Don't Go Home

March 30, 2015
MWA Grand Master Hart shows no sign of slowing down in her lively 25th Death on Demand mystery set on the South Carolina island of Broward's Rock (after 2014's Death at the Door). Bookstore owner Annie Darling is hosting a party at the Seaside Inn for bestselling author Alex Griffith, who grew up in Broward's Rock and plans to spend the summer there. His new novel, itself titled Don't Go Home, includes characters based on people on the island he knew as a boy. He has boasted that he's now at work on a memoir in which he will be brutally honest about the models for his characters. When Griffith turns up dead in his room at the inn right before the party, Annie's reporter friend, Marian Kenyon, who recently had a fight with the author, becomes a murder suspect, but many others, including Griffith's family members, had motive to silence him. Descriptions of the sultry climate and island life enhance the smart whodunit plot. Agent: Deborah Schneider, Gelfman Schneider Literary Agency.

Narrator Kate Reading treats listeners to a guided tour of a South Carolina resort town. She beautifully voices each of a large cast of characters, focusing more on their personality traits than their accents. Her most notable portrayal is initially off-putting, but listeners soon recognize that she has nailed the town's whiny, arrogant, and wealthy mama's boy. Protagonist Annie Darling, owner of the Death on Demand bookstore, must break a promise to her husband when noted author Alex Griffith returns to his hometown, only to be murdered. Annie dives into the investigation when a good friend lands on the suspect list. Reading's narration underscores the author's superb character development in a story mystery lovers are sure to enjoy. J.J.B. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine