Drop Dead Handsome: A Flower Girls Mystery

by Rebecca Burns Aldridge

A deserted sailboat. A gruesome "catch" by a fisherman. A woman's "accidental" death. Her friends' suspicions. Their subsequent dangerous--sometimes comic--investigation.
Four women, who live in various places of the South and are known to one another only through email, are brought together by a shattering phone call. That call tells them of the shocking and, to them, unsatisfactorily explained death of their mutual friend, Maggie Muldoon Palmer, a wealthy philanthropist in Mississippi. At Maggie's funeral, in a simultaneous move that surprises the four strangers, they each lay a yellow rose, Maggie's favorite flower, on the casket. "The flower girls," as they refer to themselves after the funeral, are not the usual run-of-the-mill detectives. Ranging in age from mid-forty to seventy, they are not the svelte, hip, grown-up version of Nancy Drew. It's "The Golden Girls" meet Agatha Christie! Although they are all single-or-single-again southern women, they are as different as can be. Tootsie dresses garishly, constantly nibbles peanut butter, and lives on the edge; the only thing Bippy likes more than eating is playing matchmaker; Penelope avoids wearing hearing aids because she is just "a little hard of hearing" and wears clothes that look as if she robbed a Goodwill box; Rosemary, a forty-something African American newspaper editor, betrayed by her ex-husband, is trying to resist falling in love. With good humor, suspicion, and determination to get to the bottom of things, they distrust the man Maggie was going to marry, her brothers, and even the detective assigned to the case. All four Flower Girls are unprepared, not only for the danger which lies in wait for them by their stubborn refusal to accept Maggie's death as an accident, but for the extent to which their lives are changed forever by their friendship.

359 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2022

Reviews

[Pat Jurgens · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cozy mystery of the southern persuasion. Four women, each a zany character, bond over the mysterious demise of their friend. Think "Steel Magnolias" or "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." The author shines a bright light on women's friendships and her personal writing draws the reader in. Pull up a soft chair and enjoy escaping into this compelling story.

[Lucy Hinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Most enjoyable writing style. I feel as though the "Flower Girls" are now my best friends. I can't wait for another adventure with them to begin.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 3.5 for me, fun read by a local author in her 80’s. She always wanted to write a book and didn’t have the confidence despite a great career. It’s a little slow in parts and repetitive but a good story about one central character who is found drowned and her 4 best friends are suspicious. They come together for her funeral and decide to investigate themselves since local authorities think it was not murder. The friends develop a strong bond although they didn’t know each other. There is already a sequel being written.

[Matt Senne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great start to the series! The Flower Girls were fleshed out very well and I had a terrific time reading their first adventure (of many, I hope!).

Tootsie, Pen, Bippy, Rose and Maggie were all wonderful and I feel like I know them. The places felt live-in and the people were detailed and interesting. Lots of wit and joy were mixed in with the suspense and danger.

I'm really looking forward to Flower Girls book 2!