Murder by Death

I bought this one on the strength of how much I enjoyed Garden Spells and I think I ended up liking this one even more.

The story centers primarily on two women:  Emily, a teen-ager (who doesn't act like one) who moves to Mullaby North Carolina to live with her grandfather after the death of her mother.  She's determined to learn about her mother's history and finds a lot more than she bargained for.  Julia Winterson has a plan; one that involves not being in Mullaby, but she has 6 more months of saving, scrimping, and avoiding Sawyer and her teen-age past before she can enact her plan.

I love the towns Sarah Addison Allen creates in her books; they're small, magical, quirky and nobody thinks they're odd.  Living in Mullaby sounds like fun.  In Garden Spells, I had a hard time liking or sympathising with the characters, but there wasn't a character in this book I didn't immediately like (at least none of the living ones).

The plot might not have been the most climatic one I've read, but I just lost myself in it and stayed up last night long after the point of reading comprehension because I just didn't want it to end.  It was a magical surprise.