Murder Among the New Neighbors
I always appreciate it when an author takes something that’s gotten a few mentions in a couple of books and turns it into the major plot of a novel. That’s the case with Deadly Valentine, the sixth book in Carolyn Hart’s Death on Demand series.
The series focuses on Annie Laurance Darling, the owner of Death on Demand, a mystery focused bookstore on the island of Broward’s Rock, South Carolina. Early on, she and Max Darling became engaged and then got married. Over the last couple of books, there has been talk about the home that is being built for them to move into. Now, that house is finished and they’ve moved in a week before Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, one of their new neighbors is a killer.
Annie and Max are less than thrilled to be attending the Valentine’s Day party that their neighbor Sydney Cahill is throwing, especially since she stopped by and makes a pass at Max that morning at breakfast. They think they’ve come up with an out when Max’s mother, Laurel, arrives for an unannounced visit. However, it isn’t long before Laurel has been added to the guest list.
That night, after the party, someone kills Sydney. The police think that her husband is the killer, and Laurel gets caught up in their crosshairs as well. Because the Darlings new house is on a lagoon that has a private entrance, it appears one of their neighbors killed Sydney. Can Annie and Max figure out who it was?
This is the sixth entry in the series, and I knew pretty much exactly what to expect here. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have fun along the way, of course, but there are certain milestones in this series. There’s the introduction of the suspects in a series of paragraphs before we see them on the page. Max digs up backgrounds, which Annie then reads. And, of course, we have the big reveal at the end with all the suspects present. Along the way, Laurel and Henny, the best customer at Death on Demand, will annoy Annie and provide a few clues.
As I said, this is fun. I wouldn’t be continuing on with the series if I didn’t enjoy them. But I do wish things would change a little, especially with how the suspects are introduced. It makes it a little hard to remember who they all are until later in the story.
It might also help if they were more fully fleshed out. They come across a bit more as types instead of full characters. Fortunately, Annie and Max are more fully fleshed out, which makes it easy to care. Even some of the other series regulars can be less than full characters, depending on their role in the story.
I am happy to see Laurel and Annie’s relationship growing. Don’t get me wrong, Laurel is still out there and can be exasperating. However, Annie has clearly come to care for her mother-in-law, which I appreciate.
Laurel also provides some of the best laughs in the story. I’m sure I’d be annoyed if I had to deal with her in real life, but she makes a great source of comedy on the page.
The mystery itself is solid, with enough suspects to keep us guessing and enough surprises to keep us engaged.
I also appreciate that the references to other mystery novels and authors is scattered throughout the book and not dropped on us in list form like a couple of the early books had. I’m still waiting to recognize more than one or two, although I did pretty well with the paintings in this book.
While this book is a cozy, it is definitely on the darker side and contains quite a bit of foul language for the subgenre.
I’m continuing on with the audio books. Kate Reading is a wonderful reading, bring the characters to life and capturing the fun without overshadowing the book itself.
Deadly Valentine is another fun Death on Demand
mystery. It’s easy to see why the series
has been so beloved for so many years.
I was a great Carolyn Hart, back when I was an avid cozy writer. This looks good too!
ReplyDeleteI like that this is a Valentines themed book. What a fun series, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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