Miss Hortense and the Last Rites

A Mystery

By: Mel Pennant

The second mystery starring the colorful members of the Bigglesweigh Pardner, which finds Miss Hortense and her friends grappling with the question, “What happens when a man who can’t die, dies?”

When the second scariest man in the neighborhood barges into your home with a gun and a demand, the average person might try to run or bargain—but not Miss Hortense. Hailing from Jamaica and settled in the quiet Birmingham suburb of Bigglesweigh, the brilliant retired nurse and renowned cook is always up to problem-solve, and so when a new problem literally shows up in her living room, she sucks her teeth and plunges in practical-shoes-first. This time, it’s the death of the actual scariest man in Bigglesweigh, “Nine Lives” Cuttah, a notorious gangster who’s left behind a long list of potential suspects—including Miss Hortense herself.

With the help of friends—including bubbly Blossom and rough-and-ready Fitz—and new allies—like Camille, the daughter of her deceased best frenemy—Miss Hortense must once again use her unique skills to uncover who-the-heck dunnit in a town with as many secrets as there are ingredients for beef patties. But this will prove no easy task, as the clock is ticking, and each of Cuttah’s nine expended lives created a different enemy. These enemies possess ties to drug running, corrupt policemen, a burgeoning war between two local estates—and the case of a missing girl which Miss Hortense once investigated, and which carries consequences that she and her beloved community may still have to bear.