In Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle by Ann B. Ross, Lloyd comes home from school full of news that they have found a dead body in the tool shed that belongs to his social studies teacher. The police came to school and took away the teacher to question her. Miss Julia has decided to stay out of things, so she doesn’t join the throng following the police in curiosity. But soon she finds something much more personal to focus on. Her housekeeper, Lillian, tells her that the grocery store manager sent a message that her check bounced. But Julia never wrote a check to the grocery store. As she looks further into the situation, she learns that someone has drained her bank account and written more checks on her behalf.
There is no time to deal with the checks yet because a severe snowstorm arrives, taking out the electricity, and Hazel Marie goes into labor with her twins. So Julia; Lillian; and their nurse assistant friend, Edda May, deliver the babies on the floor of the living room in the dark in front of the fireplace. The secrets Julia has been keeping from Sam, her husband, come to haunt her relationship with Sam, but they are all kept so busy caring for the colicky twins that they don’t have time to deal with their own relationship issues, except, sometimes, in the middle of the night.
I have liked most books in the Miss Julia series, finding that they seem to run either hot or cold, but usually hot. Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle clearly runs hot, being a truly delightful, clever book that kept my interest closely. The books in this series do not usually contain a murder mystery, so this book offers an alternative to the usual pattern without putting too much emphasis on the death. Instead, the mystery involves the checks that have been forged in Miss Julia’s name and the drama of Julia’s trying to figure out what Sam is up to and what is going on with her marriage. In addition, the book contains so many extra details of life of the many characters whom we have come to appreciate a lot over the course of the series. Books 2-5 are not available on audio, so there is potential for us to get to know them even better if they produce those four books as well.
This series is especially brought to life by its vivid and well- round characters. Miss Julia, who narrates the books, shows her strong sense of social propriety while also trying to be human and empathetic as well. Just the fact that she takes in her first husband’s mistress and child shows a remarkable personality. The housekeeper, Lillian, has such a strong nature, taking control when everyone else is running frantic. Yet she also lets herself get dragged around by Julia in the middle of the night to investigate the tool shed where the dead man was found. The other characters exhibit just as much personality as these two.
I thoroughly love the narration of Cynthia Darlow, who performs this book. She has a unique low voice that suits the nature of Miss Julia, and she does unique voices for each character that fits each one perfectly. Darlow makes this book come alive in such a way as to make listening to this book seem ever so much better than reading the text would ever be.
I had a lot of fun listening to Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle. This book proved to be delightful and a real joy to listen to. I appreciated the personal interactions of all the characters and the fun plot. I give this clever and highly enjoyable book five stars!
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