Fourth in the Death on Demand mystery series revolving around Annie Laurance, the owner of the Death on Demand bookstore located on Broward's Rock.My TakeIt's loyalty to a friend and a search for the truth. Crane certainly takes us on a winding path to solve this murder. And as irritating as I find Annie, I thank god for her as well because, lord knows, the legal authorities certainly are hopeless!While I appreciated everyone's loyalty to Ingrid and enjoyed the quirky personalities in Hart's series, I didn't enjoy this particular story as much other than finally learning what Laurel had planned for the wedding day. I don't understand why it was necessary to set up a camp right there and make everyone sleep, eat, and search there. It's not that far from everyone's homes… I also want to know if Annie ever considers living her own life instead of through all these detectives? I do appreciate Hart's encyclopedic knowledge of the various detecting protagonists in the book world and, as much as I enjoy the listing of the various sleuths in fiction along with their various attributes, it gets rather irritating after awhile.The StoryIt may be Annie and Max's wedding, but it's definitely Laurel's day from the Hawaiian wedding breakfast followed by the boat race and on to the international luncheon followed by the international craft bazaar followed by the wedding and then the blooming reception. Which itself was followed by a frantic call at midnight by Ingrid screaming for help.When Annie and Max get to Ingrid's, they find a body but no Ingrid. And very quickly, the other cabin's inhabitants and Billy Cameron descend upon Ingrid's cabin getting in the way and demanding a search for Ingrid. A search that must get underway immediately if only to get around Posey's imminent arrival!When Posey latches on to the first possible suspect and refuses to consider any other possibilities, Henny takes over and organizes the search for Ingrid. Of course, Max, Annie, Laurel, and Henny have their own ideas of how to search, to discover the truth and it's off in all those directions for the crew. With, naturally, Annie knowing best.Now it seems that Betsy Raines is also missing. She arrived at her hotel in San Francisco, but hasn't been seen since and Alan is worried. Worried enough to ask Max to look into it.It certainly isn't being much of a honeymoon for Max and Annie. Sleeping in cots. Max in the Men's Side and Annie in the Women's. Not at all what they had planned.The CharactersIngrid Jones works for Annie Laurance at Death on Demand and manages Nightingale Courts (she lives in Cabin Three). Duane Webb lives in Cabin Four and secretly loves Ingrid. I suspect he doesn't do anything about it due to his own past tragedy, believing he doesn't deserve it. Ingrid loves him back. Secretly. Ophelia Baxter lives in Cabin Two and communes with the spirits. Mavis Beeson and her young son Kevin are hiding out from her abusive husband Henry in Cabin Six. She's also having it off with young Billy. Adele Prescott lives in Cabin Five and doesn't have anything nice to say about anyone. Jesse Penrick lived in Cabin One. He is not a nice man. Poking and prying into other people's business, loving to see them squirm. Now he'll pay the price for that. Tom Smith lives in Cabin Seven building miniatures which he sells at craft fairs and flea markets. Annie Laurance is about to become Annie Darling. Finally having succumbed to Max. Of course, it'll never hold her back from investigating crime! Max Darling is getting married at last! Laurel is his very free-thinking mother with a need to explore every culture in their wedding. Max's three sisters including Dierdre are bridesmaids. Barbie is Max's secretary at Confidential Commissions.Henny Brawley is a force to be reckoned with on the island and she quickly takes up the reins for the Ingrid's search calling on the members of her various organizations to help even as she pursues clues in the style of many of her favorite detecting characters. Madeline Kurtz is her second-in-command. Billy Cameron is the policeman in charge while Chief Saulter is on vacation. Circuit Solicitor Brice Willard Posey will take charge of the case...which means the truth will never emerge.Ben Parotti owns the ferry, the marine store, and the bar. Alan Nichols works for Betsy Raines at the Piping Plover Gallery and had been to the wedding. Dr. Samuels is a good customer at Death on Demand and protective of his patients. Lucinda Barrows is excited by her part in this particular play...little does she know how short-lived her part will be.The CoverThe cover is a somewhat cartoonish collage of an owl peering out at us from the head of a bed. One of the pillows stabbed by a sword and swirling with a vine of tubular flowers while the bed itself hosts a scattering of Tarot cards, wedding rings, and a pyramid.The title says it all when Annie finally learns what Max has planned for their honeymoon trip, truly a Honeymoon with Murder.
It's been awhile since I read a Death on Demand mystery and now I remember why: the INCESSANT referral to this or that other mystery, in the form of a simile, as in "As Father Brown would say.." There is nothing wrong with this a few times a book. A few times a chapter however, and it can drive one batty. Sometimes I think these books exist solely to show off the author's admittedly encyclopedic knowledge of classic mysteries. But especially in Book on CD form, this really set my teeth on edge!Also, I tend to avoid amatuer detective. A few too many dead bodies at a caterer's events really puts me off (why doesn't it put off the customers?) and most amatuers come off as busy-bodies. The plot itself of this book was enough to offset that problem for me so OK story, good enough to pass the time on a drive etc, but please, for pity's sake, ENOUGH with the constant referrals to other characters.
What do You think about Honeymoon With Murder (1988)?
This is okay. The Death on Demand series is really for people who have read every mystery book ever written - everything that happens is compared to something that happened in some other book ("if this were a Mary Roberts Rinehart book, Annie would have done X"). I've read a couple of these before and didn't find it too irritating (though I haven't read most of the books referenced). It turns out, I must have been skimming, because when I was listening to this one, I kept wishing I could fast forward through the filler. Besides that, I enjoyed the plot. I will probably read another Death on Demand, but I won't do the audiobook again.
—Leslee
Another book in the Death on Demand series, this installment features Annie and Max's wedding, which goes beautifully...but that very night, Annie gets a frantic call from her bookshop helper Ingrid, and when she and Max arrive at Ingrid's home they find the corpse of a much-loathed neighbor, but no sign of the inhabitant. As it turns out, every other inhabitant of Nightingale Court had a reason to want Jesse dead, but the police inspector assumes that Ingrid's disappearance proves her the murderer. Warnings: violence (murder of a very unpleasant man, description of domestic violence), mockery of all things New-Agey, ongoing male chauvinism that Annie must combat, language offensive to fat people
—Michelle
"Mystery bookstore owner Annie Laurance and detective Max Darling are finally tying the know, but a bizarre sequence of events might unravel this blissful marriage before it begins. With the ceremony completed and the champagne goblets emptied, Max sweeps Annie into his arms for an amorous moment ... then the phone rings and a woman on the other end of the line screams bloody murder!"The newly weds rush to the scene of the crime, only to discover that Ingrid Jones, Annie's bookstore assistant, has vanished, leaving the body of a neighborhood Peeping Tom on her living room rug. As the community of Broward's Rock, including a dotty New Age psychic and Annie's meddling new mother-in-law, mobilizes to find the missing woman, the cold corpse puts honeymoon plans on the shelf ... and Annie's love of investigation threatens to bring the big chill to Max's hungry heart."~~back coverThe pompous prosecutor returns, Henny morphs into the quintessential community organizer, Laurel (Max's mother) arrives on the scene in all her New Age frivolousness, and they all romp through a well-plotted murder, along with the new cast of characters.
—Kate
