Customer Reviews

Engaged To Die - A Death On Demand Mystery

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Carolyn Hart, where have you been all my life?

Seriously, how is it that I never spotted you on the bookshelves amongst the Sue Graftons and Patricia Cornwells and Sarah Paretskys? Well, I have now rectified that, thank goodness.

Carolyn Hart is a mystery lover's dream come true. Her stories are for anyone who will confess to the guilty pleasure of reading serial mysteries (okay, and even for those of you who won't admit it, but secretly indulge nonetheless). ENGAGED TO DIE is Hart's latest installment --- the fourteenth installment, to be exact --- in the Death on Demand whodunit series featuring Annie and Max Darling, amateur detectives reminiscent of Nick and Nora Charles.

Annie Darling owns a bookstore, but not just any bookstore. She is the proprietor of Death on Demand, a popular venue on the island of Broward's Rock in South Carolina that specializes in selling leather-bound enigmas and paperback puzzlers. If you have ever walked into a real-life mystery bookstore like The Cloak and Dagger in Princeton, NJ, you know the sheer joy of losing yourself in the thievery, murder and mayhem oozing from the pages authored by Dashiell Hammett, Carolyn Keene or Arthur Conan Doyle.

The bookstore setting is ingenious; it affords Hart the opportunity to show off her knowledge of mystery writers, new and old, great and virtually unknown. Conversations in the store between Annie and her customers are peppered with titles and authors, and the reader, if a lover of mysteries, can't help but feel that he or she is part of a special club. Henny Brawley is described as the store's best customer; each of her visits results in the purchase of several books and the exchange of mystery trivia. (Brownie points for anyone who knows the significance of the name "Hepzibah" in the mystery genre.) The bookstore even boasts a cat named Agatha, homage to you-know-who.

The mystery at hand in ENGAGED TO DIE: Jake O'Neill, the young, handsome fiancé of widowed --- and wealthy --- Virginia Neville, has been murdered, his body found face down at the end of an oyster-shell path at an ocean overlook. The suspects are many, including Chloe, the young assistant who works in Annie's store and who had fallen in love with Jake. The Neville family is also not without motive. Upset by their father's bequest, which left virtually everything to Virginia, his nurse-turned-second wife, each of the Neville children could have and might have bashed in Jake's head to keep him from benefiting from the family inheritance.

Max Darling, a lawyer and devoted husband of Annie, is deputized into duty by the acting police chief and begins to investigate the death. Annie decides to launch a search of her own, hoping to exonerate her co-worker. Their seemingly different paths ultimately intersect, as they become unknowing targets of the murderer.

Find Carolyn Hart on the bookshelf. Read ENGAGED TO DIE. Or, better yet, start at the beginning with DEATH ON DEMAND, the first in the series, and work your way up to ENGAGED TO DIE. That's my plan.

--- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara

Wealthy Nathaniel Neville shocked his two children and their spouses when he married his nurse and later left her with the estate when he died. His wife Virginia promised the irate foursome that they would be her heirs, but that vow seems shaky now. Virginia apparently has fallen in love with artist Jake O'Neill. At the opening of her new gallery in Broward's'Rock, South Carolina, Virginia announces that she and Jake will marry.

Already disturbed by their father's will, her stepfamily goes berserk thinking the handsome artist will waste what they believe is rightfully theirs. Chloe Martin is also stunned by the announcement because she thought she was exclusively seeing Jake. However, someone decides to take action, killing the charming artist. All evidence indicates that Chloe committed the crime as she flees the scene and her shawl is found near the victim. Chloe's boss mystery bookstore Annie Darling tries to prove her assistant is innocent while her spouse Max helps the police with the official investigation.

Though the who-done-it is relatively easy to figure out by real amateurs like this reviewer, readers will enjoy the latest Death on Demand mystery. Although obvious, the story line is fun to follow, as the darling lead couple wants the same thing even while working on opposite sides of the inquiry.

Harriet Klausner

Young Jake O'Neill was a handsome, smooth talking, a love 'em and leave 'em womanizer who found his way onto Broward's Rock and into the arms of just about every unattached woman in town. So who would have been surprised that wealthy Virginia Neville would commission him to be her husband? For one, the houseful of sour stepchildren whose father had left everything to Virginia but whom she had promised to leave everything to. Equally astounded was Chloe, the young employee of Annie's who had fallen in love with the young artist. On the night of the big party to celebrate the opening of the gallery and the introduction of Boston Mackey, the most successful Low Country painter allied with the gallery, Virginia decides to announce her engagement. With half the island at attendance, murder intervenes and crashes the party. Young Chloe was seen leaving the scene and quickly becomes suspect #1 and Max is deputized to investigate, much to Annie's chagrin. While Max pursues the official line of questioning, Annie sets out to prove Chloe's innocence. Matters are not helped by Chloe's disappearance, and the existence of another witness who saw Chloe, but holds out on what exactly she saw. Gunshots are heard at the Neville home, the gun fished out of the fountain and once again the police are convinced that Chloe had pinched the gun then dropped it in her flight. With the entire town convinced of Chloe's guilt, Annie and Max set a dangerous trap for the murderer. Would the murderer dare to make another desparate move? Or would Chloe be hauled off to jail for a crime she did not commit, other than an utter lack of common sense and discernment.

I really enjoy the Death on Demand series. Some people find the references to other mysteries and mystery writers annoying but I find it fun as I can many times relate to the reference, adding an extra little bit of pleasure to the mystery.

I particularly enjoyed this book because it features a lot of interplay between husband and wife Max & Annie Darling without focusing solely on their relationship. A wealthy "older" woman is about to announce her engagement to a much younger man when a murder occurs preventing that event from happening. A good friend of Annie's is the prime suspect for the murder and Annie & Max must, of course, step in to find the real killer. Max, in fact, is deputized to help the sheriff, a fact that irritates Annie to no end.
There are a few side issues thrown in for fun and they make for some nice diversions from the main mystery. I must say that one reason I especially enjoyed this book is that Max's mother does not play a big role - I do find her a little irritating as I find her somewhat of a stereotype airhead.
Really looking forward to the next entry in the series: "Murder Walks the Plank" and hope to see a new Henri O. mystery soon!

Nathaniel Neville's family is none too pleased when he marries his nurse, Virginia. Subsequently he dies, and the family knows that eventually the family fortune will come to them. However, they don't count on the fact that Virginia will decide to marry again, this time to a much younger man, who is an artist. She chooses to announce the engagement at the opening of a new exhibit in the family art gallery. However, murder and mayhem get in the way, and before they know it, Max and Annie Darling are in the middle of a murder investigation. Max is officially deputized by Acting Police Chief Billy Cameron, and Annie does some sleuthing on her own. Another murder takes place, and Annie's assistant Chloe is the chief suspect. Annie becomes desperate to exonerate Chloe and she risks her own life to prove Chloe's innocence. This is another good Death on Demand mystery.

I've given Carolyn Hart several chances, but this book was the last one.

The setup is fine. We get the well-hated rich heiress, the Big House o' Suspects, the timetable, and so on. We get an allegedly sympathetic character (whom I didn't like) accused, presumably falsely, of the crime. We get a possible witness who knows more than she's telling.

All these are well-established mystery elements. In the hands of a good writer, they're a recipe for pure pleasure.

In the hands of Ms. Hart, they go nowhere. The suspect disappears, and the rest of the book consists of people bumbling around, wondering where she is, and arguing about whether she really done it. There are no clues. There is no detection. There is no puzzle. There is no plot development, other than the inevitable second murder. The solution, when it finally arrives, arrives with a resounding POOF! out of thin air: there's no logic to back it up, no explanation of how we got to that point, no reason why a different solution wouldn't do just as well. None of the alternative suspects is given any face time. The moderately-elaborate timetable is entirely irrelevant, a waste of space.

The virtue of the classical mystery is in its ability to take time-honored elements and weave a new puzzle around them. Absent the puzzle, the whole thing becomes an assemblage of cliches.

Ms. Hart should, perhaps, try writing romances.

Oklahoma native Carolyn Hart was the first triple crown winner in the mystery genre - she garnered The Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Awards. "Engaged To Die" is her 34th book; the 14th in the Death on Demand Series. Quite obviously, she's not one to rest on her laurels or considering her output even to rest.

Annie and Max Darling have become reader favorites with their escapades and always entertaining adventures. In their latest engaging mystery we find excitement afoot on the Low Country island of Broward's Rock, South Carolina. (Faithful readers know this site is based on Hilton Head Island).

Wealthy art gallery owner Virginia Neville is about to host a soiree introducing a major new collection. Her party is about all islanders can talk about, and everyone has received an invitation.

But no one is in on what Virginia considers the biggest surprise of all - she's announcing her engagement to a much younger man. As they say, the path of true love seldom runs smooth - especially when murder comes on the scene.

Max Darling is quickly called upon to assist in the investigation, which proves to be an even greater challenge when one of the prime suspects turns out to be Chloe Martin, a college girl who worked at Annie's bookstore over the Christmas holidays.

Chloe has an additional agenda of her own - she has fallen in love with a mysterious stranger, and she doesn't even know his name.

Leave it to Max and Annie to solve the crime and put their world to rights while providing readers with lots of fun and surprises along the way.

- Gail Cooke

Carolyn Hart is very intertaining. The book store "Death on Demand" is a good setting for all the mystery lovers.

Carolyn Hart's ENGAGED TO DIE is a delightful murder mystery romp with Annie and Max Darling.
Virginia Neville, a rich window with dependents has found a new love. The night of the announcement of their engagement; the groom doesn't make the party. He is dead from a blow to the head.
Broward Island's police department is short of help. Max because a deputy, which puts Annie on the outside of the investigation looking in and not liking though she tries to be a good citizen.
A fun read for a master cozy writer.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS.

Carolyn Hart writes a mean cozy mystery. Her characters are realistic, and the setting where her books are set is unique. Broward's Rock is a little island, of the coast of South Carolina, so the weather is usually fine, and the people eclectic. In this book, the weather is not so fine since it is set in January, but the mystery is good. There are a lot of relationship issues explored in this book. Annie and Max are on the trail of a murderer when a local playboy is found killed. One of Annie's employees looks "good" for the murder, but Annie is sure she's innocent and sets out to prove her innocence. As her and her husband Max begin investigating they find a truly disfunctional family where jealousy, adultery and blackmail muddy up the picture somewhat. These books are a lot of fun, and I look forward to each one.