When mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance is invited to teach 'The Three Great Ladies of the Mystery' class at Chastain Community College, the sometime sleuth discovers that all is not strictly academic in Chastain's hallowed halls of learning. And when a shocking scandal in the school newspaper erupts in a suicide and two violent deaths, Professor Laurance enlists the talents of her new hubby, private eye Max Darling, and dons her thinking cap to probe intrigue and vengeance among Chastain's faculty.
A Dangerous Thing
Max and Annie, with dubious help from three of their own great ladies of the mystery -- Annie's pixilated mother-in-law, a batty local dowager, and a Christie crime fanatic -- learn that just about everyone at the school had means, motive, and access to the murder weapons. From the secretly boozing professor of advertising to the muscle-bound campus cad who barters passing grades for a little extracurricular activity, anyone on the faculty is a possible killer -- waiting to strike again!
To celebrate an April Fool's Day appearance by the island's most famous mystery author, Death on Demand bookstore owner Annie Darling creates a unique promotion. Offering a free book to anyone who can solve a series of clues about popular whodunits, Annie and husband Max pass
out their flyers all over town. But an April Fool prankster is distributing a counterfeit flyer, complete with not-so-vague accusations of murder.
A must-listen collection of fifteen bibliomysteries by bestselling and award-winning authors
Bibliomysteries Volume 2 includes:
- 'Remaindered' by Peter Lovesey
- 'The Compendium of Srem' by F. Paul Wilson
- 'The Sequel' by R. L. Stine
- 'Mystery, Inc.' by Joyce Carol Oates
- and many others
The Little Men by Megan Abbott: Rumors and strange experiences lead a washed-up actress in 1950s Hollywood to question the suspicious circumstances surrounding the alleged suicide of a former occupant of her low-rent bungalow.
What's in a Name? by Thomas H. Cook: Rare books dealer and amateur historian Franklin Altman has always wondered how the world might have turned out if the First World War had ended differently. On the fiftieth anniversary of the Armistice Treaty, an ancient German mysteriously appears and presents him with a personal manuscript, the contents of which, he claims, have the power to change history.
The Book of the Lion by Thomas Perry: An anonymous phone call sends Professor Dominic Hallkyn on a mad dash through the streets of Boston in pursuit of a priceless Chaucerian manuscript. But the caller's demands will lead to a devilish plot twist.
From the Queen by Carolyn Hart: When a priceless, first edition of Agatha Christie's Poirot Investigates, autographed and inscribed to the Queen of England, disappears from her South Carolina thrift shop, Ellen Gallagher calls on her friend Annie Darling, owner of the mystery bookstore Death on Demand, to track it down.
Catharine Cavanaugh is caught in a loveless marriage. Married to a British diplomat, she goes through the motions of playing the dutiful American wife in war-time London, while nightly German bombers bring terror and death to the city. Then she meets American war correspondent Jack Maguire and discovers hope and love again in the midst of desolation. But war soon comes between them. When Catharine and her husband are unexpectedly transferred to the Philippines, Jack follows. Shortly after their arrival, the Japanese attack. The trapped civilians, including Catharine and Jack, are forced into a harrowing adventure to escape the marauding Japanese army. This taut page-turner vividly reveals how ordinary people can become heroes when forced to confront heart-rending decisions in almost impossible circumstances.
She came in the rain. Alone. On a bicycle.
Annie and Max Darling are completely unprepared when the arrival of a mysterious young woman shocks their sea island and stirs up more than just gossip.
It turns out that Iris, the beautiful stranger, is a former resident of Broward's Rock. Her arrival throws the normally happy town into a downward spiral that pits neighbor against neighbor.
Things take a turn for the worse when Annie befriends Iris and invites her to attend the Darlings' party at the pavilion where Death is the uninvited guest. Suddenly, Max and Annie find themselves in the middle of a fight they don't understand and at the mercy of an unknown assailant who's trying to kill them-and all they know is that it is one of their friends.
"The doyenne of American cozies is working at the top of her form."
-Margaret Maron
The murder of an exotic young woman brings crime too close for comfort
Murder hits close to home for Death on Demand bookstore owner Annie Darling and her beloved husband, Max. While investigating a new case, Max calls Annie to let her know he may be late getting home. He never shows up. Annie knows something dreadful has happened to him.
During the search for Max, his car is found on a remote road-with a murder weapon in the trunk and a beautiful but very dead young woman nearby. The case becomes a media sensation with Max portrayed as an unfaithful husband willing to kill to get rid of a mistress.
As the evidence against Max continues to mount, chief of police Billy Cameron is called off the case. But Billy risks his career to continue the hunt for a silver car briefly seen following Max's on the night of the murder, and Annie is forced to go undercover in a desperate attempt to clear her husband's name. Risking her life, she enters the victim's unfamiliar world in the hopes of understanding how and why Max is involved. With time running out, Annie has one last chance to capture a wily murderer who just may have committed the perfect crime.
Chase Prescott, media magnate, is nearly killed by a box of cyanide candy. Fearing for his life, he calls his former lover, retired reporter Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins. His request is simple: He'll assemble all the suspects if she will kindly point out the would-be murderer.
On Chase's private island off the South Carolina coast, Henrie O meets the players in this deadly drama: Prescott's unstable young wife, his sullen stepson, and his toady of a secretary. The field of suspects is wide, and Henrie O has her work cut out for her. As she unearths a will and new evidence, a killer hurricane sweeps up from Cuba, threatening to maroon them. But in this luxurious vacation spot, the storm's fury is less dangerous than the murderous greed of one of Prescott's guests.
Summer is a hectic time of the year for Annie Darling. Sun and scorching temperatures never fail to bring swarms of tourists to her mystery bookstore, Death on Demand. But Annie still finds time to enjoy herself. The Broward's Rock Fourth of July dance is just around the corner, and the island is buzzing with excitement - Shell Hurst included. Shell is the kind of woman wives hate - and most of them wish she would just disappear. But when she does, Annie can't help but feel like someone should be looking for her. The residents of Broward's Rock grow uneasy when a second islander mysteriously disappears. Annie and her husband, Max, soon find themselves following a twisted trail marked by blackmail, betrayal, and adultery.
Part 23 of the Death on Demand series.
Mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance didn't really want to go to her neighbor's Valentine Day masked ball -- particularly not after the voluptuous brunette made a pass at Annie's husband, Max. So when her dizzy mother-in-law, Laurel, made a surprise visit to Broward's Rock Island, Annie thought it would be a perfect excuse to skip the party. She should have known better: True to form, Laurel accepted the invitation for all three of them. But the biggest surprise of all came at the party's end, when Annie found the amorous hostess in the gazebo—murdered.
Annie Darling - owner of the mystery bookstore, Death on Demand - prefers fictional crimes as opposed to the real things. But in one tragic week, two acts of violence shake the island community of Broward's Rock. First, a beloved doctor is found shot dead, seemingly by his own hand. Only days later, a local artist is arrested after his wife is murdered. Convinced her brother did not commit suicide, the doctor's sister turns to Annie and her husband, Max, for help. She has found a cryptic sketch her brother drew, linking him with the murdered woman. With the police considering both cases as good as closed, it's up to Annie and Max to sort through a rogues' gallery of suspects to see if someone is trying to frame the artist.
"...engaging...charming..." - Publishers Weekly
