Walking on My Grave: A Death on Demand Mystery (Death on Demand Mystery, #26)

by Carolyn Hart

"Annie's friend and fellow shop owner Ves Roundtree is a very wealthy woman. Her rich brother entrusted her with his estate, and upon her death, his fortune is to be divided. Several cash-strapped islanders are in line to collect life-changing inheritances. The problem is, Ves is very much alive. Ves hosts a dinner for the prospective beneficiaries and feels a chill in the air that has nothing to do with the wintry season. Not long after, she suffers a bad fall that was no accident. Everyone at the table had a motive but not a shred of evidence was left behind. When one of the suspects is found floating in the harbor and Ves disappears, Annie and her husband Max spring into action to catch a calculating killer before greed takes another life."

• ISBN10: 0451488539
• ISBN13: 9780451488534
• Publish Date: 4 May 2017 (first published 3 May 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 25 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 256
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

One of the weakest in the series, I think.  I liked the concept: preventing a murder taking place, but, well, for the first time, it feels to me that Hart has phone one in.   I don't think it's an exaggeration to say a full 30% of this book consists of the repetition of plot summary in the form of multiple POV introspections.  The reader with the weakest of comprehension skills would have found this overkill and I was quick to lose patience with it.  The ultimate solution wasn't all that stunning a revelation either; and the justification for one of the murders (they're trying to prevent one, but there are others) was weak and felt tacked on in order to up the body count.   Also, as a general, series-wide aside - I don't ever want to read about Max Darling being Joe Hardy all grown up, ever again.  Hart's editors should ban her from continuing to abuse this nugget; it's always shown up in every book, but in this book no less than 3 times.  Please let it stop.   I'm sounding a bit snippy, but after 26 books any author is more than entitled to have one book that fails to live up to expectations; it's probably statistically probable.  But I do have to wonder how much longer she plans to keep our daring duo going.