It is 1943, and while war is raging in Europe and the Pacific, small towns, as well as cities in the United States, are vulnerable to its threat, horror, and sacrifice.

Miss Dimple Kilpatrick, revered first grade teacher, and her friends in Elderberry, Georgia, mean to do all they can to help.

They are sidetracked, however, when a skeleton turns up in a cotton field while school children are helping to harvest the crop. Soon after this, a good friend is shot backstage during a war bond rally and part of the money disappears.

Young teachers Charlie Carr and Annie Gardner bravely learn to make the best of it when romance takes a backseat to the war effort while their young men are in the service of their country.

In this second mystery in the series, MISS DIMPLE RALLIES TO THE CAUSE, Miss Dimple Kilpatrick discovers that even her beloved town of Elderberry is not immune to murder and deception.

"Ballard-- also author of the highly palatable Augusta Goodnight mystery series-- knows her way around a small Southern town, having been raised in one. Furthermore, she was attending elementary school during World War II, so her Miss Dimple novels carry a first-hand authenticity lacking in less-experienced writers' works. Not to play favorites (Miss Dimple never would, although she secretly has a favorite pupil), but this second novel in the series is even better than the first." - David Marshall James - Yahoo!Shine


"The people of Elderberry are among the most appealing characters who've ever occupied the written page. And the sweeping changes to small town life in America during a time of war - the way people pulled together - are lessons we can use today. I look forward to spending more time with Miss Dimple in future novels." - criminalelement.com from the review by Terrie Farley Moran


"The battle to win World War II is fought on many fronts, including Elderberry, Ga. Librarian Virginia Balliew is nervous about chairing the big War Bond Rally scheduled for September 1943. Although bossy Emmaline Brumlow has foisted her nephew Buddy Oglesby on Virginia as a helper, Virginia's more comfortable with the help of her old friend Miss Dimple Kilpatrick, a beloved first-grade teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Elderberry. The peaceful town is rocked when some children helping to pick cotton discover a skeleton, later identified as Cynthia Murphy, whose long-suffering husband had ignored her romantic dalliances. Her murder is not the only problem Miss Dimple has on her plate. She's long lived in a rooming house run by her friend Phoebe Chadwick, who's obviously in great distress over something she refuses to talk about; a backstage helper is shot and wounded at the Bond Rally; and someone has taken off with half the money-possibly Buddy, who's also a suspect in the murder. Nor can Miss Dimple count on the young protégées who've helped her before (Miss Dimple Disappears, 2010, etc.), since both are immersed in wartime romances. Even so, she'll have lots of assistance, sought and unsought, in her efforts to solve all the puzzles plaguing her beloved town. Ballard's nostalgic look at small-time life during the war provides plenty of down-home coziness along with a credible mystery ." - Kirkus Reviews


"Set in 1943, Ballard's winning second home-front mystery featuring first-grade teacher Miss Dimple Kilpatrick (after 2010's Miss Dimple Disappears) finds the residents of Elderberry, Ga., excited about a forthcoming war bond rally, which includes a stage production of a "womanless" wedding (all the actors are male). The big event's chief organizer is Miss Dimple's friend, librarian Virginia Balliew, who's assisted by bus driver Buddy Oglesby. The small town's festive mood turns somber after children playing in a creek during an outing to a local cotton farm discover skeletal remains in the mud. Also distressing is the theft of the more than $2,000 raised in the war bond rally. Could Buddy, who was in charge of the money, be responsible? And who would want to harm mild-mannered Jesse Dean Greeson, shot in the shoulder backstage after the wedding performance? Once again, Miss Dimple turns sleuth in a period cozy full of Southern charm. (Dec.)" - Publishers Weekly