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April Fool Dead

by Carolyn Hart

Mr. and Mrs. North have nothing on the duo of Annie and Max Darling, the protagonist couple invented by the mind of Carolyn Hart. Well-known (and justly so) for her 'Death on Demand' series - the name of her fictional Annie's mystery book shop - Carolyn Hart has succeeded once again in creating a totally enthralling murder mystery in her South Carolina setting. The description of 'Death on Demand' alone is worth an envious read, and most of us who love mysteries would like nothing better than to find such a store in reality! The monthly posting of five watercolors in the bookstore depicting scenes from well-known mystery books - with the incentive of guessing which ones they're from - is just an added attraction to each new book One does wonder, however, what the fictional Annie does with all those wonderful paintings after the month is up!

April Fool Dead opens with a brief introduction to the characters which populate the story, including a description of at least two murders. When Annie Darling comes on the scene, the focus is on the impending April first signing of a new mystery book by a famous local author, Emma Clyde; to be held - naturally- at Death on Demand. The title of the book is Whodunit. To advertise and promote the event, Annie has distributed flyers all over the island of Broward's Rock, where she lives and works several doors away from her husband. She is both surprised and angry to discover later that someone else has duplicated her flyers - and their distribution - with content that harks back to old, unsolved murders. The bogus flyers cast suspicion on people once again who thought they were free at last. Among those suspected is Emma Clyde.

Annie and her husband Max manage to inform inhabitants of the island that she had nothing to do with the fake flyers or their promise of a thousand dollar reward. The couple then realize that to completely disparage the bogus information, they'll have to actually investigate the old crimes. While doing just that, two other murders occur. Annie and Max are now caught up in both the present and past. In a sub-plot, Max' mother, Laurel, is engaged in her own private uncovering of a smuggling ring. Laurel Darling is, as usual, her own off-the-wall, looney self, and conducts her investigation accordingly. Henny Brawley, an elderly, spry lady faithful to Annie and mystery books, gets involved with helping the Darlings discredit the counterfeit flyers, while Rachel, Annie's little sister, has her own problems at school.

Annie goes to the school to question two of the first murder victim's friends, since the victim herself was a respected teacher at the high school. Annie eventually realizes that the bogus flyers were only to keep attention away from the current situation and stir up antagonism for the wrong suspects. The police are naturally after the person without any alibi for the time of the first murder victim's death. Then the second murder is discovered. Since the school girl with no alibi was also seen quarreling with the second victim, she's also accused by the police of that murder as well. Annie eventually realizes that both the fake flyers and the murders all point to someone at the high school. Laurel has meanwhile successfully assisted the cops in catching the smugglers, without becoming involved herself - so Annie and Max use her success to help them get the police to entrap the murderer.

April Fool Dead is chock full of garden paths and other misleading clues. It's a page turner inhabited with characters all too human. The last chapter gives us the identities for the five paintings as well as titles of the other nine books listed with their clues in Annie's original flyer for Emma's book signing. And of course, April Fool Dead closes with an April Fool joke...

Alan Paul Curtis

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