Cozy fans more interested in character than plot should enjoy Ross's 17th series mystery set in the small North Carolina town of Abbotsville (after 2015's Miss Julia Lays Down the Law). When Mattie Freeman breaks her hip in a fall and goes into the hospital, elderly widow Julia Freeman, who barely knows the woman, is flabbergasted to learn that Mattie, who has no known living relations, has given her power of attorney. And Julia's responsibilities to a relative stranger become even more onerous after Mattie dies of her injuries, having named Julia the executor of her estate. Julia finds that Mattie's bequests exceed the estate's value, and she becomes suspicious when a man calling himself Andrew F. Cobb turns up out of the blue and claims to be Maddie's great-nephew. Ross provides plenty of local color, though some readers may be uncomfortable with the cartoonish portrayal of Julia's servant, Lillian ("Yessum, they's a whole box full in the pantry"). Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents. (Apr.)? © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Miss Julia and the recently deceased Mattie Freeman were never close friends, so Miss Julia is surprised to learn that she is the executor of Mattie's last will and testament. In typical Miss Julia fashion, she is determined to do her Christian duty and honor Mattie's wishes. But how to reconcile the modest money market account and apartment full of old furniture with the fact that Mattie has made generous bequests to the church, the library, and the humane society, not to mention a number of individuals around town? With advice from husband Sam and the help of several friends, Miss Julia hunts for anything of value among Mattie's worldly goods. Meanwhile, a stranger has come to Abbotsville, claiming to be Mattie's next of kin. Dealing as it does with end-of-life matters, this seventeenth installment in the Miss Julia series seems more sedate than its predecessors, although close to the end, there is a brief escapade of the kind familiar from the earlier books. Fans who have embraced the series for its gentle humor and its affirmation of tradition and community will welcome this.--Quinn, Mary Ellen Copyright 2016 Booklist

No good deed goes unpunished for Miss Julia. Like any good friend, Miss Julia is always willing to pitch in. But she's taken aback when she learns that Miss Mattie Freeman, who's fallen and broken her hip, has given her a general power of attorney. No sooner has she heard about this unsought honor than the unfortunate Miss Mattie dies, leaving Julia in even more of a pickle when her friend's attorney informs her that she's also the executor of her will. Miss Mattie's left a long string of bequests to her people, her church, and her charities, and although Julia is loath to take on the job, she knows that if she doesn't, the meager estate will have to pay someone else to do it. With the help of one of her still-living friends, she finds an appraiser to help value the items that fill Miss Mattie's apartment while she takes on the task of sorting through years of paperwork and collecting the small items that are supposed to go to charity. Enter Andrew Cobb, who claims to be a long-lost relative. He has no plans to contest the will but asks to see Miss Mattie's family papers and the needlework he claims she was famous for. Julia is pleased to learn that some of her friend's furniture is quite valuable but horrified when someone steals a lovely little cellaret. With her husband away on a fishing trip, Miss Julia enlists a friend to stay with her at night in the apartment until the auction gallery picks up the furniture. Gentle complications follow. Slow as molasses, Miss Julia's 16th (Miss Julia Lays Down the Law, 2015, etc.) barely qualifies as a mystery, counting instead on Southern charm to delight the fan base. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.