Take one part gothic thriller, two parts cozy mystery clichés, and three parts Agatha Christie, stir them all up and you get Carolyn Hart’s Death of the Party. It’s a serviceable combination of those components, but what stands out is that it’s basically a small group of suspects who are thrown together in an isolated spot. Sounds familiar, no? Put them on a tiny island off the coast of South Carolina so they’re out of cell phone range, and… well, you get the idea.

As the 16th book in the Death on Demand series, most of this novel will feel familiar — at least if you’ve read any of the preceding books featuring Annie and Max Darling. (Sorry, those are really their names.) No need to read these in order. Some readers are annoyed by the large number of explicit and implicit references to other authors’ works, but I found that to be part of the fun. Annie does own a mystery bookstore, after all.

My overall grade is a B–. Reading it was not the best use of my time, but on the whole it was enjoyable.

Categories: Books