Carolyn G. Hart

When her fellow charity shop volunteer Gretchen Burkholt is murdered, Dead on Demand Mystery shop owner Annie Darling enlists the help of her husband, Max, to piece together a puzzle involving an overturned kayak, a stolen motorboat, a troubled love affair, and a reckless teenager.

Refusing to believe that a local death was a suicide, mystery bookstore owner Annie Darling investigates a series of clues including a hidden towel, a lack of fingerprints on a crystal mug, and a lovers' tryst.

"Annie Darling, owner of the mystery bookstore Death on Demand, prefers fictional crimes as opposed to the real things. But in one tragic week, two acts of violence shake the island community of Broward's Rock. First, a beloved doctor is found shot dead, seemingly by his own hand. Only days later, a local artist is arrested after his wife is found murdered, bludgeoned by her husband's sculpting mallet. Convinced her brother did not commit suicide,...

"Bailey Ruth loves to return to earth as an emissary from Heaven's Department of Good Intentions. Problem is, she's a bit of a loose cannon as far as ghosts go -- forgetting to remain invisible, alarming earthly creatures -- so she's far from the top of department head Wiggins's go-to list for assignments. That's why she's surprised when the Heaven-sent Rescue Express drops her off at a frame house on the outskirts of her old hometown, Adelaide, Oklahoma,...

"Annie Darling, owner of the Death on Demand mystery bookstore, is hosting a party to celebrate successful Southern literary icon -- and former Broward's Rock resident -- Alex Griffith and his bestselling new novel, "Don't Go Home." But after the local paper announces that Griffith aims to reveal the real-life inspirations behind his characters, perhaps the author should take his own advice. Not everyone in town is ready to give him a glowing review....

"Bailey Ruth's supervisor, Wiggins, is worried about a dear old friend. The ghost of elegant Lorraine Marlow haunts Adelaide's college library. Known as the Lady of the Roses, she plays matchmaker, using the fragrant flowers to pair up students. But someone's making mischief after hours, leaving roses strewn about the library, destroying a gargoyle, and stealing a valuable book. Concerned with Lorraine's reputation among the living, Wiggins dispatches...

K.C. Carlisle and her cousin Kenneth Carlisle both grew up rich. Kenneth is a corporate lawyer in an exclusive Northern California seaside community while K.C. has a storefront office on the seedy side of town. She takes whatever kind of case walks in her door. But trouble appears one day when Francine Boutelle shows up pretending she wants to write an expose of the Carlisle family, including some dirt on K.C.'s late and highly respectable father....