The Miss Julia books are by Ann B. Ross. The first one is MISS JULIA SPEAKS HER MIND. This is what it is about.
When Wesley Lloyd Springer passed away, he left his proper Southern wife two legacies. The first, as befits a gentleman of means, is the whole of his sizeable estate. The second, so astonishing thereupon hangs this wonderful & witty tale. Miss Julia, recently bereaved & newly wealthy widow, is only slightly bemused when one Hazel Marie Puckett appears at her door with a youngster in tow. But this perfectly practiced composure is quickly reduced when Hazel Marie unceremoniously announces her intentions: the child is Wesley Lloyd's bastard son &, since the man left her penniless, she's leaving little Lloyd in Miss Julia's care. Suddenly, this longtime church member & pillar of her small community finds herself in the center of an unseemly scandal -- & the guardian of a wan nine-year-old whose mere presence will turn her life upside down. With razor wit & perfect Steel Magnolia poise, Miss Julia speaks her mind indeed -- about a robbery, a kidnapping, & all the other disgraceful goings-on that are precipitated by her husband's death. Fast-paced & charming, with a sure sense of comic drama & a cast of crazy characters, this beguiling novel will delight readers from first page to last.