His latest novel, The Blues Don’t Care, is set on the Los Angeles home front during World War II.
At CrimeReads Marks tagged eight "mysteries that explore the simmering tensions and contradictions of the war at home," including:
Miss Dimple Suspects (2013) by Mignon F. BallardRead about the other entries on the list.
On the cozy side of things, Mignon Ballard sets her Miss Dimple mystery series in a rural small town in Georgia during the war. Miss Dimple Kilpatrick is a first-grade school teacher at Elderberry Grammar School. And, although the books are filled with the things you’d expect in a cozy mystery: a quaint village, loveable characters, Georgia peaches, cats and Southern charm, it also deals with war-time unpleasantness such as economic hardships, rationing and anti-Japanese sentiments.
Miss Dimple Suspects is the third in the series and begins with the search for a missing child. Miss Dimple finds the child, aided by an elderly artist and her young Japanesecompanion. When the artist is later found dead, the town suspects the Japanese girl. And of course Miss Dimple uses her amateur sleuthing skills to find the truth.
Unlike the big cities, rural communities experienced the war in a different way. With many farm workers in Georgia either moving to the cities to work in defense factories or enlisting in the military. These rural communities struggled and many women had to take over traditionally male jobs. The American home front depicted in these books is one of courage and patriotism, but is also provincial, ignorant and fearful. However, at the same time, hopeful.
Ballard provides us with a nostalgic and heartwarming look at a place and time that was a turning point in history.
The Page 69 Test: Miss Dimple Suspects.
--Marshal Zeringue
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