About Marsh Madness

"What's a MaryMar?" is an innocent, if odd, question that leads three of South Carolina's finest amateur sleuths to even odder and more ominous questions.

Who is stalking MaryMar (turns out MaryMar is an ex-beauty queen and current drama queen, not a Girl Scout cookie, as first suspected)? Who killed MaryMar's personal assistant, Lorna (who is unfortunate enough not only to be dead, but to have no "people" to speak of)? Who is making crystal meth on Indigo Island? And who says you can't use kudzu in a bridal arrangement?

Fans of Caroline Cousins's debut novel, Fiddle Dee Death, will be relieved to know that Lindsey Fox and her first-and-a-half cousins, Margaret Ann Matthews and Bonnie Lynn Tyler, are back to answer all these questions and more in the new mystery of manners Marsh Madness.

Having survived both "just a little murder" and the holidays in their debut, Indigo Island's irregulars now face a drug dealer, an identity thief, and a ghostly alligator, all of which are tacky enough to strike while Margaret Ann is frantically trying to arrange the beach wedding of the century.

Having survived both the writing process and the book tour for Fiddle Dee Death, the three women collectively known as Caroline Cousins decided to bring their fictional, crime-fighting alter egos back for what they describe as "just a tad more murder."

"Now, for the answers to the . . . most-asked question," suspected ringleader Nancy Pate wrote in her Fiddle Dee Death tour diary, posted on the website Moby Lives! "Yes, three women can write a book together and tour for two weeks and still be on speaking terms. We have to be - we're family." As much as the mystery, the family fun and gentle Southern satire of Caroline Cousins attract fans. Lee Smith called Fiddle Dee Death "a terrific crash course on the South," while Mary Kay Andrews said it "manages to make murder in the Low Country good old-fashioned fun." Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine said "fans of the Southern domestic cozy will find ample humor and charm," and Romance Times gave it four stars.

"Full of Southern charm, Low Country imagery, snappy humor and the requisite secrets and lies, this cozy shows that three heroines aren't too many; they are a triple treat.''

-- Publishers Weekly

Read an excerpt from Marsh Madness