The Christie Caper (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 7) [Hardcover]

Carolyn G. Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1991

A group of Christie buffs. . .In honor of Agatha Christie's one hundredth birthday, mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance Darling plans a week-long celebration of mystery, treasure hunts, title clues, and Christie trivia. Yet even as the champagne is chilling and the happy guests begin arriving on Broward's Rock Island, Annie feels a niggling sense of doom. But the last thing she or her guests expect is that the scheduled fun and mayhem will include a real-life murder. The unexpected arrival of Neil Bledsoe, the most despised book critic in America, was sure to raise a few hackles. An advocate of hard-boiled detection and gory true crime, Bledsoe drops a bombshell on the devoted Christie assemblage: He's penning a scurrilous biography of the grand dame of suspense herself. Before the first title clue is solved, no less than two attempts are made on Bledsoe's life. Now Annie and her unflappable husband, Max Darling, find themselves trying to stop a murder in the making-only the first corpse isn't the one they're expecting. . .and it isn't the last.


From the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hart's sixth Death on Demand novel exuberantly celebrates the centenary of Agatha Christie's birth with a clever plot and an array of puzzles for readers. With reigning English crime queen Lady Gwendolyn Thompkins, South Carolina bookstore owner Ann Darling is cohosting the Christie Caper, a week-long conference featuring author panels, a treasure hunt and gala Come-As-You-Wish-You-Were ball. Bolstered by her Laurel, her flighty mother-in-law, as well as intrepid reader Henny and husband Max, Annie thinks she can handle any contingencies--until hard-boiled crime aficionado and critic Neil Bledsoe shows up with his aunt, a Miss Marple look-alike. Bledsoe is determined to be odious, even going so far as to publicly attack Christie and her work. After Bledsoe is the victim of two suspicious accidents, Annie, Max, Henny, Laurel and Lady Gwendolyn fear that a disgruntled author, editor or agent is using the conference to exact revenge. When a would-be writer is slain, the five amateur sleuths redouble their efforts to prevent more violence. As in the past, Hart lards the text with titles, authors and characters' names, this time with a plethora of Christie trivia. For those who seek an extra challenge, Hart uses the clues to the treasure hunt as chapter titles (with answers at the end of the book).
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- Annie and Max Darling, sleuths and owners of the Death on Demand bookstore, are at it again. This time a week-long Agatha Christie conference has been organized by Annie and her co-sponsor, Lady Gwendolyn Tompkins. They have arranged for speeches, movies, discussions, a dress ball, contests, and teas. And then Neil Bledsoe, a book critic, shows up uninvited. He is despised by a great many people at the conference, and Annie suspects trouble may occur, which it does almost immediately. After a couple of murders, the conference seems to be falling apart. The contest involves matching clues with posters to find some Christie book titles, and her many followers will want to join in to solve the puzzle as well as the murders. Answers are in the back of the book. Murder mystery fans will find this an exciting read, especially if they have read Agatha Christie. It's a good story even if they haven't. --Dorothy Addison, Woodlawn School, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 317 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; 1ST edition (July 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553074040
• ISBN-13: 978-0553074048
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,807,769 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:

5.0 out of 5 stars Traditional mystery par excellence, June 30, 2002

By 

R. Tiedemann "Sunnye" (Bellevue, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Christie Caper (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

THE CHRISTIE CAPER is one of my all time favorite cozy mysteries. I first read it when it came out in 1991 and it has been on the top of my favorites list ever since. I have also read it once a year since that first reading.

Interestingly, Hart provides a cast of characters -- names and descriptions -- at the beginning. From the very first the victim, Neil Bledsoe, proceeds to make himself thoroughly obnoxious. Leading characters are introduced, one at a time -- Victoria Shaw, Henny Brawley, Kathryn Honeycutt, John Border Stone... until we get to Annie Darling, who is the sleuth/protagonist. By this time the setting has been set, the battle lines drawn and the story is well underway. Hart has structured the story along the lines of Christie's work and she has provided well-rounded, distinctive characters to make the reader's experience an amusing and informative romp.

I love the references to Christie's books, her mentions of mysteries by other writers, Annie's ever-present watercolor competition in which her bookstore customers compete in recognizing paintings of famous mysteries, the last scene where all is revealed in classic Christie fashion . . .all these details combine to weave a contemporary tale into the traditional form and fascinate the reader.

If you're not a mystery fan you can learn a lot about the Dame of traditional mysteries from THE CHRISTIE CAPER and have great fun doing it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Christie Lover's Paradise, July 2, 2000

By 

A Reader (Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Christie Caper (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

Those readers who enjoy a good Agatha Christie book will love this intricately detailed story. The more fond of Christie you are, the better you can appreciate this book. There are countless references to the great author's life, her books, and her characters. The book is set at a gathering for Christie fans and the story that embroils Max and Annie and the Broward's Rock crew is really well executed. The events are tied together well and the mystery itself is not a predictable one so curl up with this book and enjoy. It is a book you can love even without detailed knowledge of Agatha Christie or having read the other Death on Demand books.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A celebration of Agatha Christie's birthday includes murder!, July 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Christie Caper (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 7) (Mass Market Paperback)

Annie Laurence Darling, the proprietor of the south's leading mystery bookstore, plans a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Agatha Christie's birthday. When someone is murdered, the celebration changes to a real whodunit,which is really fun for all. If you are just starting to read mysteries,start with this one,because of the trivia. Ms. Hart has spiced her tale with authors and titles of books "to die for." It makes the next trip to the bookstore a blast