Resort to Murder: A Henrie O Mystery [Hardcover]

Carolyn G. Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2001

Ex-reporter Henrietta "Henrie 0" O'Dwyer Collins joins a wedding party in glorious Bermuda -- only to discover that death is an uninvited guest.

Warm turquoise waters and balmy ocean breezes do little to ease Henrie O's discomfort at having to attend the wedding of her ex-son-in-law Lloyd to Connor Bailey, a beautiful widow with a dark past and a knack for attracting men. Recently recovered from pneumonia, the retired Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist joins her grandchildren at an elegant oceanfront hotel -- and is soon embroiled in a deadly puzzle that touches everyone connected with the impending union.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this highly entertaining puzzle (after 1999's Death on the River Walk), 70-ish sleuth Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins (aka Henrie O) is in a somber, reflective mode, as befits her age and her life experiences. Recovering from pneumonia, Henrie O isn't sure she feels up to the task of dealing with the emotional maelstrom stewing around the Bermuda wedding of her son-in-law, Lloyd Drake, and beautiful Connor Bailey, a wealthy widow. A granddaughter, unhappy about her father's marriage, is bent on making mischief, while the bride-to-be can't seem to stop herself from attracting the attentions of any male within eyeshot. Lloyd doesn't cope well with his fianc‚e's penchant for flirtation, and Connor's lawyer, Steve Jennings, appears to have more than Connor's financial interests at heart. The hotel where the party has gathered witnessed tragedy the year before, when Roddy Worrell, the manager's husband, plunged to his death from a tower. According to rumor, Roddy had been infatuated with Connor, who spurned his advances. When a ghost is sighted at the tower, word spreads that Roddy has come back to haunt Connor. The subsequent death of a hotel employee who knew more than he should about the apparition puts Henrie O on the murder scent once again. This series has a deeper and darker emotional texture than Hart's more lively and lighthearted Death on Demand series, but her fans will enjoy the complex plot, local color and vivid characters.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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

Review

“If you're looking for a getaway and can't make it to Bermuda, this tale's your ticket.” --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 429 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786234903
• ISBN-13: 978-0786234905
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,471,807 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a goodish read, April 26, 2001

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Resort To Murder: A Henrie O Mystery (Hardcover)

Henrie O is still recovering from her recent bout of pneumonia, so that accompanying her grandchildren, Diana and Neal, to Bermuda for their father's (Lloyd Drake) marriage to the beautiful widow, Connor Bailey, isn't exactly at the top of Henrie O's list of ways to recuperate. However, Emily, Henrie's daughter and Lloyd's ex-wife, is concerned and worried about how Diana is handling her father's remarriage: Diana is simmering with anger and hostility towards Connor, whom Diana feels is all wrong for her father. And so Emily begs her mother to go along with the children and to keep an eye on Diana. Henrie's initial observations however lead her to note that Diana is not the only one with misgivings about this marriage, Connor's eldest daughter, Marlow, and a close family friend of the Baileys, Steve Jennings, both seem to feel that Lloyd is the wrong kind of husband for Connor. For Connor is a very beautiful and somewhat naive woman who enjoys the innocent attention that her beauty brings, while Lloyd is a rather straightforward but somewhat possessive type who does not enjoy other men flirting with his fiance. The air is positively foggy with tension, as first an unwanted Texan starts paying Connor more attention that Lloyd can deal with, then the ghost of the resort manager's dead husband, who had a history of flirtation with Connor, starts playing practical jokes on Connor! Henrie O is furious at this childish attempt to put a pall on the wedding, and resorts to unmask the 'ghost.' But before she gets too far with the investigation, a waiter who was helping her with her inquiries accidentally falls to his death at the resort. But did he fall or was he pushed, Henrie wonders. Henrie grimly resolves to discover what is afoot at this heavenly resort.

I'm a huge Henrietta Collins fan, but I was a little disappointed with "Resort to Murder," as I felt that it lacked the bite and the crispness that was so evident in "Scandal at Fair Haven" and "Death in Lover's Lane." "Resort to Murder" is good, but is not quite on par with previous Henrie O mystery novels; this novel just seemed to take a while to take flight. And Henrie O herself was unnaturally reticent in this book and left too many things undone and unsaid. Perhaps it was because she was recovering from an illness and was easily tired, but I found myself missing the old Henrie O who would have tackled her granddaughter and other suspects a little more strenuously than she did in "Resort to Murder." However having put my minor quibbling to print, I will only add that this is still a good read -- with well portrayed characters and a good plot that will keep you guessing for about 2/3 of the book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shouldn't Have Picked This Book to Pass the Time..., May 20, 2001

By 

Ann E. Nichols (Sierra Vista, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Resort To Murder: A Henrie O Mystery (Hardcover)

It was Saturday, but I still woke up at the regular time. The pharmacy wouldn't be open for hours. I figured I could put down RESORT TO MURDER when the time came and finish it when I came home. WRONG! I didn't leave until after I finished. By the time I was almost there, the rain had started again. While I was walking through the parking lot, pea-sized hail was bouncing off my umbrella! Why hadn't I picked a duller book?

Has Henrie O's former son-in-law made another mistake in picking the bride for him? Is Connor, his new love, a woman who just feels the need to have men admire her, as her older daughter says, or is she a man-trap who loves manipulating her conquests?

Is the ghost of the hotel manager's late husband really haunting the tower? Is the ghost appearing so close to the first anniversary of his death because it was murder, not an accident?

How far is Henrie's granddaughter willing to go to keep her father from marrying Connor?

Is Connor really in danger?

Is Marlow really a loving daughter who doesn't mind being outshone by her mother?

Will the wedding actually take place? Should it? Would Connor be better off marrying her old friend, Steve?

Has an innocent party been framed for murder? Henrie thinks so, but can she find proof? Can she figure out what's going on? Well of course she can, but will she be able to do so in time to prevent tragedy?

It was nice to meet Henrie's grandchildren. The descriptions of Bermuda add to interest of the plot.

Don't let the dustjacket fool you. The design may be pretty and peaceful-looking, but there are ugly passions stirring under the cover and not much peace to be found.

Note to the publisher: chapter 20, p.266, full paragraph two, line one. That "Lloyd" should be "Steve". You might wish to fix that for the paperback.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Henrie O goes to Bermuda, September 22, 2001

By 

Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Resort To Murder: A Henrie O Mystery (Hardcover)

Henrie's daughter Emily asks her to accompany her two children to their father's wedding in Bermuda. The wedding is to be at the small hotel where the happy couple met. Unfortunately, the manager's husband died there the year before, in questionable circumstances, and the proposed bride, Connor, was supposedly the reason. The children dislike Connor, and her side of the family also seems less that pleased with the arrangements. A "ghost" is seen hovering around the tower and Connor's sanity seems to be crumbling. Soon, Connor is murdered and the proposed groom Lloyd is the suspect. Henrie O has to find out who really killed her for her grandchildren's sakes.

The mystery was really very good in this novel. I had a very hard time figuring it out. I love Bermuda, and I enjoyed the little descriptions of the Island. I went there in May however, and the residents thought that we were crazy to swim in 75 degree water, I can't imagine sunbathing in January. It seemed especially wierd for people from Texas and Georgia to go to a colder place for a vacation. Henrie O's recovery from pneumonia was the only reason that I could figure that she changed from a very active older woman to Miss Marple. All criticisms aside, this is a very good mystery and I look forward to the old (that is, not OLD) Henrie O in the next novel.