Bring Your Own Poison
Jimmie Ruth Evans
Reviewed by Carolyn Hart
BRING YOUR OWN POISON by Jimmie Ruth Evans is a smalltown Southern story. Appealing protagonist Wanda Nell Culpepper has plenty of courage and spunk.
Wanda Nell lives in a double wide trailer in a small Mississippi town with her single mom daughter Miranda, grandson Lavon, and highschool age daughter Juliet. Wanda Nell's glad her son T.J. has gotten past his wild years and now has a stable job and is devoted to his partner Tuck. T.J. is a legal assistant to Tuck, who is a lawyer. She worries that they've been the victims of anti-gay harassment but Sheriff Elmer Lee is on the lookout for the perpetrator.
To pay the bills, Wanda Nell holds down two jobs, waitress at the Kountry Kitchen and nights at a convenience store. She can't afford to pass up the tips so she agrees to be the waitress at a bachelor's party at Kountry Kitchen even though she knows it may get rowdy.
When the groom-to-be, who is suspected of murdering a previous wife, dies from a shot of poisoned bourbon, Wanda Nell finds the victim's brother Gerald holding an empty vial.
A state police officer Bill Warren is called in to assist Sheriff Lee. Wanda Nell recognizes Bill as a boy she briefly dated in high school. When Warren focuses on Gerald, a high school friend of T.J.'s as the killer, Wanda Nell calls Tuck to represent him. When Tuck shows up, Warren derides him as gay. Wanda Nell hauls off and slaps Warren.
Angry at Warren's refusal to look past Gerald and infuriated when Warren tries to browbeat her into providing false testimony against Gerald, Wanda Nell sets out to find the truth.
Her efforts are complicated by the discovery that Miranda is pregnant again and T.J. and Tuck are threatened and her boyfriend Jack Pemberton's cousin claims she is being stalked.
Jimmie Ruth Evans has a deft and caring touch with characters who ring true. Wanda Nell is an appealing protagonist who has a big heart and the courage to do what is right.
BRING YOUR OWN POISON charts a new path for the traditional mystery with an ending that surprises but satisfies. Jimmie Ruth Evans will delight readers who value character and charm.
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About the Reviewer:
Carolyn Hart is the author of 40 mystery novels. New in 2008 are DEATH WALKED IN, 18th in the Death on Demand series, and GHOST AT WORK, first in a new series featuring the late Bailey Ruth Raeburn, an impetuous redheaded ghost. DEATH WALKED IN will be published March 25 and GHOST AT WORK in October.
Her web address is www.CarolynHart.com.
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