Death of the Party by Carolyn Hart

   Mysteries! I love mysteries!! Carolyn Hart was a discovery I made at the library over a year ago; I purely judged that book by its cover when I was choosing. (Alack, overdue fines and a lost book kept me away. Something I'll be avoiding if I am to continue my venture in future.) I picked up Death of the Party for fun. It was.
   Her characters are mystery bookstore owner Annie and her husband Max Darling, a professional mystery solver. They are a completely in love and adorable. In Death, the Darlings agree to assist Britt Barlow. Britt has hidden a murder for a year; at first to avoid unpleasantness for her ill sister, and later because what are you going to do? it's been a year.
   Carolyn Hart keeps the ball rolling, spices her writing with references to other mystery writers, some familiar to me, some not. I enjoy the other references. They intrigue me when I don't know them and allow me to feel insufferably smug when I do.
   It appears, from the two books that I have read, that there is a continuity in her stories and major and minor characters from the tourist town the Darling's live in. I always appreciate that as it makes me feel more connected to the characters. It's an easy way to find yourself invested in their outcome.

Favorite Quotes:

"She strolled away from Britt, arrogant as a peacock, but she forgot it's men as has the fancy feathers."

"Their brightness was cheerless as splotches of makeup on the cheeks of an old woman."

Overall Opinion:

I liked it.

Rating:

Beach Read