A LETTER TO MY READERS
From Stone's Throw to Elderberry: A New Adventure
A reader recently asked if it was difficult for me to leave my angel in the Augusta Goodnight series and move on to a new setting and characters with Miss Dimple Disappears.
After seven Augusta books, the angel character has become such an integral part of me, I don't feel she has really left, but I do think fondly of Lucy Nan Pilgrim, her friends in the Thursday Morning Literary Society (that now meets on Monday afternoons), as well as the comfortable house on Heritage Ave. - and, of course, the wise, witty, and warm-hearted Augusta. Although she's always in my heart, she would be welcome at our house any time. (The table's set and the oven, ready!)
Most mystery readers, and writers as well, I believe, are seekers of adventure. How exciting to sit in the comfort of one's own armchair and safely experience danger and thrills in the pages of a book! Beginning a new series is much like starting out on a challenging adventure. With Miss Dimple Kilpatrick and her ever-present umbrella I ventured into the streets of Elderberry, Georgia, and bit by bit became acquainted with the characters living there. I followed the wartime romances of young teachers, Charlie Carr and her friend, Annie Gardner, and laughed at the antics of eight-year-old Willie Elrod. (I wish he lived next door!) I dropped in on Miss Dimple's friend Virginia at her quaint log cabin library, and had coffee (or was it Postum?) with Charlie's courageous mother, Jo, and her unpredictable Aunt Lou.
And who wouldn't want to sit down to a midday meal to satisfy heart, soul, and stomach, prepared by that kitchen magician, Odessa Kirby, at Phoebe Chadwick's boarding house?
The streets are becoming dearly familiar to me now, just as they are to Miss Dimple. I know how the root bumps up on that big willow oak on Katherine Street and have inhaled the aroma of popcorn at the Jewel Theatre and hot dogs at Lewellyns' Drug Store. I've jangled the bell on the door at Cooper's Grocery and leaned on the glass counter as the clerk, Jesse Dean, fills my order. Just around the corner I've encountered snooty Emmaline Brumlow, who runs the local dry goods store and her family as well, and resisted the impulse to wring her neck!
For a while I've returned to my school days at Elderberry Grammar School and played Red Rover and hide and seek on the playground that never had a chance to grow a blade of grass. It is 1942 and the world is at war, but while the people in the small Georgia town try to cope with losing their young men to fight in foreign lands as well as all the other sacrifices they must face, they also must deal with a sudden and suspicious death to one of their own, and the puzzling disappearance of a beloved teacher.
The more I write about Miss Dimple Kilpatrick, the more I want to know about this clever and fascinating woman. What a complex person she is! As I continue my exploration of Elderberry and the now-familiar people there, I'm learning more and more about this multi-layered title character, and look forward to our adventures together. Look for Miss Dimple to appear again next fall in Miss Dimple Rallies to the Cause.