Tall Tail: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown

Can actions from the days after the Revolutionary War come back to haunt those of us who live in this day and age?  Yes, they can...

Bantam Books and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published May 17th.

Harry is best friends with the granddaughter of the retired governor.  He has leukemia and is elderly.  He's also close to death.  That's why it's so disturbing that the cousin who is running for office is trying to use the governor's popularity for his platform for election.  The governor doesn't like being used and gets upset, which isn't good for him.

The mystery starts when the governor's nurse is poisoned.  It's murder, not suicide.  Harry and her friend know that the governor was not involved and they are sure the staff there was innocent.  Who could have killed her?

While all this going on, Ms. Brown is sharing the back story with you.  It goes back to characters mentioned in another of her books and carries on their story.  It's an unpleasant piece of history where black people were slaves and the owners slept with the pretty ones if they were so inclined.  In this case, he attacked the girl in the kitchen and when it's over, he lays dead.  Her man is accused of murder, but he wasn't the killer.  It doesn't matter, they will hang him anyway.

The trouble in the present day is related to the white baby that was born to that negro woman.  That part negro girl is a secret someone doesn't want related to the public now...