April Fool Dead (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 13) [Mass Market Paperback]

Carolyn Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 25, 2003

Someone is playing a rather nasty April Fool's prank on mystery bookstore owner Annie Darling. A felonious forger on the idyllic -- if rarely tranquil -- South Carolina island of Broward's Rock has made it appear as if Annie is accusing some of her neighbors of murder. In the wink of a bloodshot eye, the Darling name is mud . . . and then the Broward's Rock body count starts mysteriously increasing. And now it's up to Annie to follow the well-hidden trail of the vicious trickster -- or a secret slayer's next lethal "joke" may very well be on her!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Hart's 13th winning outing (after 2000's Sugar Plum Dead) to feature Annie Darling, the owner of Death on Demand Bookstore, "the best mystery bookstore east of Atlanta," has planned the signing to end all signings for a local writer on their South Carolina island. But someone produces fake copies of publicity flyers for the signing and sets a cat among the pigeons to solve some old crimes and settle some old scores. Annie and her charming husband, Max, hasten to salvage the shop's event and Annie's reputation. Their efforts to resolve the mystery of the bogus flyers bring to light clues to several unsolved crimes. A high school teacher subsequently turns up dead. Was the murder committed to keep old secrets buried, or is a new onslaught of crime just beginning? A serpentine plot includes plenty of red herrings to lead the armchair sleuth firmly in the wrong direction. The descriptions of wildlife add to the sense of place, but neither advance the story nor illuminate the characters. Established readers will relish the usual banter between the couple that evokes classic screwball comedy, though at times the author can be overly formulaic. Max is always "sexy as hell." "Hell" and "damn" are about as strong as the language gets, by the way. If cats play only a minor role here, their presence on the jacket will help lure those cozy fans not already familiar with this consistently fine series.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Annie Darling, owner of Death on Demand Mystery Bookstore, Broward's Rock Island, South Carolina, is planning a book signing for mystery writer Emma Clyde, but several of her promotions are sabotaged by a prankster. Then a teacher and one of her students are murdered, and the boneheaded police chief considers Annie a suspect. To clear herself, Annie sets out to solve the crimes, with help from her husband, Max. This thirteenth Death on Demand mystery starts slowly, but Hart picks up the pace quickly and does a good job of combining multiple plot strands into a tantalizing mystery. Annie, Max, and Laurel (Max's eccentric mother) are all appealing characters in the cozy mold, and there is an entire village of amiable supporting players. The presence of Rachel, Annie's teenage sister, makes possible a side trip into the world of high-school angst. Throughout, Hart includes a wealth of mystery genre trivia that will appeal to the cozy crowd. Perfect for Murder, She Wrote fans. John Rowen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Avon (February 25, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038080722X
• ISBN-13: 978-0380807222
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #664,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carolyn Hart writes the Death on Demand series set in a mystery bookstore on a South Carolina sea island and the Bailey Ruth Raeburn series featuring a lively redheaded ghost. Coming in 2012 from Berkley Prime Crime will be DEATH COMES SILENTLY, 22nd in the Death on Demand series, and WHAT THE CAT SAW, fist in the series featuring Nela Farley who has an uncanny sense of cats' thoughts.

She is also the author of several WWII novels, including ESCAPE FROM PARIS which is now available for the first time in its complete uncut version. Escape from Paris is the story of two sisters who defy the Gestapo to help British fliers avoid capture.

In Ghost at Work, Bailey Ruth returns to earth to help someone in trouble. She moves a body, investigates a murder, saves a marriage, prevents a suicide, and--in a fiery finale--rescues a child who knows too much. In Merry, Merry Ghost, Bailey Ruth protects a little boy from danger. In Ghost in Trouble, Bailey Ruth tries to corral a wilful woman determined to play hunt-the-killer. Coming in 2013 is HIJACKED GHOST which puts Bailey Ruth at risk of ever returning to Heaven.

Letter from Home, a WWII novel set on the home front, received the Agatha Award for Best Mystery of 2003. It was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize by the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers. Thirteen-year-old Gretchen Gilman is working for the small-town newspaper during the hot summer of 1944. Murder occurs on the street where she lives, forever changing her life and the lives of those involved.

Hart was one of 10 mystery authors featured at the National Book Festival on the Mall in Washington, DC, in 2003 for Letter from Home and again in 2007 for Set Sail for Murder, 7th in the Henrie O series. In Set Sail for Murder (new in paperback March 2008), Henrie O joins a troubled family on a Baltic cruise and death is an unwelcome passenger.

Hart has been nominated 9 times for the Agatha Award for Best Novel and has won 3 times. In 2007 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at Malice Domestic. She will be the International Guest of Honor at Bloody Words in Toronto on June 6-8, 2008.

Hart is a native of Oklahoma City, a journalism graduate of the University of Oklahoma, and a former president of Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, and American Crime Writers League.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fragmented story line, July 17, 2002

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: April Fool Dead (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 13) (Hardcover)

Annie Darling is sponsoring a book signing by Broward's Rock's most illustrious author, Emma Clyde, at her bookstore, Death on Demand. She creates brochures with clues to different mysteries to advertise the event and to entice readers to enter the contest to discover which books are referred to by the clues. Meanwhile someone else distributes bogus flyers which refer to unsolved mysteries which have occurred on the island in the past. Things become even more complicated when murders begin to occur. Annie and Max try to solve the murders and determine who has distributed the muckraking flyers. It is somewhat distracting as a reader to have 5 mysteries hanging in the air along with the murders. The solution at the end seems quite abrupt and incomplete as there is never a good explanation as to who distributed the flyers and why they were ever created in the first place. This is not typical of author Hart, which causes this book to be one of the lesser lights of the series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Entry in the Series, August 17, 2003

By 

Louis M. Perdue (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: April Fool Dead (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 13) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have to say that Carolyn G. Hart is one of the few authors writing two series, almost concurrently, about which I would be hard pressed to say which I enjoy more. Usually, I have a clear preference. Her other series, the Henry O. books, has a main character that is tougher than either of the stars of these, the Death On Demand mysteries - Annie & Max Darling, but these books tend to have more humor and light heartedness that I find enjoyable.
In this entry, Annie is preparing her store for a signing party for the new book by local author, Emma Clyde. Someone uses her technique of advertising the signing, however, to drudge up some old mysteries on the island and creates some hard feelings in the villagers. When a teacher is killed and is implicated as the person behind the fake flyers, Annie and Max attempt to straighten the situation out.
All in all, a great book, just what you expect from Ms. Hart.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Entertaining Whodunit, January 1, 2005

By 

L. Kelly (Lakewood, CO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: April Fool Dead (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 13) (Mass Market Paperback)

Annie Darling, owner of the mystery book store Death on Demand, is busily preparing for a book signing of local author Emma Clyde's latest bestseller "Whodunit?". Annie, who is always fond of sponsoring contests in her store, has come up with a special promotion for Emma's book signing. The special contest is a challenge to identify nine mysteries and their authors, based on clues given in an advertising flyer which Annie has distributed around the island. However, several days before the signing event, another set of mysterious flyers appear on Broward's Rock Island which appear as if Annie is accusing some of her neighbors or murder and other crimes as part of her contest. In order to clear the name of her store, Annie and her husband Max set out to find the real author of the fake contest flyers.

I felt that the first half of this book moved pretty slowly. I did enjoy Ms. Hart's wonderful descriptions of the South Carolina swamps and wildlife. The pace of the story picked up for the last one hundred pages or so, when two island residents are found brutally murdered. Together with her friend Henny, Annie and Max try to discover if the flyers are related to the murders, or if the flyers were just a smoke screen to divert attention from the real murderer.

All in all, this was an enjoyable read. The many subplots in the book are all neatly tied up in the end, and there are many clues to send the reader down the wrong path in figuring out whodunit.