Dead Days of Summer (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 17) [Hardcover]

Carolyn Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2006

Annie Darling, owner of the Death on Demand mystery bookstore, is understandably upset. It isn't like her p.i. husband Max to abruptly disappear—and homicide is definitely not his style. But when his car is found abandoned on a remote road with a brutally slain, once-beautiful young woman nearby and the murder weapon stashed in the trunk, Annie's worst fears seem justified.

The police have Max all but tried and convicted—except for Chief Billy Cameron, whose unshakable belief in his friend's innocence prompts his removal from the case. And as a media circus descends on tiny Broward's Rock, Annie will have to place her own life in jeopardy to clear her husband's name. But time is running out—and she has only one slim chance to unmask a killer who just may have committed the perfect crime.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Hart pulls out all the stops in the fast-paced 17th installment of her acclaimed Death on Demand cozy series (after 2005's Death of the Party), set on the South Carolina island of Broward's Rock. When bookstore owner Annie Darling's PI husband, Max, accepts a new case and fails to come home, she's frantic and calls in all her friends, including the police. The authorities organize an effective search that leads to the body of an attractive woman near Max's abandoned car; in the trunk is the murder weapon. Portrayed by the press as an unfaithful husband and killer, Max is arrested as soon as he surfaces. Annie goes undercover, determined to clear Max's name even if it means putting herself in a cunning murderer's path. Lovable supporting characters, notably Emma Clyde, resident mystery author and Annie's best friend, help make this one of Hart's finest offerings. Hart has won multiple Agatha, Anthony and Macavity awards. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Hart has written 38 mysteries and has been awarded multiple Agatha and Anthony awards. The seventeenth entry in her long-running Death on Demand series shows the plot muscle that has made Hart's reputation. Her plan of attack is similar to that employed by many spy novelists: start with a dizzying series of short scenes introducing characters, zero in on one person in particular trouble, and spend the rest of the novel spellbinding the reader with plot intersections. This time out, Hart concocts a thriller revolving around an innocent man suspected of a crime. A private detective's car is found with a murder weapon in the trunk. A young woman, whom the detective had been seeing, is found dead in a nearby cabin. Despite the evidence seeming to point in only one way, the detective's wife, convinced of her husband's innocence, decides to solve the case herself. Top-notch plotting but very melodramatic language and skimpy characterization. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1ST edition (March 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060724021
• ISBN-13: 978-0060724023
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,109,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carolyn Hart talks about mysteries and writing in a new interview on Oklahoma public tv. Please visit www.CarolynHart.com and click on the link in the upper right hand column.

In April Berkley Prime Crime will publish DEATH COMES SILENTLY, the 22nd Death on Demand title. Coming in October is WHAT THE CAT SAW, a novel of suspense.

Carolyn 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.

Carolyn 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

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, April 26, 2006

By 

Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead Days of Summer (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 17) (Hardcover)

Maxwell "Max" Darling's business is called "Confidential Commissions". It is much like a private investigator business. He gets a new client who is searching for her brother. Knowing his wife, Annie, would worry unless he let her know he'd be late, Max calls.

Annie Darling gets worried when Max never gets home that night. A search party begins. The police locates a dead woman that same night. The murder weapon is found in the trunk of Max's nearby Jag. The lady had been seen by many witnesses at a bar the night before. Max and the lady looked to be having an affair. But no one knows where Max is.

The police finally locate Max stumbling down a road. All the evidence, and there is quite a bit, points to Max begin the killer. But Annie refuses to believe it. Annie finally takes matters into her own hands and goes undercover to catch a killer.

***** It is no wonder this author has won several Agathas and Anthonys. Carolyn Hart's writing talent is still taking the Mystery world by storm and looks as though it may continue to do so for a long time. This novel is but one example of her awesome creativity skills. One thing is certain: I look forward to many more books in this mystery series. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Max is missing!, April 25, 2006

By 

Dawn Dowdle "Mystery Lovers Corner reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dead Days of Summer (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 17) (Hardcover)

Max Darling starts a new case helping a young woman look for her brother. But when he doesn't come home, his wife Annie starts searching for him. In her search, she encounters someone in his office in the dark. Annie is certain something has gone wrong. Max just doesn't disappear like that.

When a young woman is found murdered in a cabin, Max becomes the number one suspect. But he's still missing.

Annie and her friends step up the search. Finally he is found walking along a road and taken to the police station for questioning.

Max doesn't remember much. What he does remember isn't helpful. He is arrested. Annie decides she has to do something to help free Max. There is too much circumstantial evidence against him. But, can she get the information in time without putting herself in danger?

I really enjoy this series. I like series set in the south, and Broward's Rock, SC, is a great island setting. It has been a while since I had gotten to read one of these. I think that's part of the reason I had a little trouble getting into the beginning of the story. Once it got going, I fully enjoyed it. I liked the way Annie went undercover to help find the truth to free Max. Having the help of all her friends really made the difference.

Annie is such a likeable character. I think the fact that she owns a mystery bookstore helps me like her a lot, too. Max is a fun character. The way he and Annie interact is wonderful. This book really let us see the strength of all their friends and that was great.

I highly recommend this book!

www.mysteryloverscorner.com

[...]

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Things are not always as they seem, April 19, 2006

By 

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

This review is from: Dead Days of Summer (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 17) (Hardcover)

Annie Darling, proprietor of the Death on Demand Bookstore, receives a phone call from her husband, Max, who says that he must meet with a client and will be home late. When he does not come home at all, Annie knows that something is wrong and she begins looking for him. He is nowhere to be found, but police do find the dead body of the woman that he was meeting that night. Plenty of witnesses tell the story of their romantic dinner and Max leaving in a drunken stupor, and there is evidence linking Max to the dead woman's murder. Soon he is found and arrested and Annie is not even given a chance to talk to him. Knowing that someone has plotted to make Max look guilty, Annie begins an investigation into the life of the victim. She discovers that Vanessa was very flirtatious and could have angered either a spurned lover or a lover's wife. Against Max's wishes, she persists in her pursuit of the murderer despite possible dangers to herself. This is one of the better Death on Demand books and should please Carolyn Hart's many fans.