From Publishers Weekly
Mystery aficionados will get a workout while trying to catch all the references to mystery authors and their protagonists in Hart's 11th entry (after Yankee Doodle Dead) in her Agatha Award-winning Death on Demand series. Annie Darling, who owns a mystery bookshop on the barrier island of Broward's Rock, S.C., is appalled when Kathryn Girard, one of the island's Women's Club members, is slain and Annie's friendAand good customerAHenny Brawley, who was injured at the scene, is accused of the crime. Kathryn was supposed to be collecting donations for the annual white elephant sale, but instead she used the Women's Club van to visit the houses of four wealthy families. When Annie and her amateur sleuth husband, Max, discover a stash of thousand-dollar bills in a photo album taken from Kathryn's apartment, they realize that the dead woman had been blackmailing their friends and neighbors. But why? What did the richest of the island's residents have to hide? And who would kill to preserve their secret? As Henny recuperates in the hospital, Annie and Max set out to prove her innocent. Hart's panoply of vivid charactersAa tough mystery writer, a dippy mother-in-law, a hard-working single father, an arrogant police chiefAmakse for entertaining set pieces, but their relationships aren't always fully developed. Moreover, Hart's copious allusions to fellow genre authors and their sleuths becomes distracting. Though no white elephant, this is not prime Hart; still, cozy fans should cotton to it well enough. Author tour. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
When Henny Brawley, organizer of the Broward's Rock (SC) women's club annual white elephant sale, goes missing, book store owner and series sleuth Annie Darling quickly begins a search. They find Henny, but unconscious and in the vicinity of a dead body. The new police chief pins the murder on Henny, so Annie, Max, and droves of club members come to the rescue. Bubbling with energy, good humor, hearty appetite, and affection, Annie saves the island village from murderous deceit. Bouncy prose, nifty characters, and frequent references to other mysteries makes this "heartily" recommended for series fans. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Kate Reading delivers this eleventh installment in the Dead on Demand series. The main character, who runs a mystery bookstore, thinks of her sleuthing in terms of one or another book detective. As she and her husband make the rounds of their island in an attempt to clear a friend from murder charges, they interrogate a variety of characters. Reading does a good job distinguishing the long and varied list, although she slips out of character from time to time. However, she keeps her narration animated and moves the story along nicely. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Broward's Rock, one of South Carolina's barrier islands, is the home of Annie Darling's Death on Demand Bookstore. Real-life death--the unnatural kind--comes to Broward's Rock with remarkable frequency, and Annie, along with husband Max, is usually the one who figures out what happened. This time, their friend Henny is suspected of the murder of a socialite who was blackmailing some of the town's citizens into donating valuable antiques to the annual white-elephant sale. It's up to the the Darlings and their helpers--the island's old-girl network--to find the real culprit before the boneheaded new police chief collars Henny. Hart sprinkles the text with numerous newspaper articles and checklists that add small-town ambience but ultimately prove distracting. This small caveat aside, the eleventh Death on Demand mystery delivers charming characters, both new and old, a tantalizing mystery, and plenty of appealing descriptions of coastal landscapes. Recommend this series to fans of zany cozies like Joan Hess' Maggody series or Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone novels. John Rowen


From Kirkus Reviews
Another of the author's labyrinthine exercises in detection on Broward's Rock, a small, gossipy island off the coast of South Carolina (Mint Julep Murder, 1995, etc.) where Annie Darling owns the Death on Demand bookstore and her husband Max is a private investigator. As the story opens, preparations for the annual Women's Club White Elephant sale are in full swing. Volunteer Kathryn Girard is using the Women's Club van to cover a list of pickup addresses, but the weather is so beastly that Henny Brawley, responsible for the van and impatiently awaiting Kathryn's overdue return, decides to go looking for her. When Henny fails to come back and the storm grows ever fiercer, Annie and Max set out to investigate in turn. In a remote lane, they discover the van, with Kathryn's bludgeoned body in the back, and Henny's old Dodge nearbybut wheres Henny? Searchers comb the area until she's found, unconscious, with a severe blow to the head. Rushed to a hospital, Henny very slowly recovers as newly arrived Police Chief Garrett prepares to charge her with murder. Annie and Max now go all out to find the reason for Kathryn's death and soon discover that she was a blackmailer with a victim at each of the four stops on her list. It takes the death of an uninvolved bystanderand much exploration of past tragediesbefore Annie can confront the real killer. Full of determinedly odd characters and heavily contrived motives, with references to fictional sleuths and mystery writers on nearly every page: overall, a downer that produces boredom and irritation in nearly equal degree. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Oklahoma City Oklahoman
"A page-turner...charming...colorful...intriguing twists and turns."


Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Carolyn Hart is the reigning monarch of the amateur sleuth mystery."


Oklahoma City Oklahoman
"A page-turner...charming...colorful...intriguing twists and turns."


Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Carolyn Hart is the reigning monarch of the amateur sleuth mystery."


Booklist
"Zany...charming characters, both old and new, a tantalizing mystery, and plenty of appealing descriptions of coastal landscapes."


Book Description
Murder is, surprisingly, not all that uncommon on timy Broward's Rock, an idyllic sea island community off the South Carolina coast. Annie Darling's popular mystery bookshop, Death on Demand, is where the locals come to discuss the juicy details of each criminal offense--under the watchful gaze of a pampered feline prima donna named Agatha. But now Annie's dear friend (and best customer) Henny Brawley stands accused of murdering a Women's Club volunteer-cum-blackmailer. So Annie rouses her husband Max into action, and together they dive into the shark pool of dotty eccentrics and imperious belles who constitute the island's smart set. Because only there can the Darlings prove hapless Henny innocent--by detemining who among the well-heeled had the dirtiest little secret...and would kill to protect it.


From the Publisher
7 1.5-hour cassettes


About the Author
An accomplished master of mystery, Carolyn Hart is the author of thirteen previous Death on Demand novels that have won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. Hart lives in Oklahoma City, and is one of the founders of Sisters in Crime.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The homicide rate of Broward's Rock, South Carolina, is rather high, but for the denizens of Death on Demand, the island's popular mystery bookshop, the killings can hardly come quickly enough. Every day, these well-tanned locals gather in Annie Darling's little store to sort out the details of each new shooting and stabbing, welcoming each garish killing as if it were a new Miss Marple. However, when their fellow mystery buff Henny Brawley stands accused of murder, all these amateur sleuthers snap into action. Pleasant characters and surprising plot twists.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Murder is, surprisingly, not all that uncommon on timy Broward's Rock, an idyllic sea island community off the South Carolina coast. Annie Darling's popular mystery bookshop, Death on Demand, is where the locals come to discuss the juicy details of each criminal offense—under the watchful gaze of a pampered feline prima donna named Agatha. But now Annie's dear friend (and best customer) Henny Brawley stands accused of murdering a Women's Club volunteer-cum-blackmailer. So Annie rouses her husband Max into action, and together they dive into the shark pool of dotty eccentrics and imperious belles who constitute the island's smart set. Because only there can the Darlings prove hapless Henny innocent—by detemining who among the well-heeled had the dirtiest little secret...and would kill to protect it.

FROM THE CRITICS

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Carolyn Hart is the reigning monarch of the amateur sleuth mystery.

Oklahoma City Oklahoman

A page-turner...charming...colorful...intriguing twists and turns.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Carolyn Hart is the reigning monarch of the amateur sleuth mystery.

Oklahoma City Oklahoman

A page-turner...charming...colorful...intriguing twists and turns.

Publishers Weekly