Southern Sisters Books In Order

Publication Order of Southern Sisters Books

The Southern Sisters series is a series of well known cozy mystery books written by one of the noteworthy writers from America named Anne George. This series is comprised of a total of 8 books, which were released between 1996 and 2001. All the books of the series feature the chief protagonists in the form of Patricia Anne Howell and Mary Alice Crane, who reside in Birmingham, Alabama, the United States. The two characters are sisters who often get involved in a number of mysteries over the course of the series and use their sleuthing abilities to solve them. The friends and relatives of Patricia Anne call her with the nickname ‘Mouse’, while Mary Alice is called as ‘Sister’. Patricia Anne used to work formerly as a teacher and Mary Alice is the owner of a western bar in the country. The main highlight of the Southern Sisters series is the real dynamic that the two sisters share as they showcase complete diametrically opposing personalities. Author Anne George has taken the inspiration of the character of Patricia Anne from her own personality while that of Mary Alice from the personal life of her cousin. The success of the mystery series can be understood from the fact that it has received worldwide praise and appreciation and has also been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for one of its novels. Author Anne Carroll George began writing the mystery book series in the year 1996 and released its first book titled ‘Murder on a Girls’ Night Out’ in the same year. She went on to contribute with 7 more books in the series and finally concluded in it the year 2001 with the novel titled ‘Murder Boogies With Elvis’.

One of the books published initially in the Southern Sisters series written by author Anne George is titled as ‘Murder Gets A Life’. This book was released in the year 1998 by the Avon publication. At the start of the book, it is depicted that Patricia Anne cannot understand why Mary Alice is in such a joyful mood over her son’s new bride, named Sunshine Dabbs. She appears to be very cute, but unconventional in her approach. Mary Alice hardly notices her conflicting behaviors as she has raised her son Ray in the same way. Sunshine met Ray in Bora Bora after winning a trip on the Wheel of Fortune. Based on her instincts as a mother, Mary Alice knows that Sunshine thinks she has achieved a fortune for herself by finding the hefty wallet of Ray. Now, Patricia and Mary patiently wait to meet the family members of Sunshine Dabbs. And when they finally meet her grandmother Meemaw Turkett, it turns out to be an eventful evening. As Meemaw Turkett invites the sisters into the cozy trailer of her family compound, they discover a dead body with Meemaw’s knife stabbed in its chest. Meemaw, who is not only the grandmother of Sunshine, but also her guardian as well as the family matriarch, gets extremely shocked at the discovery of the corpse in her trailer. Pawpaw, the neighbor of Meemaw, also has a trailer in which his children enjoy relaxing times. After the discovery of the dead body, Mary Alice comes to know that her nemesis named Sheriff Reuse has been appointed to look into the investigation of the case.

Mary Alice knows Sheriff Reuse from one of her experiences at her western country bar and is sure that it is a trouble to have him in the vicinity. And within the next few minutes, Meemaw’s compound gets crowded with a collection of relative, neighbors, and friends. The spooky channeler of Meemaw tries to guide the visitors and the investigators. At one place, Sunshine’s boyfriend seems to be sulking due to the unexpected turn of events. He thinks that his marriage with Sunshine has landed in a trouble due to the mysterious discovery. Mary Alice comes to know about the mama of Sunshine named Kerrigan. She wonders why Kerrigan is absent even after being informed about the murder in her family compound. But later, it is learned that she features in some different type of videos that might shock the relatives of Ray, if they seem them. This is the reason why she does not want to come in front of them. Now, Mary Alice and Patricia Anne decide to take the matter in their own hands and carry out the investigation on their own. They appear to be very much determined to catch the real killer and help save the marriage of Ray and Sunshine. Mary and Patricia realize that Ray is highly committed in his relationship with Sunshine and does not want to lose her. Therefore, it becomes very much important for the sisters to solve the case as soon as possible. If they can save Sunshine’s mother from getting convicted of the crime that she believes she has not done, there is a chance that they can save Sunshine and Ray’s marriage. But, to do so, they have to confront a deadly and intelligent killer. If they take any wrong step, then might become the next victims.

One of the other books published initially in the series is titled as ‘Murder Runs In the Family’. It was released in the 1997 by the Avon publishers. The story takes place in Alabama, United States, and once again depicts Patricia and Mary in the lead roles. At the beginning of the book, it is shown that Mary Alice is busy making all the high end preparations for the wedding of her only daughter. She provides so much of glittering elegance and gourmet food that Patricia is forced to think about searching for a rich 4th husband in order to pay for the expenses of the wedding. As soon as Patricia gets rid of her chiffon dress and gears up in her usual wardrobe, she gets informed by Mary Alice that they have been invited for a post marriage date with a member of the groom’s family, who works as a genealogist. The lunch turns out to be a short affair when the guest begins a talk on the topic of the hazards of discovering dirty linens in the ancestral boudoirs. He informs that he has already complained to the local judge about the matter. The sisters had not even finished their lunch when the police arrives at their doorstep. It turns out that the guest has jumped from the courthouse building’s 9th floor. Initially, the death appears to be a suicide. But, the sisters have some investigation to carry out on their own to find the real reason behind the guest’s death. They suspect that some proud family from the South has caused the killing of the genealogist because in order to prevent their shameful secrets from getting discovered in the public. The genealogist was determined to uncover all the scandals related to the Southern families and they did not want him to do so. Therefore, they paid for his death and made it look like a suicide. But, it is going to be a difficult job for the sisters to find out which Southern family is behind the murder and prove their involvement in the crime.