Death On Delivery [Paperback]

Agatha Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2005

Who would've thunk somebody in nice, quiet, Pennsylvania Dutch Plainfield would take to icing deliverymen? And with champagne yet! To date, eleven Plainfield men have been found dead after making a delivery to a newly rented up-scale apartment. The murder scene is exactly the same in each case. The deliveryman is found seated at the dining room table, dead of a single glass of champagne liberally laced with poison. The sheer casualness of the murders has nice, quiet "normal" Plainfield shocked to its core. Search as they might for something, anything, connecting the men, three investigative teams have been unable to produce a single viable clue. In this, the third Fairchild mystery, Chief Warmkessel persuades Sal McKnight to forego her work with Juveniles and put her analytical mind to the problem, before hysteria tears the town apart. With her "participas cur arum" twin, Sam Thaxton, off in China doing a job for the government, she taps Rick Masters, a transplanted Californian, happily eating his way through Plainfield's restaurants, a disillusioned veteran sergeant and two young corporals for help. In "Death On Delivery," the third Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery, Sal and her team are joined by the "Main Duke" and his cohorts, who use their own inimitable skills in bringing about the successful apprehension of the murderer. The Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery Series: If It's Monday, It Must Be Murder Dead In Pleasant Company Death On Delivery So Long At The Fair (Not Yet Published)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ms. Fairchild is new to fiction writing. A life-long educator and business woman, Hannah Fairchild's emergence as a writer came about when vision problems caused her to retire from her much loved work as student teacher supervisor. No longer able to roam country roads in search of wild flowers, Ms. Fairchild saw an opportunity to write the mysteries she'd always wanted to write. Drawing on her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage for inspiration, ("Throw papa down the stairs his hat," "Ve grow too soon old und too late smart,") her series, "The Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries," is set in quiet Plainfield, a town still populated by the same hard working, phlegmatic Pennsylvania Dutch who built the town. The main characters, Sam Thaxton and Salome Thaxton McKnight, twin heirs to the vast Thaxton fortune, are forty-five in the first book. "If It's Monday it Must Be Murder" is drawn from her experiences as a teacher of adolescents with behavioral problems, experiences at once so frustrating, mystifying and delightful, there was nothing for it but to record that adventure. Once given life, the "Corrigibles" insisted on having a part in each of the "Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries" as well. The second, "Dead in Pleasant Company," features a unique killer who murders via the Internet. "In Death on Delivery," her third "Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery", the Corrigibles are once again instrumental in saving the day Ms. Fairchild writes the sort of mysteries she likes to read, with believable characters that matter, low on commonality and contrivance, high on humanity and humor. Her stories are literate and occasionally even a bit alliterate, each offering something unique to the reader. A fourth book in the series, "So Long At The Fair," is in the works.

Product Details

• Paperback: 348 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (December 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1420884646
• ISBN-13: 978-1420884647
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,980,732 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Death Doesn't Dissapoint, March 15, 2006

By 

Christine P. Doeg (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death On Delivery (Paperback)

As a long time fan of Hannah Fairchild's Pennsylvainia Dutch Mysteries, I was looking foward to the third book in the series, and Death on Delivery didn't dissapoint. As in her past two books, the author really shines when she pens the interaction of Sal McNight with her former students "the 'corrigibles". Clearly her own personal experience as an educator comes into play. The first 80 pages are a little tough to get through as the author challenges her readers with complex sentence structure, complicated time lines and incomprehensible (for the un-initiated) Pennsylvainia Dutch phrases. But, once in the groove the payoff is a page turner you will not be able to put down until the dashing Sam Thaxton comes in to sweep an exhausted Sal home. Hopefully this successful entry will put Hannah Fairchild in the league with Tony Hillerman and Dick Francis where she belongs.

4.0 out of 5 stars Death on Delivery, February 27, 2006

By 

Mary Jo Carey (Taos, New Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death On Delivery (Paperback)

I really like this series. Ms. Fairchild pulls you in with great characters, eerie happenings and frantic suspense! This is the third in a series. A great page turner, always with a surprise and often scarey ending(and a hint of romance). All the characters work together, each honored by Sal for their various specialties. Good lessons to learn along the way. Enjoy! Enjoy!