"I HAVE ALWAYS IMAGINED THAT PARADISE WILL BE A KIND OF LIBRARY. "

Jorge Luis Borges

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Christie Caper” by Carolyn G. Hart


Review #102

“A Death on Demand” Mystery with Annie and Max Darling

What better setting for a murder mystery than a convention of Agatha Christie aficionados? In honor of Agatha Christie's one hundredth birthday, mystery bookstore owner and super sleuth, Annie Darling, has organized the week-long convention at a resort off the coast of South Carolina. There will be movies, panel discussions, trivia contests, a Come-As-You-Wish-You-Were Ball and, to Annie's dismay, several murders.

Bolstered by Laurel, her flighty mother-in-law, as well as intrepid reader Henny and husband Max, Annie thinks she can handle any contingencies until hard-boiled crime aficionado and critic, Neil Bledsoe, shows up with his aunt, Lady Gwendolyn, a Miss Marple look-alike. Bledsoe is determined to be odious, even going so far as to publicly attack Christie and her work. After Bledsoe is the victim of two suspicious accidents, Annie, Max, Henny, Laurel and Lady Gwendolyn fear that a disgruntled author, editor or agent is using the conference to exact revenge. When a would-be writer is slain, the five amateur sleuths redouble their efforts to prevent more violence.

As in the past, Hart fills the text with titles, authors and characters' names, this time with a plethora of Christie trivia.

Loved it!

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