Additional books with a similar theme: http://product.half.ebay.com/The-Secret-Life-of-Bees_W0QQtgZdetailsQQprZ66641749 Peonie and Posey Lady.... You can purchase a used paperback copy of your book on half.com http://product.half.ebay.com/The-Queen-of-Palmyra_W0QQprZ74198854QQtgZinfo Summary of "The Queen of Palmyra" follows: "In the turbulent southern summer of 1963, Millwood's white population steers clear of "Shake Rag," the black section of town. Young Florence Forrest is one of the few who crosses the line. The daughter of a burial insurance salesman with dark secrets and the town's "cake lady," whose backcountry bootleg runs lead further and further away from a brutal marriage, Florence attaches herself to her grandparents' longtime maid, Zenie Johnson. Named for Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, Zenie treats the unwanted girl as just another chore, while telling her stories of the legendary queen's courage and cunning. The more time Florence spends in Shake Rag, the more she recognizes how completely race divides her town, and her story, far from ordinary, bears witness to the truth and brutality of her timesÂa truth brought to a shattering conclusion when Zenie's vibrant college-student niece, Eva Greene, arrives that fateful Mississippi summer. Minrose Gwin's The Queen of Palmyra is an unforgettable evocation of a time and a place in AmericaÂa nuanced, gripping story of race and identity."

I posted your query on another site I use and had two people suggest the short story "Murder Mysteries," which is in the collection of short stories Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman. Could this be it?

I loved Kurt Vonnegut's collection Welcome to the Monkey House and Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected and More Tales of the Unexpected. Another collection I enjoyed was Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies. If you like mysteries, try a collection of the best Father Brown stories by Chesterton, the best of Sherlock Holmes by Doyle, and the best Dr. Thorndyke stories by R. Austin Freeman. For fantasy, I second the suggestion of Neil Gaiman, and would like to add Fritz Leiber (also good for science fiction short stories) and Lord Dunsany. Then there are classic short story authors like Aesop, Poe, O. Henry, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Guy de Maupassant and James Joyce ("The Dead" from Dubliners has been called the best short story written in the English language). The A Thousand and One Nights can be seen as a collection of short stories contained withing a framework story, as can The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales. Shirley Jackson's short story "The Lottery" is one of the best short stories I have read.

My Sister from the Black Lagoon - intriguing title, not so great story. Peace Like a River - loved the titled, loved the book. A Spot of Bother - by the same man who wrote A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - but not as good. Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff - really enjoyed it. Gonzalez and Daughter Trucking Company: A Road Novel with Literary License - pretty interesting, didn't love it. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water - such an evocative title. I really liked this book. Don't Just Do Something, Sit There: A Mindfulness Retreat with Sylvia Boorstein - I like her titles and her books. Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life - another Boorstein title. All Over But the Shoutin' - loved the title, loved the book. That's a few more that I came up with.