cover image Death Walked In: A Death on Demand Mystery

Death Walked In: A Death on Demand Mystery

Carolyn Hart, . . Morrow, $23.95 (293pp) ISBN 978-0-06-072405-4

Annie Darling, proprietor of Death on Demand, “the finest mystery bookstore north of Miami,” once again proves a resourceful sleuth in Hart's scintillating 18th Death on Demand mystery set in the South Carolina island community of Broward's Rock (after 2006's Dead Days of Summer ). When Annie's devoted PI husband, Max, who's busy renovating historic Franklin House, puts off returning a frantic phone call from a prospective client, Annie later discovers the caller, Gwen Jamison, dying of a gunshot wound in Gwen's house. It appears Gwen wanted to tell Max that after finding on her property eight gold coins worth nearly $2 million that were recently stolen from Gwen's employer, island civic leader Geoffrey Grant, she had hidden the coins at Franklin House. When Gwen's dropout son, Robert, is implicated in both the theft and the murder, Max believes Robert's been framed and works to clear his name. This tight, Agatha Christie–style puzzler will keep readers guessing to the end. (Apr.)