In the latest Death on Demand Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Don’t Go Home, book seller Annie Darling learns murder and money go hand in hand…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 … 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.
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I absolutely cannot believe I’m giving this one three stars – I seriously considered 2.5, but that wasn’t an option. I believe this is supposed to be the final book in the series and I would have hoped for it to end with a bang rather than a whimper. I would have loved it if Annie and Max had decided to close everything down and sail around the world or maybe they find themselves expecting a child – just something – rather than this non-ending ending. Max has deteriorated to the point that I almost didn’t recognize him – he is such a wimpy, uninteresting fellow. Annie too has become a wimp and has lost her determination. So, I guess I have to say that, given the quality of this book, it is time for the series to end and it is a sad ending indeed for a much-loved series.
The book is a normal size, but a portion at the end is taken up with the content of the Chapbooks that are being written by Henny, Laurel, and Emma. I will definitely NOT miss those three because they are becoming very tiresome. At the beginning of the book, you also have a number of pages taken up with a ‘Cast of Characters’ and a ‘timetable’ that is totally unnecessary. So, you have the middle portion left for the actual story.
The mystery itself is okay, but you just don’t come to care about the characters. In previous books you would have come to really know and understand the characters – maybe there were just too many suspects. For some of the suspects, we probably had a total of 5 or 6 lines dealing with them – Curt Roundtree is a prime example of that. Also, the first murder didn’t even occur until something like 100-pages into the book. As I said, the mystery was an okay mystery, but I just never felt invested in any of the victims or suspects.
Frankly, I almost felt that this book was written by another author – not only a different author who hadn’t written any of the previous books but one who hadn’t read them either. I was really disappointed in the wrap-up for the series.
Author Carolyn Hart is a master storyteller, and mystery purveyor. She stands in a class all her own.
There are always a lot of characters Ms. Hart’s books, but if anyone knows all there is about her characters and their histories, it would be this author. With so many to keep up with, she kindly includes a Cast of Characters list to help readers keep track.
I feel fans will agree, WALKING ON MY GRAVE perfectly aligned with the other books in this series. The same wonderful writing readers count on is found in this tale. There is a good, solid mystery with an array of suspects, encouraging readers to keep turning the pages.
I’ve seen very mixed reviews about WALKING ON MY GRAVE. Anywhere from one to five stars. It’s not my favorite of the titles I’ve read in this series, but it is still an amazing piece of writing, and I’m happy to have read it.
This latest offering in the Death on Demand series takes us back to Broward’s Rock and the characters that we have gotten to know forcso many years. While the characters are familiar, the plot is fresh and keeps us guessing until the end. Fans of Annie and Max will love it.