Honeysuckle and Roses - Jody Anne Iodice

Cypress Groves, Mississippi, 1980s. Benevolence Pumpkin, now a young Black woman in her thirties, has lived in a farmhouse on the sprawling farmland deep in the Mississippi Delta. Since childhood, she and her mother, Miss Beauty Pumpkin, have shared the home and land with Ezekiel Beals, a white man. Beauty Pumpkin, now long since passed, left Benevolence to become the overseer of the home and the carer of Ezekiel Beals.

One morning, Benevolence finds Ezekiel lying dead on the living room floor. Benevolence calls the local Sheriff, Louis Frances Roulette, to inform him that ol' Ezekiel is dead. What unfolds is a tale of mystery, mysticism, and heavenly murder-or at least that is what Benevolence is professing to Sheriff Louie. Benevolence will tell you herself what took place that morning.

In this tale, more will be revealed through the voice of distinct and colorful characters, and how they all became intertwined with the life of Benevolence Mae Pumpkin of Cypress Grove, Mississippi.