Part of Death on Demand, book 24
First published 2014
Annie Darling runs Death on Demand, a mystery bookstore on Broward's Rock. She prefers solving fictional murders to real ones. Then two violent deaths rock her island community within days of each other. Dr. Richard Ely appears to have shot himself. Local artist Jake O'Neill sits in jail, accused of bludgeoning his wife to death with his own sculpting mallet. The doctor's sister refuses to believe her brother killed himself. She brings Annie a cryptic sketch that connects her dead brother to the murdered woman. Annie and her husband Max suspect someone orchestrated both deaths to frame the artist. The police have closed both cases, but Annie sees loose threads everywhere. She must untangle a web of motives and alibis among the island's residents. The real killer remains free, and Annie's investigation puts her directly in harm's way.
Genres: fiction, mystery, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-detective, frame-up
Setting: Broward's Rock, Death on Demand
272 pages · Hardcover · Berkley