In this wry fiction debut, Elaine Meryl Brown plunges lucky readers into a gripping narrative of small-town hijinks and big-time hearts. Rule Number One: Never marry an Outsider. If you do, the boll weevil will bite you back. Rule Number Two: If you can’t be honest, you might as well be dead. Nestled in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains, Lemon City has ten rules, all designed in the best interests of its tight-knit black community. Granddaddy Dunlap knows all too well what can happen to folks who venture beyond Lemon City’s protective borders. He once had to venture outside town to identify his best friend’s body. So when his firebrand granddaughter Faye, returns from college married to an Outsider, he must act fast to keep her in Lemon City’s safe embrace. It proves to be a challenge–and not just because the patriarch is distracted by the tensions arising from the heated tomato-growing contest for the annual county fair. Faye’s new husband, Harry, is a slick talker with a roving eye. Faye sees him as her ticket to New York City, where she hopes to fulfill big business dreams, but even the best-laid plans can be thwarted, as Faye discovers that marriage itself isn’t much of a honeymoon. No matter. She packs her bags, fully prepared to head north with or without her husband, when Harry turns up dead. Now the Dunlap family is trying to figure out–before the Thanksgiving turkey gets cold–who did the deed. Faye Dunlap violates the number-one rule of her family and her small town when she marries an outsider, a man she had purposely chosen in college as her ticket out of Lemon City. The tight-knit little town was founded in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia by black folks escaping the virulent racism of the American South. Chief among their chosen survival strategies was keeping to themselves and keeping their young close to home. Anxious to break free of the restraints of Lemon City and taste the new freedoms promised by the black power movement of the 1970s, Faye marries Harry Lee Thompson from New York City. Faye's family smolders with outrage, but Granddaddy Dunlap bribes the opportunistic Harry with the promise of staking him in a new business if the young couple stays in Lemon City. Faye won't be put off and is prepared to leave Harry and Lemon City when Harry turns up dead. The entire family comes under suspicion as they hunker down for Thanksgiving dinner, under house arrest, and ponder who might have dispatched Harry. Vanessa Bush Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “A warm and witty novel . . . Brown’s richly woven characters, with their quirky ways and fierce protectiveness of family traditions, are at once strange and strangely familiar.” –CONNIE BRISCOE, author of P.G. County “A quirky family mystery with loads of tangy charm. A delightful read!” –VALERIE WILSON WESLEY, author of Dying in the Dark “A superb debut novel, full of vividly drawn, complex characters. Elaine Brown’s writing is gorgeous and beautifully blends romance, black culture, and mystery. This is a treat!” –YOLANDA JOE, author of My Fine Lady “ Lemon City is a superb debut novel, full of vividly drawn, complex characters. Elaine Brown’s writing is gorgeous and beautifully blends romance, black culture, and mystery. It is a treat!” –YOLANDA JOE, author of My Fine Lady In this wry fiction debut, Elaine Meryl Brown plunges lucky readers into a gripping narrative of small-town hijinks and big-time hearts. Rule Number One: Never marry an Outsider. If you do, the boll weevil will bite you back. Rule Number Two: If you can t be honest, you might as well be dead. Nestled in the foothills of Virginia s Blue Ridge mountains, Lemon City has ten rules, all designed in the best interests of its tight-knit black community. Granddaddy Dunlap knows all too well what can happen to folks who venture beyond Lemon City s protective borders. He once had to venture outside town to identify his best friend s body. So when his firebrand granddaughter Faye, returns from college married to an Outsider, he must act fast to keep her in Lemon City s safe embrace. It proves to be a challenge and not just because the patriarch is distracted by the tensions arising from the heated tomato-growing contest for the annual county fair. Faye s new husband, Harry, is a slick talker with a roving eye. Faye sees him as her ticket to New York City, where she hopes to fulfill big business dreams, but even the best-laid plans can be thwarted, as Faye discovers that marriage itself isn t much of a honeymoon. No matter. She packs her bags, fully prepared to head north with or without her husband, when Harry turns up dead. Now the Dunlap family is trying to figure out before the Thanksgiving turkey gets cold who did the deed. "In this wry fiction debut, Elaine Meryl Brown plunges lucky readers into a gripping narrative of small-town hijinks and big-time hearts. "Rule Number One: Never marry an Outsider.