Yankee Doodle Dead (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 10) [Large Print] [Paperback]

Carolyn G. Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1999

Master mystery spinner Carolyn Hart gives us the tenth high-spirited entry in her Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Award-winning Death on Demand series.

The most delectable sleuthing couple since Nick met Nora, Annie and Max Darling manage to find quite a bit of murder in their allegedly safe and serene South Carolina island resort town. After all, murder is Annie's business -- well, sort of. She's the proprietor of the popular Death on Demand mystery bookstore and cafe, and her establishment seems to attract trouble like Annie's pesky felines, Dorothy L. and Agatha, attract hairballs. Now, Annie and Max watch their Fourth of July holiday explode not only with fun and fireworks, but with murder as well.

The library board wants to declare its independence from new member, retired Brigadier General Charlton "Bud" Hatch, a man accustomed to being in charge. Hatch's takeover attitude has alienated everyone in town, especially the women. But Annie finds it difficult to ignore him at a crowded patriotic festival -- particularly when he's shot dead before her eyes...

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

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Unless you find the idea of a woman who runs a mystery book store as an amateur crime solver just too cute for comfort, you'll have some fun with Carolyn G. Hart's latest cozy yarn about Annie and Max Darling, the Nick and Nora Charles of the South Carolina island resort town called Broward's Rock. Annie, of course, still keeps her Death on Demand book shop, matching wits with customers about unlikely murder methods from classic mysteries while serving them iced café lattes to ward off the summer heat. Max, the most underemployed private detective of recent memory (he doesn't seem to have had a paying client since 1995), is still as charming and sexy (to Annie, that is) as ever--although his annoying mother, Laurel, has become positively dangerous. But Laurel is only one of a veritable Orient Express-load of possible suspects when an obnoxious ex-military man is shot to death at the Broward's Rock Fourth of July Festival. The racist, sexist, antigay Bud Hatch could have been killed by any of his several enemies. It's up to Annie and Max to clear Laurel and various other friends of suspicion, and Hart certainly knows how to keep a familiar story from becoming too obvious. Other Death on Demand tales in paperback: The Christie Caper, Deadly Valentine, Death on Demand, Design for Murder, Honeymoon With Murder, A Little Class on Murder, Mint Julep Murder, Something Wicked, Southern Ghost. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

This ninth in the Death on Demand series (after Mint Julep Murder, 1995) finds mystery-bookstore owner Annie Darling in top form: polite, considerate, cheerful and relentlessly investigative. Retired Brigadier General Charlton "Bud" Hatch is a newcomer to the tiny resort community of Broward's Rock, S.C., where his arrogance, power and extreme right-wing views have quickly antagonized many of the genteel yet clannish residents. When Hatch is shot to death at the island's annual Fourth of July festival, Annie and her relaxed but shrewd husband, Max, utilize their connections and gentle diplomacy to interview some of the many idiosyncratic natives who loathed the general. Was he murdered by a cuckolded husband? What about the young, sweet do-gooder whom Hatch had terrified? Or the gay library director whose job had been threatened by the moralistic library trustee? Annie and Max tap into the best source of information anywhere?rampant gossip?and, aided by society doyenne Miss Dora, find out more than they want to know. Might Max's flaky and much-married mother be another suspect? Rich in Southern atmosphere (lots of live oak, Spanish moss and the ever-present smell of the salt marsh), populated by a diverse and engaging cast, including the fallible, endearing leads, and following a deftly constructed plot line, this tale is charming?and gripping.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 355 pages
• Publisher: Wheeler Publishing; Lrg edition (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568957181
• ISBN-13: 978-1568957180
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,576,074 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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars why the lists of books?, January 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Yankee Doodle Dead (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 10) (Mass Market Paperback)

I buy the Annie and Max books, but I skip over the interminable book lists the author includes every few pages. If she wants to recommend other mysteries, how about putting the lists at the end, when they don't distract from the book. If she is just padding the word count, tsk tsk.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love the mystery, but....., August 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Yankee Doodle Dead (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 10) (Mass Market Paperback)

I, too, am a mystery buff, and I have read Carolyn Hart's Death on Demand series from the very first book she published. The series started out wonderfully. The characters of Annie and Max, Henny Brawley, and even Miss Dora are entertaining, and the books are very well written. I like the references to other mysteries for two reasons: they remind me of other satisfying plots I have read, and they give me information about books that might interest me in the future. The only negative thing I can say about the series (this book included) is that the character of Laurel, Max's mother, is annoying and disruptive to the stories. She doesn't actually come into the series until the third book, so the first two (Death on Demand and Design for Murder) are as close to absolute perfection as you could get in a mystery. If you can stomach Laurel, the rest of the books have pretty good plots. I keep hoping the author will come up with a really good way to kill off Laurel and let Annie nab her murderer. Now THAT would be satisfying.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Combines old-fashioned cozy plot with modern humor, July 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Yankee Doodle Dead (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 10) (Mass Market Paperback)

In many ways *Yankee Doodle Dead* is rather like the paperback mysteries that Annie Laurance Darling praises in chapter one and it's obvious that's intended. This book kept me up until my eyes refused to stay open any longer and I made sure to finish it during breakfast, even though it meant I had to scramble to get to work. The references to other mystery books and authors were fun when I recognized them and gave me some idea what the other fictional detectives were like when I didn't. The reason for Edith Wentworth's non-stop lifestyle came as no surprise when it was revealed, because it's similar to one of Leslie Ford's classic Grace Latham-Colonel Primrose mysteries. (Given the the emphasis Patricia Wentworth of Miss Silver fame placed on honorable conduct, the choice of surname for Jonathan and Edith was quite appropriate.) General (Retired) Bud Hatch raised my hackles from his first appearance. I didn't care how many men (including Max)thought he could be a great/good guy. As the book progressed, I knew he wasn't. I'm a DAC(Department of the Army Civilian), as was my mother. I received my certificate and pin for 20 years' service last year. My father was Air Force, so I'm a former military brat, too. I can assure the reader who is unfamiliar with our military that Hatch is no caricature. I find the premise of the Dark Deed that led to the General's death chillingly plausible. Even though I cannot condone Hatch's murder, I understand why his killer shot him. Got a good chuckle out of the way that our modern gallant women of South Carolina foiled Hatch's plot to make sure that the Fourth of July festival honored only patriotic men. It was also satisfying that Hatch was the disgrace to his former uniform, not the gay Vietnam veteran that Hatch thought shouldn't be allowed to wear a uniform. Max Darling actually stirred himself quite a bit in this book, which was a pleasant surprise. On the other hand, if his mother, Laurel, hadn't been so kind to Gail Oldham, it would have been prudent for Max and Annie to have locked her in a bedroom with a bath until the murder was solved. Laurel is a woman who scarcely comprehends the meaning of moderation. A welcome departure from old mysteries is the depiction of minorities and "just plain folks" as intelligent, honest, and capable. Loved Annie's "speak your mind" thoughts that she was so wise to leave unspoken. I also loved the depictions of Dorothy L. and Agatha, Annie's cats. Yes, indeedy, Ms. Hart knows cats. (It's a good thing those cats are fictional, or our cover designer and illustrators might find themselves on the business end of Agatha's claws for putting her at the bottom and Dorothy L at the top. By the way, that's a delightful grin on the face of the alligator that forms the "D" in "Dead". At least I think it's meant to be an alligator, although the snout seems more like a crocodile's.) In short, this update of an old kind of murder mystery is as welcome as a glass of lemonade or ice tea on a hot day. Ann E. Nichols