasingly suspicious and concerned, especially when Susan sets out to change her will and make Keith the primary beneficiary of her estate. Before she can officially turn things over to Keith,  Susan is murdered. This leaves a slew of suspects and motives.

MERRY, MERRY GHOST is a well-constructed mystery that will keep you guessing. The story, while dealing with serious subject matter, is leavened with a blend of wit and nuances of the supernatural. Bailey Ruth is a likeable, reliable narrator, and the ingenious strokes by which Carolyn Hart paints her protagonist, flaws and all, make her an incredibly fun super sleuth to pal around with on the page. Bailey Ruth loves fashion and good food and, having been given the power to make herself visible and invisible to achieve her ends, she cleverly stuns members of her old hometown with wry hilarity.

Carolyn Hart is a prolific mystery writer most noted for her award-winning DEATH ON DEMAND series of books. MERRY, MERRY GHOST is actually the third installment in the Bailey Ruth series. You don't need to read them to follow this novel, but GHOST AT WORK and GHOST IN TROUBLE were the first two Bailey Ruth stories - each great reads in their own right. If you're looking for a cozy mystery to cuddle up with by the fireplace during the Christmas Season, give Bailey Ruth Raeburn and MERRY, MERRY GHOST a try. It's sure to warm you up with fascination and delight.

Merry, Merry Ghost by Carolyn Hart
(Avon, Mass Market Paperback, 9780061962929, 336pp.)
Publication Date: November 2010
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