The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady

China Bayles Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

THYME OF DEATH

WITCHES' BANE

HANGMAN'S ROOT

ROSEMARY REMEMBERED

RUEFUL DEATH

LOVE LIES BLEEDING

CHILE DEATH

LAVENDER LIES

MISTLETOE MAN

BLOODROOT

INDIGO DYING

A DILLY OF A DEATH

DEAD MAN'S BONES

BLEEDING HEARTS

SPANISH DAGGER

NIGHTSHADE

WORMWOOD

HOLLY BLUES

MOURNING GLORIA

CAT'S CLAW

WIDOW'S TEARS

DEATH COME QUICKLY

BITTERSWEET

 

AN UNTHYMELY DEATH

CHINA BAYLES' BOOK OF DAYS

Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

THE TALE OF HILL TOP FARM

THE TALE OF HOLLY HOW

THE TALE OF CUCKOO BROW WOOD

THE TALE OF HAWTHORN HOUSE

THE TALE OF BRIAR BANK

THE TALE OF APPLEBECK ORCHARD

THE TALE OF OAT CAKE CRAG

THE TALE OF CASTLE COTTAGE

Darling Dahlias Mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CUCUMBER TREE

THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE NAKED LADIES

THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE CONFEDERATE ROSE

THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE TEXAS STAR

THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE SILVER DOLLAR BUSH

THE DARLING DAHLIAS AND THE ELEVEN O'CLOCK LADY

With her husband, Bill Albert, writing as Robin Paige

DEATH AT BISHOP'S KEEP

DEATH AT GALLOWS GREEN

DEATH AT DAISY'S FOLLY

DEATH AT DEVIL'S BRIDGE

DEATH AT ROTTINGDEAN

DEATH AT WHITECHAPEL

DEATH AT EPSOM DOWNS

DEATH AT DARTMOOR

DEATH AT GLAMIS CASTLE

DEATH IN HYDE PARK

DEATH AT BLENHEIM PALACE

DEATH ON THE LIZARD

Other books by Susan Wittig Albert

WRITING FROM LIFE

WORK OF HER OWN

A WILDER ROSE

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

This book is an original publication of the Berkley Publishing Group.

Copyright © 2015 by Susan Wittig Albert.

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eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-18564-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Albert, Susan Wittig.

The Darling Dahlias and the Eleven O'Clock Lady / Susan Wittig Albert.—First edition.

pages ; cm

ISBN 978-0-425-26062-3

1. Women gardeners—Fiction. 2. Nineteen thirties—Fiction. 3. Alabama—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3551.L2637D38 2015

813'.54—dc23

2015012221

FIRST EDITION
: September 2015

Cover illustration and logo © by Brandon Dorman.

Cover design by Judith Lagerman.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author's use of names of historical figures, places, or events are not intended to change the entirely fictional character of the work. In all other respects, any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.

For readers and friends whose fathers and grandfathers served in FDR's Tree Army and whose mothers and grandmothers made the best of things in the worst of times.

The Darling Dahlias Clubhouse and Gardens
302 Camellia Street
Darling, Alabama

Dear Reader,

We've all been pretty much up in the air with all the recent happenings in town, most of them connected, one way or another, with Camp Briarwood, the new Civilian Conservation Corps camp out beyond Briar's Swamp. In fact, there's been so much going on lately—so many threats to the peace and welfare of our dear little Darling—that some of us Dahlias are beginning to worry. And after what happened to Rona Jean Hancock, we are even more concerned.

So when Mrs. Albert dropped in at the clubhouse the other afternoon to tell us that she had decided to write another book about our town, we weren't sure what to think. We've always imagined Darling as a beautiful place where mostly good things happen. After all, the people who live here are mostly very good, or at least above average. There are exceptions, of course. But when our Darling citizens do something bad, it's usually a mistake or an accident or (at worst) a case of bad judgment.

Lately, though, it seems that the outside world has been pushing awfully hard to get into our dear little town, like that proverbial camel who keeps pushing his nose under the tent, and the threat has begun to worry some. Of course, when the camel brings jobs and boosts business (like Camp Briarwood, our local CCC camp), folks don't complain too much. But there are those who would just as soon that the camel went back where he came from and left us alone, while others argue that if Darling is going to have any future, our town is going to have to wake up and join the modern world. It's a puzzle—or a conundrum, as Miss Rogers says. (She's a librarian and very fond of big words.)

Well, enough of that. When Mrs. Albert asked us to recommend a title for her book, it was our club president, Miss Elizabeth Lacy, who came up with the winning suggestion: The Eleven O'clock Lady. This is the name of Liz's favorite spring wildflower, so called because the starry white blossoms don't open until the sun shines directly on them and wakes them up. Miss Rogers wanted to insist that this little plant be called by its nine-syllable botanical name: Ornithogalum umbellatum. But Mrs. Albert pointed out that if the book were called The Darling Dahlias and the Ornithogalum Umbellatum, probably nobody would read it. When she put it that way, even Miss Rogers (who, as a librarian, always encourages everyone to read) had to agree. As to how The Eleven O'clock Lady fits what happened here in Darling—well, you'll just have to read it and see. We hope you will.

And we also hope you will remember our club motto, which Aunt Hetty Little has embroidered with a beautiful vase of sunflowers for our club wall: We keep our faces to the sun so we can't see the shadows. It's how we manage to stay (mostly) cheerful during these depressing times. We recommend the practice. Maybe it will work for you, too.

Sincerely yours,
The Darling Dahlias

C
LUB
O
FFICERS

Elizabeth Lacy
, club president. Secretary to Mr. Benton Moseley, attorney-at-law, and garden columnist for the Darling
Dispatch
.

Ophelia Snow
, club vice president and secretary. Holds two jobs: at the Darling
Dispatch
and as liaison officer in the quartermaster's office at Camp Briarwood, the new CCC camp. Wife of Darling's mayor, Jed Snow.

Verna Tidwell
, club treasurer. Cypress County treasurer and probate clerk. A widow, Verna lives with her beloved Scottie, Clyde.

Myra May Mosswell
, club communications secretary. Co-owner of the Darling Telephone Exchange and the Darling Diner. Lives with Violet Sims and Violet's little girl, Cupcake, in the flat over the diner.

C
LUB
M
EMBERS

Earlynne Biddle
. A rose fancier. Married to Henry Biddle, the manager at the Coca-Cola bottling plant, and works part-time in the office there. Teaches reading at Camp Briarwood.

Bessie Bloodworth
. Proprietor of Magnolia Manor, a boardinghouse for genteel elderly ladies next door to the Dahlias' clubhouse. Grows vegetables and herbs in the Manor's backyard and manages the vegetable garden at Camp Briarwood.

Fannie Champaign Dickens
. Proprietor of Champaign's Darling Chapeaux and noted designer of women's hats. Newly (and happily) married to Charlie Dickens, the editor of the Darling
Dispatch
.

Mrs. George E. Pickett (Voleen) Johnson
. Widow of the former bank president and notable town matron, specializes in pure white flowers. Part owner (with Miss Tallulah LaBelle) of the Darling Savings and Trust Bank.

Mildred Kilgore
. Owner and manager of Kilgore Motors. She and her husband, Roger, have a big house near the ninth green of the Cypress Country Club, where Mildred grows camellias.

Aunt Hetty Little
. Gladiola lover, town matriarch, and senior member of the club. A “regular Miss Marple” who knows all the Darling secrets.

Lucy Murphy
. Grows vegetables and fruit on a small market farm on the Jericho Road and supervises the kitchen at Camp Briarwood. Married to Ralph Murphy, who works on the railroad.

Raylene Riggs
. Myra May Mosswell's mother and the newest Dahlia. Cooks at the Darling Diner and lives at the Marigold Motor Court with Pauline DuBerry.

Miss Dorothy Rogers
. Librarian for Darling and for Camp Briarwood. Knows the Latin name of every plant and insists that everyone else should, too. Resident of Magnolia Manor, where she plants her small flower-and-vegetable garden in very straight rows.

Beulah Trivette
. Owns Beulah's Beauty Bower, where all the Dahlias go to get beautiful and catch up on the latest news. Artistically talented, Beulah loves cabbage roses and other exuberant flowers.

Alice Ann Walker
. Grows irises and daylilies, which don't take a lot of time or attention—important for Alice Ann, who works full-time as a cashier at the Darling Savings and Trust Bank. Her disabled husband, Arnold, tends the family vegetable garden.