The Christie Caper - Carolyn Hart [0]
DEATH ON DEMAND
“Irresistible! Expertly written. Hart drops big names from the mystery world like murderers drop clues, and it’s all great fun. The plotting is classic perfection. Annie and Max are the most endearing new pair of sleuths since Tommy and Tuppence. More, please!”
—Nancy Pickard, award-winning author of I.O.U.
A LITTLE CLASS ON MURDER
“A classy mystery with … more twists than a Low Country river…. Hart’s mysteries give us some much needed entertainment. I’ll look forward to the next one.”
—Mystery Scene
“Mystery readers will find this series a delight. Hart is onto a good thing.”
—The Drood Review of Mystery
“Hart has a light touch with her characters, a fresh heroine in Annie, and a delightfully different setting!”
—Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
DEADLY VALENTINE
“Carolyn G. Hart is the new shining star in the mystery galaxy—Deadly Valentine will more than satisfy anyone looking for a wonderfully old-fashioned … and marvelously plotted mystery.”
—The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Mississippi
“Ms. Hart is on target once again with Deadly Valentine…. Annie and Max are … one of the most charming and intelligent teams in fiction.”
—Mostly Murder
“In the sixth novel in her award-winning series, Hart is in top form…. All in all, Deadly Valentine is a classy performance.”
—Mystery Readers Journal
ALSO BY CAROLYN G. HART
DEATH ON DEMAND
DESIGN FOR MURDER
SOMETHING WICKED
HONEYMOON WITH MURDER
A LITTLE CLASS ON MURDER
DEADLY VALENTINE
SOUTHERN GHOST
DEAD MAN’S ISLAND
SCANDAL IN FAIR HAVEN
MINT JULEP MURDER
AVAILABLE FROM BANTAM BOOKS
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Cast of Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Author’s Postscript
Copyright
In honor of Agatha Christie,
the world’s greatest mystery writer.
My thanks to Barbara D’Amato and the Malice Domestic Mystery Convention for permission to use portions of the “Agatha Christie Treasure Hunt,” which Barb and I co-authored for Malice Domestic I, April 1989.
And my thanks to Dorothy Cannell for sharing memories of Garden Fêtes from the coconut shy to the lucky dip.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
NEIL C. BLEDSOE
Sarcastic, brilliant, unpleasant, the rugged critic is definitely looking for trouble.
VICTORIA SHAW
A soft-spoken, kindly woman, but she has not forgotten and she will never forgive.
HENNY BRAWLEY
Mystery reader extraordinaire, she looks forward to the conference and showing off how much she knows about Christie.
KATHRYN HONEYCUTT
She hated to think ill of anyone, even her nephew, Neil Bledsoe.
JOHN BORDER STONE
He couldn’t wait to arrive at the meeting. His life would never be the same.
ANNIE LAURANCE DARLING
Owner of the best mystery bookstore this side of Atlanta. Lively, intense, determined.
INGRID SMITH
Annie’s wonderful assistant at Death on Demand. Always patient, sometimes acerbic.
LAUREL DARLING ROETHKE
Annie’s ever cheerful, unpredictable, maddening mother-in-law. In the grip of a new enthusiasm.
EMMA CLYDE
Broward Rock’s famous resident mystery author. Suspected of authoring a real-life mystery.
NATALIE MARLOW
Author of Down These Steps. Awkward, frumpy, brilliant. How angry is she?
FRANK SAULTER
Chief of police. Thoughtful, honest, worried.
VINCE ELLIS
Young and energetic publisher of the Island Gazette.
BARB
Secretary at Confidential Commissions, Max Darling’s “counseling” agency.
NATHAN HULMAN
CEO and Executive Editor of Hillman House, who lost more than a prize author when Pamela Gerrard Davis married Neil Bledsoe.
DEREK DAVIS
He blamed Bledsoe for the death of his mother.
MARGO WRIGHT
Literary agent. She would never forget what Bledsoe did to her.
MAX DARLING
Annie’s unflappable, equable husband. “Joe Hardy