Rating: 
Summary: This book was so hard to put down. Great ending
Review: I have read every one of her books & have enjoy all. I like the Death on Demand a little better than Henrie O'. But I have all of her books. I will keep on buying as long as she keeps on writing.I feel like I know Annie like a reason person.
Rating:
Summary: Dependable Ms. Hart does it again
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the newest Death on Demand book. I did find the characterization of Henny in this book to be unusual, and that clued me into the antagonist sooner than I would've liked. But her typical scenario of an annoying irritant becoming a fatality, and the large group of possible suspects carried on through and kept me going.
Rating: 
Summary: I hope this was just a dud
Review: I'm about the biggest Annie and Max fan there is, and I've often wished Broward's Rock was a real place that I could visit (I think I could probably find anyplace I wanted, I have it so clear in my mind) but this book was a disappointment to me. Of course, anything by Ms. Hart beats a Nancy Pickard or Susan Conant anyday, but the writing, and the title(!) are weak. I know Carolyn can do better, and I still have high hopes for White Elephant Dead (another lame title, let's hope that's not indiciative of the contents.) When I first started reading the Death on Demand books, I hoped Carolyn would write them forever, but I hope now that if the next one is as weak as this one that she lets the series die a graceful death. Henny was very disappointing in this book. I did not like the direction her character took. I suspect that Carolyn likes her Henrie O. books better, and is spending more time on them than the Death on Demands. I for one, don't care for Henrie O., and would be happy to see that character retire for good. She's conceited and annoying. I really hope Annie and Max get the attention they deserve in the future. I'd love to read about them for another couple of decades if the quality of writing can remain in the leagues of the first 9 books, especially A Little Class on Murder, the Christie Caper and Mint Julep Murder.
Rating: 
Summary: Humorous who-done-it, but too cutesy
Review: I've read a few Henry-O books and enjoyed Dead Man's Island. I've read only one other Death on Demand series and thought I'd try this one. However, I felt that it drags along, especially when Annie refers to other mystery writers....I skipped a lot of that. Also, I got vey bored at the continual descriptions of the South Carolina heat and humidity. I did have fun counting all the verbs the author used for "walked": darted, sped, skipped, slid, raced, rushed,loped,jolted, etc., etc.. There must be a list somewhere. Granted, the author does write "sweet" stories, but I'm afraid this one is over the top. Not enough suspense. I finally didn't care who the murderer was.
Rating: 
Summary: Love the mystery, but.....
Review: I, too, am a mystery buff, and I have read Carolyn Hart's Death on Demand series from the very first book she published. The series started out wonderfully. The characters of Annie and Max, Henny Brawley, and even Miss Dora are entertaining, and the books are very well written. I like the references to other mysteries for two reasons: they remind me of other satisfying plots I have read, and they give me information about books that might interest me in the future. The only negative thing I can say about the series (this book included) is that the character of Laurel, Max's mother, is annoying and disruptive to the stories. She doesn't actually come into the series until the third book, so the first two (Death on Demand and Design for Murder) are as close to absolute perfection as you could get in a mystery. If you can stomach Laurel, the rest of the books have pretty good plots. I keep hoping the author will come up with a really good way to kill off Laurel and let Annie nab her murderer. Now THAT would be satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: Combines old-fashioned cozy plot with modern humor
Review: In many ways *Yankee Doodle Dead* is rather like the paperback mysteries that Annie Laurance Darling praises in chapter one and it's obvious that's intended. This book kept me up until my eyes refused to stay open any longer and I made sure to finish it during breakfast, even though it meant I had to scramble to get to work. The references to other mystery books and authors were fun when I recognized them and gave me some idea what the other fictional detectives were like when I didn't. The reason for Edith Wentworth's non-stop lifestyle came as no surprise when it was revealed, because it's similar to one of Leslie Ford's classic Grace Latham-Colonel Primrose mysteries. (Given the the emphasis Patricia Wentworth of Miss Silver fame placed on honorable conduct, the choice of surname for Jonathan and Edith was quite appropriate.) General (Retired) Bud Hatch raised my hackles from his first appearance. I didn't care how many men (including Max)thought he could be a great/good guy. As the book progressed, I knew he wasn't. I'm a DAC(Department of the Army Civilian), as was my mother. I received my certificate and pin for 20 years' service last year. My father was Air Force, so I'm a former military brat, too. I can assure the reader who is unfamiliar with our military that Hatch is no caricature. I find the premise of the Dark Deed that led to the General's death chillingly plausible. Even though I cannot condone Hatch's murder, I understand why his killer shot him. Got a good chuckle out of the way that our modern gallant women of South Carolina foiled Hatch's plot to make sure that the Fourth of July festival honored only patriotic men. It was also satisfying that Hatch was the disgrace to his former uniform, not the gay Vietnam veteran that Hatch thought shouldn't be allowed to wear a uniform. Max Darling actually stirred himself quite a bit in this book, which was a pleasant surprise. On the other hand, if his mother, Laurel, hadn't been so kind to Gail Oldham, it would have been prudent for Max and Annie to have locked her in a bedroom with a bath until the murder was solved. Laurel is a woman who scarcely comprehends the meaning of moderation. A welcome departure from old mysteries is the depiction of minorities and "just plain folks" as intelligent, honest, and capable. Loved Annie's "speak your mind" thoughts that she was so wise to leave unspoken. I also loved the depictions of Dorothy L. and Agatha, Annie's cats. Yes, indeedy, Ms. Hart knows cats. (It's a good thing those cats are fictional, or our cover designer and illustrators might find themselves on the business end of Agatha's claws for putting her at the bottom and Dorothy L at the top. By the way, that's a delightful grin on the face of the alligator that forms the "D" in "Dead". At least I think it's meant to be an alligator, although the snout seems more like a crocodile's.) In short, this update of an old kind of murder mystery is as welcome as a glass of lemonade or ice tea on a hot day. Ann E. Nichols
Rating: 
Summary: An infuriating, unrewarding book.
Review: One of the surest ways to ward people off from a book or movie is to spoil the whole plot for them, and I came dangerously close to revealing who shot the corrupt, domineering General Bud Hatch in Yankee Doodle Dead in the first sentence of this review. I eventually decided against doing so (the solution to no mystery should be spoiled, I suppose, no matter how bad the book), but the fact that I contemplated using such drastic measures should scream a definite message - _stay away!_ Yankee Doodle Dead is irredeemable in so many ways that it traverses all individual boundaries of what constitutes badness - the pacing is horrible; the bulk of the supporting characters is ill-defined and indistinguishable; the story of the motives behind the murder, which could've been intriguing and moving in the hands of another author, jumps out of nowhere in the last fifteen pages and is hardly developed at all; and the protagonist, nympho bimbo Annie Darling, precious, incapable of taking anything seriously, and at turns passive-aggressive and bullyingly imperious, is the most distasteful character I've encountered in the mystery realm. (Her buffoonish slacker husband, Max, isn't much better.) It got to the point where I became nigh-completely detached from the story's events and could only ask myself annoyed questions - Why would a community celebrate America's Independence Day with the work of Shakespeare, an English poet? Why are career military people always depicted in mysteries as either irrational control-freak tyrants or messed-up head cases? How could a newcomer - a _Yankee_ newcomer - to such a tightly-knit Southern community gain such ungodly power in such short time? Why are the women of the island hailed as such feminist pioneers when half of them are raring to jump in the sack with Hatch and the other half can't even stand up to him? Why is Bud Hatch considered so bad when Max and Annie are arguably just as intrusive and abusive with their influence and knowledge? (And to what end does the author inject incongruous, clumsy allusions to other mystery series onto every other page? The end result reads like one of _The Onion_'s faux sports stories parodying the extent of commercial endorsements - "The Home Depot Cubs took the lead in the top of the Chevy Lumina Second Inning...the hard-fought victory, much like a frost-brewed Budweiser, left a great taste in their mouths...") The author doesn't even allow the reader the pleasure of trying to piece together the "clues", as irrelevant to the eventual solution as they are, himself; the narrative analyzes every single possible way that each tidbit could relate to the crime, so that there's absolutely no...well, mystery to it, leaving all the fun of watching someone else play a video game. The only positive bits in the book are the occasional muddy glimpses of marvelous prose - which here, unfortunately, only serve to illustrate all the more vividly the reasons why Annie's skull should be cracked with a crowbar. Judging from other readers' comments, I seem to have come in on the Death on Demand series on a very sub-par volume, but its insufferable heroine alone is enough to steer me away from it for good. Avoid this book.
Rating:
Summary: Please send Annie's mother-in-law on a very long vacation.
Review: The depiction of the general was so ridiculous that I skipped almost everything he had to say. I've met my share of general and senior officers and haven't ever found one who is so absolutely chauvinistic, shallow, and unprofessional. I wanted to kill the SOB about ten pages in. It took me two tries to actually read the book. I was disappointed in many ways with this book. The multitudnous synonyms for "to go" and "to walk" are indicative of the predictable sentence structure. To give Hart credit,it did take me a while to figure out who the murderer was. However, this was definitely a low point in the series. Maybe it's time to wrap this one up if the plots and writing are as predictably boring and excruciating as in this volume.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: The depiction of the general was so ridiculous that I skipped almost everything he had to say. I've met my share of general and senior officers and haven't ever found one who is so absolutely chauvinistic, shallow, and unprofessional. I wanted to kill the SOB about ten pages in. It took me two tries to actually read the book. I was disappointed in many ways with this book. The multitudnous synonyms for "to go" and "to walk" are indicative of the predictable sentence structure. To give Hart credit,it did take me a while to figure out who the murderer was. However, this was definitely a low point in the series. Maybe it's time to wrap this one up if the plots and writing are as predictably boring and excruciating as in this volume.
Rating:
Summary: Annie and Max are back and better than ever
Review: This is the best outing of amateur sleuths, Annie and Max Darling in a while. Ms. Hart seems to have returned to the correct combination that made the earlier titles in this series so endearing. I loved the characters and the story. I also enjoy adding to my mystery reading list from all the titles and authors woven in the plot. This book was simply delightful.
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