Walking on My Grave by Carolyn Hart

Reviewed by Kristin

Carolyn Hart is obviously an Agatha Christie fan, as she often mentions the Grand Dame of Mystery in her Death on Demand series.  Quite often, Hart’s mysteries unfold in the same methodical way:  She lays out the clues, has an investigator build dossiers for various characters, waits for the reader to choose a favorite suspect, then exposes the culprit with a grand dénouement.

Annie Darling runs the most charming little mystery bookstore in the southeast—Death on Demand.  Annie is kind and thoughtful, with clear gray eyes, and always falls into the investigation of every murder on Broward’s Rock Island off the coast of South Carolina which certainly must be a dangerous place to live.  Her husband Max runs Confidential Commissions, ready to ask questions or to find lost things.  Technically, Max isn’t a private investigator, just someone who might be called upon to provide assistance when a resident or visitor to their lovely island has a need.

As this case opens, Annie’s friend Ves Roundtree is troubled.  Her wealthy late brother entrusted her with his estate for the remainder of her life, with the understanding that after her own death it would be divided between several other worthy recipients.  Now what better way to paint a target on someone’s back?  Possibly quite foolishly, Ves invites all the prospective heirs to a dinner to announce their future good fortunes.

Soon, Ves has a bad fall.  The suspects spout off their alibis, but someone must be lying.  Never mind that there is a local police presence, it’s Max and Annie to the rescue.  With sidekicks Laurel (Max’s elegant but dreamy mother,) Emma Clyde (a mystery author known for her heroine Marigold Rembrandt,) and Henny Brawley (Annie’s best mystery buying customer,) the Darlings question suspects and bring them all together for a great reveal.

Walking on My Grave is Hart’s twenty-sixth installment featuring the lovely Annie.  I recently read that Hart had considered the series complete after 2014’s Death at the Door.  But Annie and Max just wouldn’t leave the author alone, so she picked up her pen and continued writing.  I for one am glad that Annie is still around to sell books to tourists, pet her sleek black cat Agatha, and solve the mysteries that continually cross her path.