The Dead of Midnight [Paperback]

Catherine Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2001

Members of the Mystery au Lait Café book club can't get enough of the Midnight Mystery Series-until the books' terrifying crimes begin to happen for real in the quiet town where the club meets. Someone is imitating the Midnight Mystery murders and killing off the book club, one member at a time. Meanwhile, sales of the series skyrocket as attention is drawn to the books and to the club where the craze began.

When both the ex-wife and current girlfriend of local musician Peter Petursson are terrorized, many conclude that Peter's is the cruel hand behind the reenactments. But there are still leads to follow and evidence to be gathered . . .
Perhaps one of the book club members has a twisted side that just hasn't
shown itself over coffee and cookies at the meetings. Maybe the café owner is willing to lose a few loyal customers in exchange for a flurry of new ones. Or maybe the publisher simply knows good publicity when he sees it.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Canadian poet Hunter makes her U.S. debut with an enjoyably quirky cast of characters and an intriguing (though not totally fulfilled) premise. A book group meets regularly at the Mystery Au Lait Cafe to discuss mysteries, and lately they're hooked on a series dubbed the Midnight Mystery Series. The books, published by a local small press and authored by a mysterious writer, are connected by the fact that the murders in each book take place at midnight. As sales and anticipation for each new release build dramatically, members of the group experience incidents eerily like those in the books. Sarah Petursson, estranged from her musician-husband, Peter, is attacked just like a character in the first book in the series. Later, Peter's current girlfriend, journalist Cady Brown, is brutally murdered, again in a fashion detailed in one of the books. Somehow connected to all these murderous events is the work of Sarah's late mother, a Canadian poet of some repute, who died when Sarah was a child. Someone-could it be the murderer?-is after the late poet's papers and, in turn, these papers seem somehow connected to the real identity of the Midnight Mystery Series author. Though experienced mystery fans will have figured out a number of the plot twists well ahead of the book's amateur sleuths, Hunter handles her complex plot and large cast of characters with great skill.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The popular book club at the Mystery Au Lait Cafe in Winnipeg, Canada, becomes even more the rage after the events featured in the five books of the Midnight Mystery series begin to happen for real to neighborhood residents. Sarah Petursson is the initial club member to be terrorized--her attack parallels the climactic event in the first book--but luckily she escapes with her life. Sarah's soon-to-be ex-husband becomes the chief suspect when his girlfriend is murdered, following the plotline in the second book. As Sarah recovers from her ordeal, she comes to terms with the death of her mother, poet Carolyn Yeats, who died when Sarah was a small child. Details of the publishing world and excerpts from Carolyn's diaries enhance the story as the exploration of Sarah and her mother's pasts ties into the investigation of a serial killer. Slowly secrets are revealed and subplots converge in this engrossing novel of psychological suspense. A natural for mystery book clubs. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Turnstone Pr (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888012616
• ISBN-13: 978-0888012616
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,252,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting, but somewhat strange mystery, September 14, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dead of Midnight: A Mystery (Hardcover)

The members of Winnipeg's Mystery Au Lait Cafe book club cannot get enough of the Midnight Mystery novels. However, the excitement that the series has brought turns to terror when someone decides life imitates art by killing off club members using scenes from the novels. The police look for the author Walter White without much success.

Accountant Sarah Petursson finds that someone steals recently found journals written by her mother. Still Sarah continues her search for her father's identity. Meanwhile reporter Cady Brown begins to close in on the agent of the mysterious White. Someone harasses Cady and Sarah with the only link between them being the latter's ex husband Peter who is the journalist's boyfriend. As the murder mystery and Sarah's personal search link, a ghost tries to guide her. Sales for the mystery novels explode and rumors abound that a new sixth book is being released. Everyone seeks clues inside the tales as no one wants to become the next victim.

THE DEAD OF MIDNIGHT is an interesting, but somewhat strange mystery tale that has a lot going for it, especially suspense, but contains too many red herrings that leave the audience somewhat confused at times. Still, Sarah is a wonderful protagonist and the club members are an intriguing group who start off as friends, but quickly suspect one another. Loaded with incredible layers of suspense, readers will find this is an engaging novel as Catherine Hunter hooks audience into wanting to know who is the killer, what happened to the journals, and does the sixth book, if it exists, contain clues to the next murder?

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dead of Midnight, August 22, 2004

By 

Isabella "Spongie" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dead of Midnight (Paperback)

Im a 14-year-old that lives in New York and this 360 page thrill ride caught from the very first sentence. It is a very interesting plot with the copy-cat murders. Yet the reveiling of the murderer caught me off guard, the most unexpected character in the story. I love how the descriptions were accurately executed enough to get you inside the reader's mind. This book takes a grip on the reader and does not let go. I recommend this book to anyone who likes crime investigations and a good mystery.

3.0 out of 5 stars Nearly right !, November 25, 2003

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dead of Midnight (Paperback)

A group of mystery story fans meets regularly to review the latest thrillers but when the plots of a particular author begin to play out in real life, and some of the book club members are murdered in the same style as those in the latest book, people really start to look over their shoulders.It's an interesting premise and though I believe that the author threw in too many unnecessary characters as red herrings, perhaps her style will improve with more experience.