ABOUT THE BOOK"I WANT YOU TO KILL ME." Mrs. Bea Wilton, formidable matriarch, is in the throes of despair while she waits for final "relief" from the agonies of terminal illness. She beckons her ‘favorite' to the sickbed and demands a premature release from her suffering. The chosen person refuses, yet no one ever disobeys Mumma Wilton. By the end of the first chapter, the matriarch is dead, but not from "natural" causes. Readers may rest assured that all the characters had vital reasons to want the old harridan dead. But who, of course, actually killed her? Who, indeed, was Mumma's favorite? And what on earth is going on with Rocket Man? Thus begins this quirky southern mystery. Think "MOMMY DEAREST" meets "STEEL MAGNOLIAS." The book presents a rich tapestry of human emotions: love, hate, grief, jealousy and joyful relief. Woven through this tale of familial sorrow, including the family wake and funeral, is a shining thread of ridiculous humor which surfaces whenever families gather to mourn.EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK Lorena wondered why the blessed air conditioner always picked a big Wake to give up the ghost. It felt insufferably hot in the viewing room. She watched the women seated on chairs along the walls fanning themselves like Scarlet O'Hara clones flirting with all of Atlanta. Lorena also kept a worried eye on Raysa. The youngest Wilton daughter looked ready to swoon. Heat fatigue probably. Why some women stuffed a size fourteen body into size ten clothing and then attempted to hide it all under a hot shawl seemed beyond Lorena's comprehension.