As soon as readers met Miss Julia in Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind, this Southern woman of a certain age and with an iron backbone and Steel Magnolia poise became an instant favorite. In that debut book, Miss Julia's proper existence was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a close "friend" of her deceased husband. Hazel Marie, with "heels too high, a dress too short, and hair too yellow," showed up on Miss Julia's doorstep, bringing scandal, adventure, and nine-year-old Little Lloyd into her life. Now, in Miss Julia Takes Over, she's Little Lloyd's guardian and fast friends with his mother. So she's frantic when Hazel Marie disappears after a dinner date with a church fund-raiser, who, in Miss Julia's opinion, wears his shorts too tight: "nobody can be that upright and pious without trouble going on underneath." Since the sheriff won't help her, Miss Julia takes matters into her own hands and, with Little Lloyd in tow, finds herself tracking Hazel Marie all across North Carolina. From a most ungenteel display of fisticuffs to a hair-raising car chase, Miss Julia stands strong and forges ahead. Because...if Miss Julia doesn't take care of things, who will?
