Death Walked In (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 18) [Hardcover]

Carolyn Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 2008

Max Darling hasn't been interested in crime since his brush with a seductive young woman put him in danger of losing his freedom. He even refuses to talk to a woman who calls for help and says she is afraid. The caller leaves word she's hidden something in the antebellum house Max and his wife, Annie, are restoring. When Annie finds out, she hurries to the woman's home, only to discover she's been murdered. Evidence links the dead woman to a fortune in gold coins that has recently gone missing. Was this mysterious woman killed for a fortune in coins?

The dead woman's son is accused but Max believes in his innocence, and Max and Annie plunge wholeheartedly into the investigation. Are the coins hidden in Annie and Max's house? The intruder who shoots at Max seems to think so. And when Annie discovers the secret of their old house, death arrives at their door.

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

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Annie Darling, proprietor of Death on Demand, the finest mystery bookstore north of Miami, once again proves a resourceful sleuth in Hart's scintillating 18th Death on Demand mystery set in the South Carolina island community of Broward's Rock (after 2006's Dead Days of Summer). When Annie's devoted PI husband, Max, who's busy renovating historic Franklin House, puts off returning a frantic phone call from a prospective client, Annie later discovers the caller, Gwen Jamison, dying of a gunshot wound in Gwen's house. It appears Gwen wanted to tell Max that after finding on her property eight gold coins worth nearly $2 million that were recently stolen from Gwen's employer, island civic leader Geoffrey Grant, she had hidden the coins at Franklin House. When Gwen's dropout son, Robert, is implicated in both the theft and the murder, Max believes Robert's been framed and works to clear his name. This tight, Agatha Christie–style puzzler will keep readers guessing to the end. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

Bookstore owner Annie Darling and her PI husband, Max, are restoring Franklin House, an antebellum home on the small South Carolina island of Broward’s Rock. A mysterious woman calls Max’s office and leaves a message that she has hidden something in Franklin House, but Max treats it as a crank call. When Annie hears about the call, she goes to the woman’s house and finds her dying of a gunshot wound. Is there a connection between the murder and Franklin House? When someone takes a shot at Max while he is chasing an intruder who was breaking into Franklin House, he and Annie realize that they and their new home are in danger. Hart’s many cozies are distinguished by the carefully constructed motives that drive the crimes. Readers will be drawn to the island setting and the intricate web of broken relationships that frame the puzzle. --Barbara Bibel

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (March 25, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060724056
• ISBN-13: 978-0060724054
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,050,418 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

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sea air and oyster shells, November 8, 2008

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Death Walked In (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 18) (Hardcover)

Browards' Rock, a South Carolina Low Country island, is home to Max and Annie Darling and a winter community of residents whose paths, by necessity or choice, often cross. So the islanders are understandably shaken when a stash of rare and valuable gold coins is stolen from one of the wealthier families. Following upon the heels of this crime are a series of home invasions and, most shocking of all, a cold blooded murder. The Darlings are determined to find the true culprit.

Death Walked In is a rather prosaic title for such a colorful story, but as it turns out, this mystery isn't much more than ordinary. Hart is a competent writer, but the herrings are so red that the question of whodunnit does not remain mysterious for long. Nevertheless, with all the oyster shell walks, snakes in the woods, ferries, palmettos, and salty sea air, she does a creditable job of evoking a pleasant atmosphere while providing an agreeable few hours of light reading.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUOY OH BUOY!, April 25, 2008

By 

Laurie Banton (Indianapolis, Indiana United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death Walked In (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 18) (Hardcover)

In this classic mystery, with a South Carolina sea island backdrop, drama centers on the high-risk theft of precious gold coins, the tragedy of murder, and the price that evil must pay.

DEATH WALKED IN delivers all the twists, turns, and thrills that Carolyn Hart fans look forward to. Annie and Max are restoring an antebellum mansion. She is feminine . . . and strong. He is sophisticated . . . and compassionate. Annie says, "I wish our beautiful house wasn't part of a crime." Max comforts her, "Every old house has had its good days and its bad days. We're going to have good days. But we can't ignore trouble when we're right in the middle of it."

Even supporting characters leap off the page. I liked the high school principal who "knew his students, the ones who failed as well as those who succeeded, and he never stopped trying to reach the ones who needed help."

When 'Death Walked In' at the end of the mystery, the encounter was unforgettable.

This is the 18th book in the award-winning Death on Demand (bookstore) series--a treat for readers who appreciate fine literary writing that makes your heart race with suspense. Fun to read and the perfect solution for gift giving.

Laurie Banton, book reviewer, 04/25/08

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Missing coins lead to murder, June 3, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: Death Walked In (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 18) (Hardcover)

Carolyn Hart is back with another book in the Death on Demand Mystery series. Annie Darling, owner of "the best bookstore north of Miami", and her husband Max live on Broward's Rock, a beautiful fictitious island off the coast of South Carolina. They are refurbishing the lovely old Franklin house which becomes a pivotal part in the mystery. First some very valuable coins are stolen and then Annie receives a panicky call from Max's secretary who says that a woman called and said that she hid something valuable in the Franklin house. This is the beginning of a trail of murder and deception, as Annie and Max try to find the perpetrators while dodging some dangerous situations themselves. The devoted Darlings are the center of a group of interesting characters, and Carolyn Hart never fails to entertain mystery fans with her "closed room" technique, borrowed from Agatha Christie.