Engaged to Die
A Death on Demand Mystery, # 14
By Carolyn G. Hart 

     Max and Annie are back and ready to solve their fourteenth Death on Demand mystery. The mystery is local, and Max is right in the middle of it when he is deputized by the interim chief, Billy. No matter how hard Annie tries to behave, as she promised Max, she just can’t. Someone close to her is the lead suspect, and Annie wants to clear her name, but first she has to find her.

    Virginia Neville is engaged, and she plans to announce it at her Art Gallery party. Her in-laws are not looking forward to her announcement or her marriage to a younger man – a man they are sure is as ambitious as they suspected Virginia of being when she married and inherited their money. Needless to say, anyone and everyone is a suspect when a body is found during the celebration.

     The mystery opens like a TV series; first those affected are introduced, then Annie and Max are brought in. Through the mystery, Annie and Max’s relatives and friends are included – the mystery wouldn’t be the same without them. Like past mysteries, solving this one is left up to the investigative skills of the reader. Readers can expect Hart to skillfully add a twist or two to make it even more interesting.

     I love a mystery, period, but when I come a cross a series like Death on Demand, it is absolutely blissful. Annie’s bookstore is the perfect spot to solve a mystery. Hart’s protagonist knows mysteries like she knows her own name. Not even the daily quizzing of Annie’s best customer, Henny, can stump the storekeeper’s knowledge of mysteries. Coming across the many mystery titles and authors sprinkled throughout the storyline is just one of the charming points about this series. Solving the mystery paintings that are included in each storyline is another.

    Ms. Hart’s effortless writing style makes for swift and pleasant reading. Turning the last page will have one sighing with satisfaction, but dreading the long wait until the next in the series is released.

Reviews of other titles in this series

Sugarplum Dead #12
April Fool Dead #13
Engaged to Die #14
Murder Walks the Plank #15
Death of the Party #16
Dead Days of Summer #17
Death Walked In #18 [review 1] [review 2]
Dare to Die #19
Laughed ’til He Died #20
Dead by Midnight #21
Death Comes Silently #22
Dead, White and Blue #23
Death at the Door #24