Scan barcode
bagejew's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up Carolyn Hart's book, "Dead, White and Blue" to read at the beach. It was my first time reading one of her books and I was pleasantly surprised. The story was well developed, with more than enough twists and turns to hold the reader's attention and make this a page turner. "Dead, White and Blue" turned out to be the perfect beach read!
literary__escapism's review against another edition
5.0
For readers that have been following Annie and Max Darling right from the beginning, with the release of Death in Demand, they will be anxiously awaiting the release of the 23rd book in this series, Dead, White & Blue.
It is summer in Broward's Rock and Annie and Max Darling are looking forward to the Fourth of July dance. However one resident is causing up a stir and everything is due to come to a head at the dance. That person is Shell Hurst, the woman everyone loves to hate. Even her own husband, Wesley Hurst, has reasons to dislike her and wish her dead. When she goes missing after the dance, after having made a spectacle, Max is asked to investigate where she went by Shell's step-daughter, Hayley. However what Annie and Max will uncover is a multiple murder and many people in the town that really wished Shell would disappear and never return.
The Death on Demand series are one of my favorites. They are intelligent mysteries, that are very much reminiscent of Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence. Annie and Max are smart sleuths, that always get their man (or woman!), despite the obstacles in their way. This time there is quite a few people that are determined to stop them from investigating Shell's disappearance, people that would rather she stayed missing!
I love the Darlings and I always enjoy trying to solve the mystery alongside them. I also dearly love Broward's Rock and the Death on Demand bookstore. The secondary characters that appear in each book have endeared themselves to me over time, and I always look forward to taking another adventure with them.
If you haven't picked up this series yet, be sure to begin with Death on Demand. Like a glass of fine wine, these books have only gotten better with age, and I can't wait to see what Carolyn Hart has in store for us next.
It is summer in Broward's Rock and Annie and Max Darling are looking forward to the Fourth of July dance. However one resident is causing up a stir and everything is due to come to a head at the dance. That person is Shell Hurst, the woman everyone loves to hate. Even her own husband, Wesley Hurst, has reasons to dislike her and wish her dead. When she goes missing after the dance, after having made a spectacle, Max is asked to investigate where she went by Shell's step-daughter, Hayley. However what Annie and Max will uncover is a multiple murder and many people in the town that really wished Shell would disappear and never return.
The Death on Demand series are one of my favorites. They are intelligent mysteries, that are very much reminiscent of Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence. Annie and Max are smart sleuths, that always get their man (or woman!), despite the obstacles in their way. This time there is quite a few people that are determined to stop them from investigating Shell's disappearance, people that would rather she stayed missing!
I love the Darlings and I always enjoy trying to solve the mystery alongside them. I also dearly love Broward's Rock and the Death on Demand bookstore. The secondary characters that appear in each book have endeared themselves to me over time, and I always look forward to taking another adventure with them.
If you haven't picked up this series yet, be sure to begin with Death on Demand. Like a glass of fine wine, these books have only gotten better with age, and I can't wait to see what Carolyn Hart has in store for us next.
cressida's review
mysterious
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
This was a rather slow start, and I considered putting it down because it was terribly slow (mind you I have been on the edge of a slump and this is likely changing my definition of slow) but I am glad I continued on with it. The book has an interesting cast, and I was able to enjoy it despite it being my first from the series. The characters are a mix of very believable and over-the-top characters pulled from Desperate Housewives.
Without giving away any details, I enjoyed the dramatic reveal at the end of the book and thought it was an interesting take on a drawing room scene.
Worth reading if you enjoy mystery books, and while I will likely read more from the series it isn’t such an outstanding one that I feel the need to collect them. Will be supporting my local library 📚 for this series.
Without giving away any details, I enjoyed the dramatic reveal at the end of the book and thought it was an interesting take on a drawing room scene.
Worth reading if you enjoy mystery books, and while I will likely read more from the series it isn’t such an outstanding one that I feel the need to collect them. Will be supporting my local library 📚 for this series.
judyward's review against another edition
3.0
Well, what do you expect when a wealthy middle-aged man divorces his wife to marry a 23 year-old Hollywood "starlet"? And to add spice to an already bad situation, he and his new wife (Shell) move next door to his ex-wife and their two teenage children, Shell is having an affair with one man and is attempting to blackmail another, and Wesley, her husband, is having second thoughts about his behavior, wants a divorce, and is having an affair with his ex-wife. Just another day on Broward's Rock, South Carolina where Annie Darling runs "Death on Demand", a successful mystery bookstore and her husband, Max, is a professional proble solver--confidentiality promised. At the country club's annual Fourth of July dance, Shell arrives late, makes a scene, ensures that numerous people are upset and uncomfortable, and then leaves. She and her green Porsche disappear and the only person who seems to be concerned is her stepdaughter who goes to Max for assistance. It's up to Annie and Max to step in and figure out who is involved among Broward's Rock leading citizens and what happened to Shell. This is the 23rd book in the Death on Demand series and while the characters have not aged from the first book, the technology available to them is constantly updated with the result that the characters constantly use their iPhones, email, and Skype with each other. I read this book today in the perfect setting--sitting on the beach with the temperature in the 80s under a cloudless sky in South Carolina.
jmslib's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
rosemary_quintet's review
4.0
A fantastic summer mystery, with a skillfully written suspenseful ending, with a typical Agatha Christie style gathering of the suspects.
jesabesblog's review
2.0
If I'm being honest, although I love Annie Darling, I've always hated how Carolyn Hart starts every book with vignettes introducing the murder victim, all of the suspects, and their motives. If you throw nine characters at me in 11 pages, I'm never going to remember who is who.
The rest of the book was a fairly boring merry-go-round of 'who will it end up being?' until it landed on someone, all the evidence was tied neatly in a bow, and the book was over.
The rest of the book was a fairly boring merry-go-round of 'who will it end up being?' until it landed on someone, all the evidence was tied neatly in a bow, and the book was over.
murderbydeath's review
3.0
Not the best one out of the series, but still a very beautifully written murder mystery. I'm with Annie and Max until the wheels fall off.
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/896234/deadwhiteblue
Full review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/896234/deadwhiteblue
bookchickjlm's review
3.0
The Death on Demand mysteries take place on Broward’s Rock, an island in South Carolina, where Annie Darling owns the mystery bookstore (Death on Demand) and her husband Max runs “Confidential Commissions” (not an investigative agency since he doesn’t have his PI license). In this newest book in the series, Shell Hurst disappears during a Fourth of July dance. Shell is beautiful and haughty, the type of woman hated by other women, and loved by most of their men. Where has she gone and what happened to her? And why does no one seem to care? Who’s to blame? The husband she’s cheating on, his jealous ex-wife, his unhappy son, the man she is having an affair with, his ill wife, one of the other people she has managed to cross? As always, Annie and Max dash in to figure it out. Nothing extraordinary here, but a fun visit to familiar characters and visions of warm weather and sandy beaches.
See more on my blog at www.watchingthewords.wordpress.com
See more on my blog at www.watchingthewords.wordpress.com
More...