It's not even summer yet in Darling, Alabama but temperatures are rising...both outside and in! Already beset by troubles common to the entire Depression-burdened nation, the members of the Darling Dahlias garden club, as well as the rest of the community, are faced with several unsettling problems. Chief among these is the disappearance of a large amount of money from the county treasury. When suspicion about embezzlement focuses on Verna Tidwell, one of their own, the Dahlias unite to protect her and to trace the money themselves (since they obviously can't trust the inept county clerk and sheriff to do the job properly.)The excitement doesn't end at the county clerk's office, though. A tour around the town and a glimpse into the homes of the residents reveals a variety of pending disasters, including philandering husbands, mysterious embroidered codes and desperate financial straits. As always, however, the girls band together to face down all of these obstacles and restore their small town to its peaceful norm, just in time to celebrate the planting of their beautiful Confederate roses (or, as Miss Rogers would correct us, the hibiscus mutabilis) on Confederate Day.Go back in time to an era that, though simpler in many ways, was just as interesting and exciting to the people that lived in it. I'm always pleasantly surprised by Ms. Albert's ability to perfectly capture the period atmosphere of which she's writing, especially when I compare these books to her modern - and excellent - China Bayles series. Reading these books, with their wonderfully alive characters and plots, is always a treat. I love coming across their little historical tidbits like the cigarette ads promoting smoking as a great way to diet, the popular movies and their stars of the time and the various costs of things that were "expensive" then but seem so cheap now! Five plus stars!