Bara Holcomb Weidenauer is the daughter of two of Atlanta's wealthiest and most prestigious families. Her beloved father, Winnie Holcomb, recently died under mysterious circumstances, but his death was later deemed a suicide. Bara is in the middle of a nasty divorce from her current husband, Foley, and he has frozen all of her funds, leaving her destitute, but living in a mansion in Buckhead. After twenty-five years of sobriety, Bara has fallen off the wagon big time. While searching through Winnie's belongings that Bara has in storage, she finds some money and a box of military medals. She recognizes the ones given to her late brother, and the one for her late, precious son, and a few that were awarded to Winnie, but there are others she knows nothing about. There is also a locket in that box that she vaguely remembers from her childhood.

Katherine Murray is a budding genealogist, and a part-time amateur sleuth. Katherine's sister-in-law, Posey, informs Bara that Katherine can track down the medals for her, much to Katherine's chagrin. However, once Katherine discovers that Winnie was not only a Medal of Honor recipient, but received several other distinguished and rarely given medals, she becomes intrigued. She also discovers that Winnie might not be Bara's natural father. But this is the least of Bara's problems -- she is arrested for murder. Can Katherine's sleuthing abilities help her out of this mess?

Patricia Sprinkle has been one of this reviewer's favorite authors for years, and this new series is some of her best work to date. Superb characters, an excellent plot, and Ms. Sprinkle's sweet southern voice make the pages practically turn themselves. This is definitely a first- class who-dunnit that you don't want to miss.