Is a Treasure Hidden in Annie and Max’s New House?
While Annie and Max, the main characters in Carolyn Hart’s Death on Demand series, have had their life change over the previous books in the series, it’s rare that a book builds on the previous book in the series. But that’s what we get with Death Walked In, book 18 in this beloved series.
If you are unfamiliar with the series, it is set on Broward’s Rock, an island off the coast of South Carolina. Annie Darling owns Death on Demand, the finest mystery bookstore north of Miami, while Max runs a consulting business that helps people with problems. It’s not officially a PI business since Max doesn’t have a license. Between the two of them, they find plenty of murder and mayhem on their island.
You don’t have to have read the previous book (Dead Days of Summer) to fully appreciate what happens here. There are some references to it, and Max gets some character growth as a result, but everything you need to know is included here. And all that happens without any spoilers.
As this book opens, it’s February, and Max hasn’t taken on any clients since what happened to him last summer. Instead, he’s poured all his focus on restoring the Franklin House to its former glory so he and Annie can move in. So, when a woman calls Max’s office saying she hid something in Franklin House, Max isn’t interested in hearing more. Annie, on the other hand, goes to visit the woman only to find her dying. Is there really something hidden in Franklin House? Who killed the caller?
In the last few books, I’ve started to notice how little character development we are getting, so I appreciate that Max got some in this book. And it made sense given what he went through in the previous book. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this arc or if he is back to his usual jolly self for the rest of the series. Annie also showed a different side in this book, which was appreciated.
On the other hand, most of the regulars were off the island. The main trio of supporting characters still found ways to connect, adding their fun to the story. Annie’s family wasn’t even mentioned, which took me by surprise. (Or did they move off island and I forgot?)
This also brings me to my biggest frustration with this book. A trope of cozies in general and this series in particular is an antagonistic relationship with the police since the amateur is getting in the way of the police when it comes to solving the case. (Of course, if the police were smarter in these books….) At this point, the hoops that the author is having to jump through to keep that in place is getting a little crazy. It made me roll my eyes a little, but at least we didn’t have characters flipping personalities to get this trope, which we’ve had in previous books.
The mystery itself was good. I figured one part out early, but I didn’t have everything figured out, which is always nice.
This series is known for its references to other mystery novels. There were more than the previous book, but not the overabundance we had early in the series. I am recognizing more and more of them since this book came out in 2008, so I was reading some of the authors being mentioned.
As usual for this series, I was able to get the audio from the library. Kate Reading continues to go a great job as the narrator.
It’s always fun to visit Annie and Max, and Death Walked In is no exception.
Demand the rest of the Death on Demand Mysteries.
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