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WesternSFA


In the Middle of Hickory Lane
by Heather Webber
Forge, $26.99 HB, 308pp
Published: July 2022

What a delight this is!

The story has much the flavor of Sarah Addison Allen’s charming urban fantasies. Webber has created a rich cozy mystery with a touch of fantasy centered on Emme Wynn; a lost soul who has been called back to her birthplace, Sweetgrass, Alabama by her grandma. The day Emme Wynn arrives is the day a sinkhole in the community garden of Hickory Lane reveals the bones of an old murder. An old murder that might have something to do with Emme’s family.

Emme fits into life in Sweetgrass slowly and awkwardly. She has always remained closed off from folks because her opportunistic mother constantly moved them around, usually after bilking her current lover. Grateful to be offered a home with her grandma, Glory, Emme is still nervous about relying on anyone beyond herself and finds it difficult to blend in. She reluctantly helps her grandma manage a booth in the town’s open air market where she sells baked goods.

Emme also meets up with her cousin Cora Bee who hires her to be her assistant to help her get around as she’s broken her foot chasing the loose dog of a neighbor. Glory has offered a place for Cora Bee to recuperate. Glory tells Emme of her mother’s past and the past of the cast of characters along Hickory Lane while teaching Emme baking and gardening. The lane encircles a large neighborhood garden full of vegetables and flowers surrounding a reflecting pool. A pool of water that can reveal images of the past to certain people. Emme sees some herself, but is uncertain what they mean.

As Emme fits in carefully with those around her, Cora Bee becomes friendlier with Jamie and his daughter Alice that own the rambunctious dog Mabel, and they drive Cora Bee around on her errands. Cora Bee is working on a design for a new shopping center to be built on the site of an old factory, the Yardley Brick Company which she finds out was owned by Jamie’s grandfather.

Emme and Cora Bee both find their emotional centers in this story and both discover the secrets Glory has kept to herself all this time, with the help of the magical reflecting pool revealing images that are clues to the murder.

I can’t recommend this high enough. It was colorful and piquant; the characters are intriguing and the mystery gets a very satisfying resolution. ~~ Sue Martin

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