Carolyn Hart – författare

Murder is, surprisingly, not all that uncommon on timy Broward''s Rock, an idyllic sea island community off the South Carolina coast. Annie Darling''s popular mystery bookshop, Death on Demand, is where the locals come to discuss the juicy details of each criminal offense--under the watchful gaze of a pampered feline prima donna named Agatha. But now Annie''s dear friend (and best customer) Henny Brawley stands accused of murdering a Women''s Club volunteer-cum-blackmailer. So Annie rouses her husband Max into action, and together they dive into the shark pool of dotty eccentrics and imperious belles who constitute the island''s smart set. Because only there can the Darlings prove hapless Henny innocent--by detemining who among the well-heeled had the dirtiest little secret...and would kill to protect it.

Annie Darling, owner of the Death on Demand mystery bookstore, is understandably upset. It isn''t like her p.i. husband Max to abruptly disappear—and homicide is definitely not his style. But when his car is found abandoned on a remote road with a brutally slain, once-beautiful young woman nearby and the murder weapon stashed in the trunk, Annie''s worst fears seem justified.

The police have Max all but tried and convicted—except for Chief Billy Cameron, whose unshakable belief in his friend''s innocence prompts his removal from the case. And as a media circus descends on tiny Broward''s Rock, Annie will have to place her own life in jeopardy to clear her husband''s name. But time is running out—and she has only one slim chance to unmask a killer who just may have committed the perfect crime.

When retired newspaper reporter Henrietta O''Dwyer Collins, Henrie O to her friends, receives a call for help, she discovers that love once kindled never burns to ashes. Although she refused Jimmy Lennox''s marriage proposal, there is still a special place for him in her heart. She wished him well when he found happiness with Sophia Montgomery, world-famous documentary filmmaker and stepmother to the now grown heirs of a great fortune. Sophia is at odds with the heirs, and Jimmy fears for her safety. He asks Henrie O to come along with the family on a Baltic cruise. Henrie O can''t turn down her old friend, though old passions are stirred when he calls.

On the voyage she soon realizes this dysfunctional family is plunging toward destruction and one of the travelers has murder in mind. As the ports of call pass—Copenhagen, Gdynia, Tallinn, St. Petersburg—death inexorably approaches. Henrie O works desperately to save Jimmy and to bring hope to lives blighted by anger, resentment, and heartbreak.

“Filled with quirky, witty, and down-to-earth characters….It is a joy.”

—Tulsa World

Death is the uninvited guest at a Broward’s Rock gala thrown by bookstore owners and sometime sleuths Annie and Max Darling in Dare to Die—the 19th captivating whodunit in Caroline Hart’s much adored Death on Demand series. A Grande Dame of mystery, Hart’s wonderfully evocative, multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award-winning novels will delight Diane Mott Davidson and Lillian Jackson Braun fans—and Dare to Die is a wonderful display of the skill and imagination that moved a Los Angeles Times reviewer to declare, “If I were teaching a course on how to write a mystery, I would make Carolyn Hart required reading.”

From an award-winning author, a “cozy whodunit in the Agatha Christie tradition” featuring a married couple invited to a private island to find a killer (Publishers Weekly).   Britt Barlow is certain her media mogul brother-in-law Jeremiah Addison's fatal tumble a year ago was no accident--especially since she herself discovered, and disposed of, the trip wire someone had strung across the stairs. Now she's bringing all who were in attendance that weekend back to Golden Silk--Addison's luxurious secluded island estate--and inviting two extra guests, Annie and Max Darling, to help uncover a killer. Annie Darling wouldn't miss this party for the world! And there certainly is no lack of suspects among the guests, each of whom had a substantial motive for doing in the insufferable tycoon. But the party turns deadly when a houseman mysteriously vanishes, along with the boats which are the only escape off Addison's island--leaving the Darlings stranded on a floating rock in the middle of nowhere, too close to a solution for comfort, and stalked by a crafty murderer.

Ex-reporter Henrietta "Henrie 0" O''Dwyer Collins joins a wedding party in glorious Bermuda -- only to discover that death is an uninvited guest.

Warm turquoise waters and balmy ocean breezes do little to ease Henrie O''s discomfort at having to attend the wedding of her ex-son-in-law Lloyd to Connor Bailey, a beautiful widow with a dark past and a knack for attracting men. Recently recovered from pneumonia, the retired Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist joins her grandchildren at an elegant oceanfront hotel -- and is soon embroiled in a deadly puzzle that touches everyone connected with the impending union.

Someone is playing a rather nasty April Fool''s prank on mystery bookstore owner Annie Darling. A felonious forger on the idyllic -- if rarely tranquil -- South Carolina island of Broward''s Rock has made it appear as if Annie is accusing some of her neighbors of murder. In the wink of a bloodshot eye, the Darling name is mud . . . and then the Broward''s Rock body count starts mysteriously increasing. And now it''s up to Annie to follow the well-hidden trail of the vicious trickster -- or a secret slayer''s next lethal "joke" may very well be on her!

Six years ago, Henrie O''s beloved newspaperman husband Richard lost his life on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Now, on a brisk March morning, a chilling message has arrived by Priority Mail claiming Richard''s fatal fall from a towering island cliff was no accident--it was murder. Following cryptic clues and her infallible instincts to a lush and verdant tropical Eden--andto the lavish mountaintop estate of wealthy matriarch Belle Ericcson, where Richard spent his final days--the determined sexagenarian sleuth becoems privy to terrible allegations of greed and jealousy, adultery and abuse...and of a mystery surrounding the kidnap-slaying of Belle''s eldes child CeeCee. But now that her search for the truth has brought Henrie O to this lethal paradise where giant palm fronds hide evil deeds from inquisitive eyes, she may never be allowed to leave alive. Because the deaths did no begin or end with Richard Collins...and someone''s dark and enduring homicidal passions have yet to be fully satisfied.

Pulitzer Prize-winning ex-reporter Henrietta O''Dwyer Collins no longer chases hot stories all over the world, but murderous mysteries seem to find her. This time, a frantic phone call from an old and dear friend on the other side of the world sends Henrie O rushing to the fabled city of San Antonio to check out the baffling disappearance of her friend''s devoted granddaughter, Iris Chavez. Iris, employed at the Tesoros Gallery on San Antonio''s famous River Walk, has suddenly dropped from sight without a word.

Soon Henrie O discovers that amidst the exquisite objects in the prestigious gallery and among the family members is hidden a dark secret--one Henrie O must uncover if she is to find Iris. Late one dark night on the River Walk, Henrie O sees a sprawled body...and realizes that treachery and disgrace lurk in the shadows of an old and respected business...and death awaits anyone daring to uncover the truth.

Soon Henrie O discovers that amidst the exquisite objects in the prestigious gallery and among the family members is hidden a dark secret--one Henrie O must uncover if she is to find Iris. Late one dark night on the River Walk, Henrie O sees a sprawled body...and realizes that treachery and disgrace lurk in the shadows of an old and respected business...and death awaits anyone daring to uncover the truth.

A Pulitzer Prize-winning ex-reporter and journalism teacher at ivy-covered Thorndyke University, Henrietta "Henrie O" Collins demands of her students the same steadfast dedication to the truth that was the cornerstone of her own illustrious career. So when beautiful, ambitious Maggie Winslow decides to investigate a trio of hitherto unresolved local crimes, Henrie O urges her to pursue the story with uncommon vigor.

But the gifted future journalist''s zeal may have cost her her life. The next day Maggie''s corpse is discovered in Lovers'' Lane--the very site of one of the unsolved mysteries the extraordinary young woman was exploring at the time of her brutal, premature death. The police and the Thorndyke powers-that-be are rabidly against Henrie O''s involvement in the case. But, for Maggie''s sake, the stubborn, sixtysomething investigator is determined to dredge up a past everyone seems to want to keep buried even if it means placing herself firmly in a relentless killer''s path.

It''s getting to look a lot like Christmas on the sea island of Broward''s Rock, South Carolina. At the Death on Demand mystery bookstore, owner Annie Darling''s Yuletide preparations have to be put on hold thanks to several rather inconvenient distractions -- including murder. Across the windswept isle, in the spacious, spooky mansion of Marguerite Dumaney Ladson, a motley crew is gathering for the onetime movie star''s gala Xmas/birthday bash. And when it turns deadly, it''s Annie who has to prove the innocence of the most disturbing suspect: her own deadbeat dad.

“If I were teaching a course on how to write a mystery, I’d make Carolyn Hart required reading.”—Los Angeles Times

Merry, Merry Ghost by Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award winner Carolyn Hart, is the spirited second appearance of spectral sleuth, Bailey Ruth Raeburn, who would never let a little thing like being dead keep her from enjoying the Yuletide holiday or solving a dastardly crime. The light and funny follow up to Hart’s critically acclaimed Ghost At Work—which Publishers Weekly named One of the Best Books of 2008—Merry, Merry Ghost is a  true Christmas treat, and Bailey Ruth is a most welcome addition to Carolyn Hart’s coterie of beloved series protagonists, joining septuagenarian sleuth “Henrie O” Collins and the Darlings of “Death on Demand” fame.

Bailey Ruth Raeburn has always been great at solving mysteries. Why should a little thing like her death change anything? In fact, being dead gives her more of an opportunity to be on top of events. Bailey Ruth is delighted that her unique position as a ghost makes it possible for her to lend a helping hand, sometimes seen and sometimes not. And if anybody needs a little help, it''s Kathleen, the pastor''s wife. There''s a dead man on her porch, and once the body is discovered, the pastor is sure to become a suspect.

Uncharitable people might call it meddling, but Bailey Ruth knows Kathleen needs her help! As a member of Heaven''s Department of Good Intentions, Bailey Ruth goes back to earth to extricate Kathleen from a dire situation. If Bailey Ruth has to bend a few rules to help Kathleen save her family, Wiggins, her fussbudget supervisor, will make sure it all turns out right in the end.

Four of mystery''s reigning matriarchs have joined together to concoct a delectable stew of clues, corpses, and felonious hijinks -- all spectacularly seasoned with a mother''s loving touch! In this witty and winning quartet of all-new mysteries, the incomparable Mary Daheim gives harried mom Cousin Renie from the bestselling "Bed-and-Breakfast" series a triple dose of the murderous wedding bell blues; the inimitable award-winner Carolyn Hart of "Death on Demand" fame lets madcap mother-in-law Laurel Darling take a turn at the investigative chores; the remarkable Jane Isenberg sets menopausal mother Bel Barrett loose to solve a dastardly case of nanny-cide; and the fabulous Shirley Rousseau Murphy -- whose "Joe Grey" mysteries are the cat''s meow -- enchants once again, as a delightful duo of feline mamas sinks their clawsinto a murder investigation.

So sit back and enjoy the Mother of All Mystery Collections!