Totally dug this book. I'm liking the Henrie O murder mysteries...these books keep you guessing on who the culprit is. Not like some books where it's just totally obvious who did and what is going to happen next. Unlike the Death on Demand mysteries, I enjoy Henrie O's character very much. In Scandal in Fair Haven, Henrie is to vacation with her good friend Margaret at Margaret's cabin, but Margaret has become very sick and is in the hospital. Henrie goes it alone only to find herself caught up in the unexpected mess of Magaret's nephew Craig, who comes barging into the cabin late the first night covered in blood and running from the cops. He's traumatized over the discovery of his wife's body that he found, shot to death, hence the blood on his clothes. Although Henrie doesn't want to get involved, she finds herself suddenly craig's "aunt" by one of numerous lies Craig starts stringing along. Henrie decides to go to Fair Haven when Craig is arrested for the murder of his wife and Henrie is determined to find out who the real killer is. For such a quiet, rich town, Fair Haven is suddenly having all kinds of problems; the suicide of a local teenager, the death of Patty Kay, Craig's wife, and another death of a bookstore employee. I love following Henrie O throughout the book.
I don't think this is one of Caroline Hart's best books - I liked the other Henrie O. book I read, Dead Man's Island better. In this one, Henrie O. seemed too committed on solving the murder of a woman she didn't know in a town she didn't live in - it was hard to see why this was so important to her. And there were too many suspects - which lead to lengthy analysis by Henrie O. - I really thought the book was draggy in parts and could have been edited a bit better. Oh well, overall I like the Death on Demand series better than Henrie O. but I'd still give her another chance!
What do You think about Scandal In Fair Haven (1994)?
The second of Hart's "Henrie O" series unfortunately suffers a little bit from a sophomore slump. Only when the heroine makes a point of saying that the person responsible for the murder on which the plot hinges absolutely cannot have been the only character whose innocence is bandied back and forth, playing with the reader's instincts does the inkling appear that the murderer is someone else. And that suspicion arises with about twenty pages left, resulting in a rushed conclusion that feels extremely last-minute and ungrounded. Apart from a vaguely unsatisfying conclusion to an otherwise engaging storyline - and one that, to be honest, is extremely timely, dealing with a plot thread of a young girl committing suicide after being bullied anonymously at school - Henrie O is still a gem of a leading lady, and her spunk and sass make it worth the read.
—Megan O'Neill
