Carolyn Hart

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.

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.

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.

When wealthy, widowed art patron Virginia Neville officially announces her engagement to Jake O'Neill -- her handsome, charming, and much younger fiancé -- at a gala gallery opening, not all the gathered friends and stepfamily are pleased. And before the last champagne bubble pops, murder disrupts the grand celebration. Bookstore owner Annie Darling has a vested interest in the investigation, and she's determined to untangle an unholy marriage of jealousy, blackmail, and malicious mischief, even if it means having to cross swords with hubby Max and cross paths with a cruelly clever stalker.

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!

Master mystery spinner Carolyn Hart gives us the tenth high-spirited entry in her Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Award-winning Death on Demand series. The most delectable sleuthing couple since Nick met Nora, Annie and Max Darling manage to find quite a bit of murder in their allegedly safe and serene South Carolina island resort town. After all, murder is Annie's business -- well, sort of. She's the proprietor of the popular Death on Demand mystery bookstore and cafe, and her establishment seems to attract trouble like Annie's pesky felines, Dorothy L. and Agatha, attract hairballs. Now, Annie and Max watch their Fourth of July holiday explode not only with fun and fireworks, but with murder as well. The library board wants to declare its independence from new member, retired Brigadier General Charlton "Bud" Hatch, a man accustomed to being in charge. Hatch's takeover attitude has alienated everyone in town, especially the women. But Annie finds it difficult to ignore him at a crowded patriotic festival -- particularly when he's shot dead before her eyes..

A young playwright and an attractive interior designer find themselves suspects when the unhappily married wife of a prominent Senator is found murdered. Attending Mrs. Kirby's house party, Stephen Ransom and Ann Vickery struck up a conversation, and Stephen jokingly outlined a plot for a mystery play that might take place in the Washington mansion's setting. After Mrs. Kirby is found dead, Stephen and Ann must join forces to clear their name, under the watchful eye of Inspector Duveen.

"Annie's friend and fellow shop owner Ves Roundtree is a very wealthy woman. Her rich brother entrusted her with his estate, and upon her death, his fortune is to be divided. Several cash-strapped islanders are in line to collect life-changing inheritances. The problem is, Ves is very much alive. Ves hosts a dinner for the prospective beneficiaries and feels a chill in the air that has nothing to do with the wintry season. Not long after, she suffers a bad fall that was no accident. Everyone at the table had a motive but not a shred of evidence was left behind. When one of the suspects is found floating in the harbor and Ves disappears, Annie and her husband Max spring into action to catch a calculating killer before greed takes another life."

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.

Intrigue and foul play are no strangers to the idyllic South Carolina sea island of Broward's Rock. Mystery bookstore owner Annie Darling and her husband, Max, who specialize in solving problems, plunge into a startling web of danger and deceit when a trio of deaths is linked to the island's youth recreation center.With the evidence mounting against her, the center's director seeks out Max to clear her name. When it comes to intrigue, where Max goes, Annie isn't far behind. To save an innocent woman, the pair scrambles to unravel three complex interlinked puzzles: the mystery of three guns, the pulled-out pant pockets of one victim, and the disappearance of a teenager whose stepfather always had the last laugh—until he died.

An all-new mystery anthology edited and featuring a new story by #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris Nighttime is the perfect time for the perfect crime. #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris edits and contributes an all-new story-set in her Sookie Stackhouse universe-to this anthology from the Mystery Writers of America. Other authors include:Steve BrewerDana CameronMax Allan Collins and Mickey SpillaneBarbara D'AmatoBrendan DuBoisTerrie Farley MoranJack FredricksonParnell HallCarolyn HartS. W. HubbardToni L. P. KelnerLou KempWilliam Kent KreugerHarley Jane KozakMargaret MahonMartin MeyersJeffrey SomersElaine VietsMike Wiecek

Food. We spend a good part of every day buying, preparing, eating, and savouring it. Only sleep and work take more time out of our lives. Margaret Visser uses the ingredients of an ordinary meal as a jumping-off point for an engaging, thoroughly researched look into one of our essential obsessions. Did you know that lettuce is a member of the daisy family? That sea salt is cultivated in salt gardens? From a mini-history of Will Kellogg and his corn flakes to the staple dish of the Tibetans (tsampa: barley flour, salted tea, and yak butter), Visser feeds our endless hunger for stories and anecdotes on food that can be shared around the groaning board.