If septuagenarian Miss Julia aged in real time since the first installment in Ross' best-selling series, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind (1999), she'd be practically a nonagenarian by now. In her nineteenth adventure, she faces down a challenge from do-gooder Madge Taylor, who, with the help of the new pastor, plans to set up a group home for at-risk teenage boys. All well and good, except that the plan flouts local zoning ordinances, and, what's worse, the house intended to shelter the boys will disrupt and degrade the neighborhood. In particular, it will disrupt the lives of Hazel Marie and the rest of Miss Julia's beloved surrogate family. As she works to overturn Madge's plans, Miss Julia finds herself straddling a fine line between NIMBY and Christian values. On another front, her inveterate meddling almost costs her a friend. Competitive party-giving and a Great Dane in need of a home add touches of humor. Readers familiar with Miss Julia's previous outings will feel right at home.--Quinn, Mary Ellen Copyright 2018 Booklist

Madge Taylor and slightly self-righteous pastor Robert Rucker decide Abbotsville, N.C., needs a group home for teenage boys, but Madge's do-gooder activities soon land her in hot water, in bestseller Ross's gratifying 19th series mystery (after 2017's Miss Julia Weathers the Storm). Miss Julia Murdoch hears about it from Hazel Marie, who lives next door to the property in question with her PI husband, J.D. Pickens. Indignant that her pastor is ramming the plan through as though the church supports it, Miss Julia sets out to put a stop to this ill-conceived idea, with all the more urgency when she finds out that even Madge and the pastor have no idea what the developer's true scheme is. Political corruption, rumors, and generally nefarious goings-on just make Miss Julia and her cohorts more determined than ever to turn a bad notion into one that will protect homes and help the boys. Miss Julia's usual kindness and sense of what's right are front and center in an entry sure to please series fans and newcomers with a taste for light detection. Author tour. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agents. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Do-gooders who are smugly pleased with their newest plan roil the waters in a quiet Southern town.Miss Julia is feeling her age. With her husband, Sam, away in Europe, she's bored until her friend Hazel Marie calls in a state of shock because she's learned that someone's bought the house next door and plans to use it as a group home for troubled boys. The house, rather small and located in a historic residential neighborhood, is entirely unsuitable for that purpose, but Madge Taylor has influenced the new pastor and many members of the local church to help. Outraged that the whole plan has been conceived in secrecy for an area that isn't even zoned for such a project, Miss Julia decides to rally a few friends to stop it. As a woman who's done many good works in her life, she's furious to be verbally attacked as an un-Christian NIMBY Scrooge by newcomers who live in gated communities that forbid group homes. With the help of a few close friends and an excellent lawyer who helps her investigate, Miss Julia learns that the anonymous group that bought the house is using it as a wedge to lower the value of nearby houses they want to buy up at bargain prices. Realizing there's a lot more to this story than the sanctimonious drivel Madge Taylor's promoting, Miss Julia resolves to find the truth.The hunt for the troublemakers is surprisingly captivating for so slight a mystery. And of course fans of Ross' long-running series (Miss Julia Inherits a Mess, 2016, etc.) will be eager to learn the latest about many of their favorite characters. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.