Two more fun ones

My swimming audios this past week included these two from my favorite authors' list:

Author: Margaret Marron
Format: audio - approx 9 hours
Narrator: C.J. Critt
Characters: Deborah Knott, Dwight Bryant
Subject: getting married, solving murder, proving innocence
Setting: Colleton County NC
Series: Deborah Knott Mysteries
Genre: lawyer as sleuth mystery
Source: public library

I love Margaret Maron’s character Judge Deborah Knott.  This adventure continues her romance with Maj Dwight Bryant – finally planning a wedding.  Of course, this being a Margaret Maron book, there is also a murder to solve – this time a good friend of Deborah’s, and a review of a murder case where the accused murderer keeps claiming she is innocent, and two young law students set out (with Deborah’s help of course) to prove her innocence.

I really enjoy this series and find they work especially well in the audio format.I get a lot of exercise in because I don’t want to stop in the middle of a chapter when I’m jogging away in the pool.I haven’t read all eleven of the series, but don’t feel like I’m missing too much by jumping ahead.
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Author: Fannie Flagg
Format: audio - approx 11 hours
Narrator: Cassandra Campbell
Characters: Elner Shimfissle, Norma Warren, Macky Warren
Setting: Elmwood Springs MO
Genre: fiction
Source: public library audio download

Fannie Flagg is one of my favorite "feel good" authors.  Her characters are always so down-to-earth funny and often remind me of my relatives on my mother’s side of the family (the non-Italians).  Here we have the elderly auntie Elner, whose age is undetermined because her sister destroyed the family bible and no one knows exactly when she was born.  Suffice it to say, Elner is old.  She is also fond of making fig jam, and climbing ladders to pick the fresh figs, thus ignoring any advise from her niece Norma about behaving herself as proper ladies should. Norma isn't so much worried that Aunt Elner will hurt herself as she is about what the neighbors will think.

So of course Elner falls from the tree after being stung by wasps and goes to heaven where she meets one of her heroines--“Neighbor Dorothy” of the famous Midwest radio show of the mid 1900s.  Elner also meets God (aka Raymond), visits with Thomas Edison, and then, much to her regret, gets sent back to earth to tell people to enjoy life and stop worrying so much.

Needless to say, no one believes her, and the interactions and reactions of the townspeople when they find out that Elner isn’t dead after all are priceless. The scene where Elner sits up in the emergency room after five hours of 'flat line' is worth the price of the whole book!  This is a laugh-out-loud funny book with enough message to get it past the fluff stage.  A definite curl up for an afternoon and enjoy the hot chocolate book. Alternately, if you're into audio, this is another great one to keep you going while you're exercising.