Miss Julia starts slow

To be the executor of an estate is an important job, and for some people it may even be an interesting one. Rarely does it lead to comedy or adventure, however, so Ann B. Ross faces quite a challenge when she has Miss Julia named executor of a casual friend's estate in her 2016 novel Miss Julia Inherits a Mess. How can she turn this dull premise into a typical, rollicking Miss Julia novel? Unfortunately she can't, at least not until the final chapters.

For most of the way this is pretty tame stuff. Mattie Ross, an elderly woman Miss Julia knows, but not well, dies and surprisingly names her to see that her many beneficiaries receive the money she bequeaths them. But there may be more beneficiaries than money. Except for a modest bank account, Mattie didn't seem to have much.

Things start to get interesting when some of the dead woman's jewelry and furniture hint at value and a man turns up claiming to be Mattie's long lost nephew interested only in family history. Mattie had never mentioned any living relatives. Whether an actual relative or a con man, his very presence makes Miss Julia more alert. Might Mattie Freeman have been worth more than what is apparent to the executor of her estate?

Eventually this tale shifts into typical Miss Julia gear, and the conclusion is great fun