Miss Hortense Series

The second mystery starring the colorful members of the Bigglesweigh Pardner, which finds Miss Hortense and her friends grappling with the question, “What happens when a man who can’t die, dies?”

When the second scariest man in the neighborhood barges into your home with a gun and a demand, the average person might try to run or bargain—but not Miss Hortense. Hailing from Jamaica and settled in the quiet Birmingham suburb of Bigglesweigh, the brilliant retired nurse and renowned cook is always up to problem-solve, and so when a new problem literally shows up in her living room, she sucks her teeth and plunges in practical-shoes-first. This time, it’s the death of the actual scariest man in Bigglesweigh, “Nine Lives” Cuttah, a notorious gangster who’s left behind a long list of potential suspects—including Miss Hortense herself.

With the help of friends—including bubbly Blossom and rough-and-ready Fitz—and new allies—like Camille, the daughter of her deceased best frenemy—Miss Hortense must once again use her unique skills to uncover who-the-heck dunnit in a town with as many secrets as there are ingredients for beef patties. But this will prove no easy task, as the clock is ticking, and each of Cuttah’s nine expended lives created a different enemy. These enemies possess ties to drug running, corrupt policemen, a burgeoning war between two local estates—and the case of a missing girl which Miss Hortense once investigated, and which carries consequences that she and her beloved community may still have to bear.

“A beautiful novel, suffused with fondness and wit. . . . A real triumph!”
—Alexander McCall Smith

Retired nurse, avid gardener, and renowned cake maker Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England, since she emigrated from Jamaica in 1960. She takes great pride in her home, starching her lace curtains bright white, and she can tell if she’s being shortchanged on turmeric before she’s taken her first bite of a beef patty. A career in nursing has also left her afraid of nobody, whether an interfering priest or a local drug dealer, and she’s an expert in deciphering other people’s secrets with just a glance.

Miss Hortense once used her skills to benefit the Pardner network—a local group of Black investors that she helped found. Until, that is, she was unceremoniously ousted from its ranks, severing her ties to the majority of her friends and community. That was thirty years ago. Now, as a new millennium dawns, an unidentified man has been found dead in the home of one of the Pardner members, a Bible quote written on a note beside his body. Suddenly, Miss Hortense finds her long-buried past rushing back, bringing memories of the worst moment of her life—and secrets behind an unsolved crime that has haunted her for decades.

It is finally time for Miss Hortense to solve a mystery that will see her and the com-munity she loves pushed to their limits. The first novel from a bold, brilliant new voice, A Murder for Miss Hortense introduces a fear-less sleuth whom readers will never forget.