From Publishers Weekly
Hart's sixth Death on Demand novel exuberantly celebrates the centenary of Agatha Christie's birth with a clever plot and an array of puzzles for readers. With reigning English crime queen Lady Gwendolyn Thompkins, South Carolina bookstore owner Ann Darling is cohosting the Christie Caper, a week-long conference featuring author panels, a treasure hunt and gala Come-As-You-Wish-You-Were ball. Bolstered by her Laurel, her flighty mother-in-law, as well as intrepid reader Henny and husband Max, Annie thinks she can handle any contingencies--until hard-boiled crime aficionado and critic Neil Bledsoe shows up with his aunt, a Miss Marple look-alike. Bledsoe is determined to be odious, even going so far as to publicly attack Christie and her work. After Bledsoe is the victim of two suspicious accidents, Annie, Max, Henny, Laurel and Lady Gwendolyn fear that a disgruntled author, editor or agent is using the conference to exact revenge. When a would-be writer is slain, the five amateur sleuths redouble their efforts to prevent more violence. As in the past, Hart lards the text with titles, authors and characters' names, this time with a plethora of Christie trivia. For those who seek an extra challenge, Hart uses the clues to the treasure hunt as chapter titles (with answers at the end of the book).
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA-- Annie and Max Darling, sleuths and owners of the Death on Demand bookstore, are at it again. This time a week-long Agatha Christie conference has been organized by Annie and her co-sponsor, Lady Gwendolyn Tompkins. They have arranged for speeches, movies, discussions, a dress ball, contests, and teas. And then Neil Bledsoe, a book critic, shows up uninvited. He is despised by a great many people at the conference, and Annie suspects trouble may occur, which it does almost immediately. After a couple of murders, the conference seems to be falling apart. The contest involves matching clues with posters to find some Christie book titles, and her many followers will want to join in to solve the puzzle as well as the murders. Answers are in the back of the book. Murder mystery fans will find this an exciting read, especially if they have read Agatha Christie. It's a good story even if they haven't. --Dorothy Addison, Woodlawn School, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
