White Elephant Dead (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 11) (Hardcover)

by Carolyn Hart (Author) "Loretta Campbell tugged at the twisted sheet..." (more)
Key Phrases: awning cake, club van, blackmail victims, Kathryn Girard, Ruth Yates, Dave Pierce (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Mystery aficionados will get a workout while trying to catch all the references to mystery authors and their protagonists in Hart's 11th entry (after Yankee Doodle Dead) in her Agatha Award-winning Death on Demand series. Annie Darling, who owns a mystery bookshop on the barrier island of Broward's Rock, S.C., is appalled when Kathryn Girard, one of the island's Women's Club members, is slain and Annie's friendAand good customerAHenny Brawley, who was injured at the scene, is accused of the crime. Kathryn was supposed to be collecting donations for the annual white elephant sale, but instead she used the Women's Club van to visit the houses of four wealthy families. When Annie and her amateur sleuth husband, Max, discover a stash of thousand-dollar bills in a photo album taken from Kathryn's apartment, they realize that the dead woman had been blackmailing their friends and neighbors. But why? What did the richest of the island's residents have to hide? And who would kill to preserve their secret? As Henny recuperates in the hospital, Annie and Max set out to prove her innocent. Hart's panoply of vivid charactersAa tough mystery writer, a dippy mother-in-law, a hard-working single father, an arrogant police chiefAmakse for entertaining set pieces, but their relationships aren't always fully developed. Moreover, Hart's copious allusions to fellow genre authors and their sleuths becomes distracting. Though no white elephant, this is not prime Hart; still, cozy fans should cotton to it well enough. Author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
When Henny Brawley, organizer of the Broward's Rock (SC) women's club annual white elephant sale, goes missing, book store owner and series sleuth Annie Darling quickly begins a search. They find Henny, but unconscious and in the vicinity of a dead body. The new police chief pins the murder on Henny, so Annie, Max, and droves of club members come to the rescue. Bubbling with energy, good humor, hearty appetite, and affection, Annie saves the island village from murderous deceit. Bouncy prose, nifty characters, and frequent references to other mysteries makes this "heartily" recommended for series fans.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Avon; 1st edition (September 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380975300
• ISBN-13: 978-0380975303
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,308,732 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #40 in

  Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Hart, Carolyn

• This is item 11 in The Death on Demand Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Stop trying to impress with your mystery knowledge, October 21, 1999

By	M. C. Carter "cartertoggle" (Columbia, Md USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If the author would stick to writing mysteries, her books could be among the best in the genre. However she spends way too much time describing people's actions and motives by comparing them to another author's characters. Noone thinks or does anything on Broward's Rock without Annie commenting to herself that the thought or action was just like this or that fictional mystery character. While I enjoy the bit with the contest that has the characters guessing their fictional origin, this constant "showing off" of the author's mystery fiction knowledge detracts from the story. Any true mystery buff probably knows as much but hopefully doesn't spend their time sizing up their friends and family by this criteria.

Stick to the mystery writing and leave the mystery trivia to game players.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointing entry into the Death on Demand series, November 5, 1999

By	"wishbury" (NY USA) - See all my reviews

I always eagerly await the next DEATH ON DEMAND book. Annie's usually funny, Max adorable, and Laurel maddening. However in this entry, nothing much seems to happen and those beloved characters fail to come alive. Annie's best friend, Henny Brawley, has been injured, but it also the prime suspect in a murder. That alone should've made for a great book. But Ms. Hart couldn't put it together this time. I like the references to other mysteries -- I've found a lot of new favorite authors through the mentions in Ms. Hart's novels. Please make the next one better!

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR, November 22, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Fairfax, Virginia) - See all my reviews

I enjoyed the book, but not as much as previous ones by Hart. Of course, there's the obligatory explanations that regular readers already know concerning Max and Annie's professions, Max's "far-out" mother, etc., but what I really disliked was the CONSTANT references to other mystery writers and/or characters. I counted more than 30 (depending on how loosely you define 'reference') in the first three chapters alone. After that, I stopped counting, but it still was distracting and annoying. Please, Ms. Hart, stop trying to impress us with your knowledge and get on with the story!