In the small town of Taylorsburg, South Carolina, everyone has secrets-but some secrets are worth killing for.
When church secretary Denise Snipes is found brutally murdered in the cemetery behind Taylorsburg Presbyterian Church, Detective Sherie Burton is called in from North Augusta to investigate. In a town of only 2,000 residents where everyone knows everyone, the local sheriff needs an outsider-someone with no ties to the community and no reason to protect its secrets.
What Sherie uncovers is a web of lies, forbidden love, and deadly obsession. Denise was having an affair with the married pastor, Joshua Elkins. Her husband Wayne, the town mechanic with a reputation for trouble, has no alibi. And her best friend Ellen Carlisle seems devastated-perhaps too devastated.
Perfect for fans of Louise Penny and Donna Andrews, Murder Under the Magnolias is a compelling cozy mystery about the fine line between love and obsession-and the deadly consequences when that line is crossed. "Some loves bloom beautiful. Others grow thorns."