Magistrate MacLaren "Mac" Yarbrough is happily minding her own business, working on accounts for the feed store/nursery that she co-owns with her husband, Joe Riddley Yarbrough. When Joe Riddley cuffs her ankle to her desk "for her own good", Mac is startled. Joe Riddley has gotten word of a death in the small town of Hopemore, Georgia, and he doesn't want the inquisitive Mac to risk her life once again by looking into the death.

After she gets over her anger at Joe Riddley, Mac doesn't think there's anything to investigate at first. Starr Knight was a known drug user, so her crashing a stolen pickup off a highway doesn't seem like any mystery. Her unusual, rather somber attire does raise eyebrows, but nothing to be concerned about. Until the autopsy reveals that Starr didn't die in an accident, but was murdered.

Mac finds herself involved in seeking out answers despite her promise to Joe Riddley. When another young woman is murdered and found in atypical attire for the woman, even more questions are raised. Just what is happening to small-town Hopemore? Are drugs going to destroy the quaintness of the rural area? Is there a link between the two murders? And is the new stranger in town linked to these crimes?

WHAT ARE YOU WEARING TO DIE? is the eighth Thoroughly Southern mystery. Although a new reader to the series, I was able to follow along without any real difficulties in knowing who was who. Readers will wonder what is next for Mac and her husband after the climatic events of this book. Lovers of cozy mysteries will enjoy this latest offering from Ms. Sprinkle.

Book Summary

Georgia magistrate MacLaren Yarbrough has never believed her husband's threat to shackle her to her desk to keep her from "meddling in murder." But when Starr Knight, the taxidermist's daughter, is found dead, that's just what Joe Riddley does, despite Mac's protest that she has no intention of getting involved.

She just has one question: why did the flamboyant young mother dress so sedately on the day she died? Then a second young woman is murdered, also dressed characteristically. Now Mac's got to ask-whose closet will be raided next?