Death Comes Silently (Death on Demand Series #22)

by Carolyn G. Hart

Overview

Bookstore owner Annie Darling must solve a murder at the center of a small town scandal in this mystery in the New York Times bestselling Death on Demand series.

Business is slow for Annie Darling’s mystery bookstore, Death on Demand, as winter rolls into Broward’s Rock, South Carolina. To boost her sales, Annie decides to host a book signing for the island’s resident writer. During the signing, Gretchen Burkholt, a fellow volunteer at the local charity shop, Better Tomorrow, leaves Annie multiple voice mails about scandalous news she’s dying to share. So, when the event wraps up, Annie heads over to hear the latest scoop...only to find Gretchen dead on the floor, an ax by her side.

Annie, with the help of her husband, Max, uncovers a mysterious plot involving an overturned kayak, a stolen motorboat, a troubled love affair, and a reckless teenager. Annie will have to keep her eyes peeled and use every trick in the book to track down a cold-blooded killer in the dead of winter…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101561393
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/03/2012
Series:	Death on Demand Series , #22
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	220,188
File size:	345 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

An accomplished master of mystery, Carolyn Hart is the New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty-five novels of mystery and suspense including the Bailey Ruth Ghost Novels and the Death on Demand Mysteries. Her books have won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She has also been honored with the Amelia Award for significant contributions to the traditional mystery from Malice Domestic and was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. One of the founders of Sisters in Crime, Hart lives in Oklahoma City, where she enjoys mysteries, walking in the park, and cats. She and her husband, Phil, serve as staff—cat owners will understand—to brother and sister brown tabbies.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Sparkling...another winning entry in a cozy series that shows no sign of age."—Publishers Weekly

"A particularly satisfying entry in an always-satisfying cozy series."—Booklist

"Annie Darling is a great character...a one-of-a-kind heroine in cozy fiction."—Cozy Library

"Fans of this popular cozy series will not be disappointed...Recommended for all cozy mystery fans, especially those who like to read Joan Hess, Leslie Meier, and Jill Churchill."—Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

In Agatha Award–winner Hart’s sparkling 22nd Death on Demand mystery (after 2011’s Dead by Midnight), Annie Darling enlists Gretchen Burkholt, a fellow volunteer at Better Tomorrow, to sub for her at the charity shop so she can host an author signing at her Broward’s Rock, S.C., bookstore, Death on Demand. To Annie’s horror, someone kills Gretchen with an axe during the charity shop’s afternoon shift. Police chief Billy Cameron is sure ex-con handyman Jeremiah Young, who fled the crime scene, is guilty, but Annie’s longtime customer and mystery connoisseur, Henny Brawley, is equally convinced of Jeremiah’s innocence. When Annie and Henny find a link between Gretchen’s murder and the “accidental” drowning of fussy and pretentious Everett Hathaway two weeks earlier, the suspect field opens considerably. A bucolic setting, colorful characters, and frequent knowledgeable recommendations of mystery authors and books old and new help make this another winning entry in a cozy series that shows no sign of age. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman-Schneider Agency. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Sparkling...A bucolic setting, colorful characters, and frequent knowledgeable recommendations of mystery authors and books old and new help make this another winning entry in a cozy series that shows no sign of age.”—Publishers Weekly

“A particularly satisfying entry in an always-satisfying cozy series.”—Booklist

“Annie Darling is a great character...a one-of-a-kind heroine in cozy fiction.”—Cozy Library

“[Hart] serves up a beautifully constructed puzzle mystery.”—The Connecticut Post 

“These books are charming, fun, funny, clever and kind of like comfort food without the calories, but instead with a great mystery!”—Kings River Life Magazine

“Any book by Hart is guaranteed to include a top-notch mystery delivering an enjoyable reading experience.”—RT Book Reviews

From the Publisher

In her 22nd adventure set in Broward's Rock, SC, Annie Darling, owner of the Death on Demand bookstore, and her husband, Max, become involved in the murder investigation of a local charity shop worker. The victim tried to call Annie right before she was killed, so Annie feels compelled to find her killer. When a second murder occurs, Annie and Max begin to think that another recent death, which was ruled accidental, may be connected. In addition, Annie's longtime customer Henny Brawley is trying her best to keep an innocent man from being tried for the murders. VERDICT Fans of this popular cozy series will not be disappointed with Hart's latest entry (after Dead by Midnight). It is always a pleasure to read about the current obsession of Annie's well-meaning mother-in-law Laurel Darling Roethke and the competition between Henny and resident mystery writer Emma Clyde over the bookstore's monthly mystery contest. Recommended for all cozy mystery fans, especially for those who like to read Joan Hess, Leslie Meier, and Jill Churchill.—Jean King, West Hempstead P.L., NY

Library Journal

Did you hear the one about the mystery-bookstore owner menaced by an ax murderer? Annie Darling, proprietor of Broward's Rock's detective bookshop Death on Demand, is due to volunteer at the island's charity store, Better Tomorrow. But a book-signing by local author Emma Clyde forces her to swap times with Gretchen Burkholt, who rings up several times to gossip about a scandalous message she's found in a jacket donated by the family of Everett Hathaway, who accidentally slipped out of a kayak and drowned on a midnight sail in frigid January. By the time Annie arrives at Better Tomorrow, Gretchen is long dead, the murder weapon, an ax, left beside her. Most everyone considers the handyman, Jeremiah, the culprit, but Henny, the volunteer coordinator, believes him innocent and helps him hide. Annie and her husband Max decide to help vindicate Jeremiah, but their investigation is stymied when the mayor relieves the police chief of his job. With persistence, the amateur sleuths discover that Gretchen may have been murdered because she could recast Everett's death as not an accident but murder. There's no shortage of suspects within Everett's family and business circles, and two murders become three when the Hathaway housekeeper is shot. Henny will be waylaid and Annie accosted in a dense fog before mystery writer Clyde helps deduce whodunit, leading to Jeremiah's freedom and the police chief's reinstatement. The series hallmarks are all here--the Christie-like clues, the multiple motives, the never-ending gossip, the mystery fiction allusions, the cats Agatha and Dorothy L--but where's the verve, the wicked surprise? Barely mid-level in this venerable series (Dead by Midnight, 2001, etc.).

Kirkus Reviews