Mint Julep Murder
Authors: Carolyn G. Hart
READERS LOVE CAROLYN G. HART’S AWARD-WINNING
DEATH ON DEMAND MYSTERIES:
SOUTHERN GHOST
“Pleasing … chillingly effective … remarkably satisfying.”
—
Publishers Weekly
“[Annie and Max] make one of the most attractive pairs of sleuths since Dashiell Hammett’s Nick and Nora Charles.”
—
Chicago Sun-Times
“If you like your mysteries suspenseful, with clues strewn everywhere, you’ll love this one.”
—
The Sunday Oklahoman
“A true modern-day Gothic … The Darling duo is as winning as ever, and the book contains a marvelous bonus.”
—
The Sun
, Baltimore
“Carolyn G. Hart’s large following will likely hail this latest Darling caper as—what else?—simply darling.”
—
The San Diego Union-Tribune
MORE PRAISE FOR CAROLYN G. HART:
THE CHRISTIE GAPER
“A clever, intricately plotted story, as well as a lovely romp through the mystery world.”
—
Mostly Murder
“Carolyn Hart has constructed a puzzle for mystery buffs, a classic whodunit, and a loving homage to Agatha Christie—and put them into one book. All this and witty dialogue, believable relationships and an unpredictable ending, too.”
—
Mystery News
“Christie fans should love the trivia that fills this book. This is a great mystery with a terrific twist.”
—
Mystery Books
“A sharp and witty examination of what can happen when fans of each type of mystery confront one another …
The Christie Caper
is the best entry yet in Ms. Hart’s pleasurable series; eminently logical and meticulously plotted, it does justice to the Mistress of Mystery herself.”
—
The Sun
, Baltimore
“Agatha Christie devotees will be enchanted with
The Christie Caper
, as will mystery fans who relish a wickedly clever plot sprinkled with gentle wit and beguiling characters. Carolyn G. Hart has written a marvelous tribute to her mentor.”
—Joan Hess, author of
Death by the Light of the Moon
DEADLY VALENTINE
“Carolyn G. Hart is the new shining star in the mystery galaxy….
Deadly Valentine
[is a] marvelously plotted mystery.”
—
Clarion-Ledger
, Jackson, Mississippi
“Ms. Hart is on target once again with
Deadly Valentine.
Annie and Max are … one of the most charming and intelligent teams in fiction.”
—
Mostly Murder
A LITTLE GLASS ON MURDER
“A classy mystery with … more twists than a Low Country river.”
—
Mystery Scene
“Mystery readers will find this series a delight. Hart is on to a good thing.”
—
The Drood Review of Mystery
“Hart has a light touch with her characters, a fresh heroine in Annie, and a delightfully different setting.”
—
Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine
DEATH ON DEMAND
“Irresistible! Expertly written. Hart drops big names from the mystery world like murderers drop clues, and it’s all great fun. The plotting is classic perfection. Annie and Max are the most endearing new pair of sleuths since Tommy and Tuppence. More, please!”
—Nancy Pickard, author of
I.O.U.
A
LSO BY
C
AROLYN
G. H
ART
Death on Demand
Design for Murder
Something Wicked
Honeymoon with Murder
A Little Class on Murder
Deadly Valentine
The Christie Caper
Southern Ghost
Dead Man’s Island
Scandal in Fair Haven
A
VAILABLE FROM
B
ANTAM
B
OOKS
To Phil,
who loves Hilton Head Island, too.
It was a pleasure to set a mystery on Hilton Head, the island that inspired the creation of Broward’s Rock in
Death on Demand.
I hope I’ve provided enough of a glimpse of the island to bring happy memories to my readers who have vacationed there and to encourage others to discover its spacious beaches, moss-draped live oaks, and tranquil lagoons.
Everything in the book is true to the island except the Buccaneer Hotel, which I have placed just to the north of the Coligny Beach entrance, where the Breakers Villas stand, and Benedict Books, which is a composite of the several charming bookstores on the island.
The Dixie Book Festival is my own creation. It would be a tight fit on the Coligny Beach entrance plaza, but it could be done. And wouldn’t it be fun!
The flurry of faxes began a week before the Dixie Book Festival. Sherry Felton’s first fax was circumspect. Sherry was well aware of her bestselling author’s temperament. She had a queasy feeling that she was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t, but a long-distance outburst was infinitely to be preferred over a face-to-face explosion.
FAX 1 -
FROM
: Sherry Felton
TO
: Leah Vixen Kirby
Dear Leah,
Biddy Maxwell tells me a Georgia publisher named Kenneth Hazlitt has approached her with an idea for a novel, a steamy sex-and-tell piece, all about some famous Southern writers and their indiscretions at a conference. He hinted to Biddy that it’s a roman à clef. She’s shopping the idea around.
Your latest sales figures are super. The paperback of
Love’s Lost Splendour
is shipping like hotcakes.
See you at Hilton Head.
Best,
Sherry
It came as no surprise to Sherry when her fax machine signaled incoming material.
FAX 2 -
FROM
: Leah Kirby
TO
: Sherry Felton
Dear Sherry,
Kenneth Hazlitt is a mediocre publisher and he couldn’t write a decent novel if somebody handed him a mouse with an IQ of 200-plus. He’s a buffoon who loves Dracula, Frankenstein, and Little Orphan Annie with the Statler Brothers bellowing in the background. But who gives a damn about quality? How much sex and who are the main characters?
If I could get a spot on
Oprah, Love’s Lost Splendour
would sell five times what it’s doing now. I must talk to you about publicity. And whose idea was it to schedule my Festival signing at four o’clock? They’ve got to be kidding. I want nine a.m. And I mean it.
As ever,
Leah
Sherry read as the fax paper oozed out. Damn. It was too late to change autographing times. The conference program was already printed. Leah knew that, of course. But who expected the world’s most famous author of Civil War novels to give a damn about minor facts like printed programs? Sherry debated calling the Festival programmer. Maybe they could put up a sign announcing a time change at the information booth…. Oh, hell, what a bother. She didn’t reach for the phone. Instead, her eyes glinting with malice, she waited thirty minutes, then dispatched a reply. As always, she used her author’s full name. One had to take pleasure where one found it.
FAX 3 -
FROM
: Sherry Felton
TO
: Leah Vixen Kirby
Dear Leah,
The programmer regrets being unable to change your autographing time. The committee wants the most famous
author available at four p.m. The local TV promises a crew, and they feed to CBS.
Lots
of sex, according to Biddy. And the cast of characters includes the most famous author of Civil War novels; the author of the latest male romance novel a la
Bridges
and
Love Story;
the author of Southern sojourns of the soul; the author of good-old-boy diatribes against blacks, Jews, feminists, and women in general; and the world’s bestselling mystery writer.
Oh, and congratulations upon your receiving a Medallion at the Festival. I’ll be sure and attend the ceremony.
Best,
Sherry
FAX 4 -
FROM
: Leah Kirby
TO
: Alan Blake
Missy Sinclair
Jimmy Jay Crabtree
Emma Clyde
Dear Fellow Medallion Honorees,
FYI, Kenneth Hazlitt is shopping a proposal using thinly disguised (if disguised at all) characters patterned after all of us. Remember Wynne wood?
The sorry bastard.
Leah Kirby
FAX 5 -
FROM
: Emma Clyde
TO
: Leah Kirby
Alan Blake
Melissa Sinclair
Jimmy Jay Crabtree
Dear Fellow Honorees,
I smell a Medallion-sized rat.
Best regards,
Emma
FAX 6 -
FROM
: Errol Beatty, publicist
TO
: Leah Kirby
Emma Clyde
Dear Ms. Kirby and Ms. Clyde,
Mr. Crabtree is presently on a book tour. I will bring your faxes to his attention when I speak to him this evening.
Best wishes,
Errol Beatty
FAX 7 -
FROM
: Alan Blake
TO
: Leah Kirby
Emma Clyde
Dear Leah and Emma:
Let’s talk when we arrive at the Festival. They’re putting me up at the Buccaneer.
Fondly,
Alan
FAX 8 -
FROM
: Melissa Sinclair
TO
: Leah Kirby
Emma Clyde
Ladies,
I’ll call Kenneth.
Ciao,
Missy
FAX 9 -
FROM
: Melissa Sinclair
TO
: Leah Kirby
Emma Clyde
Dear Leah, Emma,
The dolt’s excited out of his mind. He says Barker, Dun-woody & Kell is interested. This is all on the basis of a three-page proposal. I can’t believe this!
By the way, who picked us as Medallion winners? Does anybody know? Kenneth swears the Medallions have
NO
connection with his book. And the Republican National Committee is proposing Clinton for the Nobel Peace Prize.
I am not a happy camper. Should we cancel?
Missy
On a separate sheet faxed solely to Leah Kirby, Missy appended the following:
P.S. The writer of Civil War novels is a redhead who always wears green—and there’s a broad hint of sexual dalliance
NOT
with her spouse.
In her Belle Meade mansion in Nashville, Leah Kirby savagely crumpled the fax. She was a strikingly beautiful woman, tall and slender with hair as fiery as molten lava. Today’s silk suit was a soft jade.
Footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Leah jammed the fax into her pocket as her husband, Carl, entered the room.
Carl Kirby was slender, sixty, with thinning gray hair. His face was pale and drawn, but when he saw Leah, his mouth curved into a cheerful smile. “It looks good on the interview with
People.
They’ll focus on you as the greatest living writer of tender love stories.” His voice was full of pride. For Leah. Of Leah. “The
People
crew wants to follow us around for a week or two. Maybe right after the Festival. They want to get the flavor of our true-life love story.”
He stepped close, held out his arms.
Leah moved into his embrace, pressed against him.
The fax crackled in her pocket.
“What do you mean, they want to give me less for the next contract?” Jimmy Jay Crabtree smacked the table and shifted the wad of chewing tobacco in his right cheek with his tongue. “That’s a mother lode of crap, Harold. No way am I going to accept less than a half mil.”