A few weeks ago I was listening to "Book Club Girl's" BlogTalk Radio show and she was interviewing Emily Gray Tedrowe about her book "Commuters". I book I've read and reviewed earlier. Well, in the course of the interview Emily mentioned how she found it odd more author's didn't write about their characters reading and I believe she also talked about how they didn't talk about other books or authors in their books. I had to agree with her. I always find it weird that characters don't read or talk about books and authors they like. Sometimes I think they may be afraid readers may think "Holy Cow, that sounds like a better book" and run back to the books store to exchange the book they're reading for the book mentioned in the novel. Now, I'm sure that is not really the case. (Well, maybe it is in some cases) But gosh, come on you're a writer shouldn't some of you characters read?I think on of the things I like best about Carolyn Hart's Death on Demand series is not only does her main character read (after all she does run a mystery book store) she mentions authors, book titles, and even characters in the books. I will admit I'm caught off guard when she mentions herself but it does make sense since she's a pretty popular mystery author and she would be a big seller in a mystery book store.Anyway "Southern Ghost" was one of her middling Annie and Max Darling mysteries. The set up of a missing girl didn't work for me. While the main mystery - a murder and suicide that occurred 20+ years earlier was a good one - the solution came together rather quickly and seemed a bit disconnected from the investigation they had done. Really it was solved by another character in the story which I didn't mind but you missed her investigation so the conclusion was a little forced. But I do really like these characters and the location of the story so I really did enjoy the book overall.
#8 in the Max and Annie Darling mystery series set on Broward's Rock off the South Caroline coast. Max is hired by a young woman to discover what actually happened 22 years ago with the deaths of her grandfather and father. The action takes place in a small town on the "mainland" near Broward's Rock. The town is dominated by two interconnected wealthy families who settled there in the 18th Century.The woman quickly disappears under mysterious circumstance leaving Max as a suspect in the eyes of the local police chief. This is mostly Max's story with taking the lead as opposed to Annie leading, though she does identify the murderer before Max does. The secondary leading character, Miss Dora, the dowager of both families, really steals the story.
Its true that this particular book from the series doesn't follow her usual narrative, but that's okay. She still gives you a great mystery. Ms Hart is fabulous at throwing all of these "clues" to you, so that you can try to figure it out on your own- that's half the fun of reading mysteries! The red herrings, the important ones all a mishmash, and again that's what makes a really great author great... Some of the reviews discuss the family history, well, yea, there have been murders IN THE FAMILY and to find out any potential MOTIVE or possible perpetrators, you have to get to the history, the WHY of it all. If she keeps writing, I'll be there reading!
—Lollyletsgo
Eh. I was expecting a collection of short stories about ghosts in the south, this was not. That's what I get for not reading the cover panels. Not too bad of a book, set in the South Carolina lowcountry, it's the story of Ross Tarrant, & his deceased parents, the Honorable Augustus & mother Amanda, who is still a ghost. Twisty. I liked it pretty well, other the author name dropping her favorite authors every few pages & her tendency to repeat herself. Other than that, especially for a murder-mystery.
—Amy Johnson
