April Fool Dead

United States, March 2003: Avon, 2003. Very Good+. In Hart's 13th winning outing (after 2000's Sugar Plum Dead) to feature Ann ie Darling, the owner of Death on Demand Bookstore, "the best mystery books tore east of Atlanta," has planned the signing to end all signings for a lo cal writer on their South Carolina island. But someone produces fake copies of publicity flyers for the signing and sets a cat among the pigeons to so lve some old crimes and settle some old scores. Annie and her charming husb and, Max, hasten to salvage the shop's event and Annie's reputation. Their efforts to resolve the mystery of the bogus flyers bring to light clues to several unsolved crimes. A high school teacher subsequently turns up dead. Was the murder committed to keep old secrets buried, or is a new onslaught of crime just beginning? A serpentine plot includes plenty of red herrings to lead the armchair sleuth firmly in the wrong direction. The descriptions of wildlife add to the sense of place, but neither advance the story nor i lluminate the characters. Established readers will relish the usual banter between the couple that evokes classic screwball comedy, though at times th e author can be overly formulaic. Max is always "sexy as hell." "Hell" and "damn" are about as strong as the language gets, by the way. If cats play o nly a minor role here, their presence on the jacket will help lure those co zy fans not already familiar with this consistently fine series.