Death Walked In
By Carolyn Hart
William Morrow, $23.95
ISBN: 978-0-06-072405-4

The newest entry in the popular Death on Demand series by Carolyn Hart returns the reader to Broward's Rock, described as the "loveliest of the South Carolina sea islands," and indeed the writer makes the town sound charming as its flora and fauna are lovingly described. The focal point of the action is the historic ante-bellum Franklin House which Annie and Max Darling are refurbishing. As the tale opens, Max is en route to the old house when he receives a call from a frightened-sounding woman seeking his help. Max runs Confidential Commissions, described as an agency devoted to assisting problems in solving problems. Insistent that it is not a detective agency, and having had a particularly nasty experience the last time he heeded a similar cry for help, he instructs his secretary to tell the woman to call the police. When the woman's dead body is discovered by Annie, his wife, shortly afterwards, he is overwhelmed with, as Annie describes it, "a good man's concern that he'd walked by on the other side of the road, leaving a helpless woman in jeopardy."

Though he might not have been able to prevent her death, Annie and Max determine to find the murderer. There seems to be a connection between the murder and the theft of some very valuable coins from the home of the dead woman's employer, the esteemed Grant family, only a few days prior. The convoluted relations between the various family members are exposed as the investigation continues, and another murder occurs. The killer appears to be "a shadowy figure who seemed to be able to move unseen leaving death behind."

The Darlings are as dogged as one might hope in their efforts to uncover the identity of the thief and the murderer [are they one and the same?]. Along the way we again meet two of the series' most delightful characters:  Agatha, the elegant black cat who resides in the bookstore Annie owns, Death on Demand, described as the finest mystery bookstore north of Miami, and Dorothy L, the fluffy white cat owned by Max, named after arguably two of the best practitioners of the art of the small-town mystery, in whose footsteps this author wonderfully follows. [In debating which cat is smarter than the other, Max states, "Depends on which reader you ask."] A delightful, suspenseful read.

Review by GLORIA FEIT

©2008 Lorie Ham. All rights reserved.