December 5, 1939

John Berendt (December 5, 1939) has not topped his  Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story (1994).

The Married Women's Card Club presents a typical vignette he gives us, about this southern city of southern stories. They all had their stomachs pumped after one meeting, under the assumption they had eaten poisonous crab casserole. The start of the unusual denouement to an afternoon of playing bridge was their belief that the hostess's dead cat was the first victim.

Of course cats play a part in Berendt's story. He is such a good writer. It would be hard to top the story he tells; you only need one classic, when it is this one.