A Little Class on Murder

As an avid mystery and Death-On_Demand fan I can honestly say that this is classic mystery from a moder writer that does true honors to the "Grand Dames of Mystery"! The cast of characters are colorful as they are varied and Ms Hart keeps you guessing to the very last page of who the sick twisted sociopath is behind all the chaos. If you love mysteries that make you truly loath the culprit this book should be your next buy!

This was my very first Death on Demand mystery, but was not my last! I love the characters and I love mysteries - what could be better? I mystery laced with facts on other mysteries!

This is one of the best Death on Demand mysteries. One of the things that Carolyn does best is combine a little bit of humor with a little bit of mystery. She does that well in this book. Annie is teaching a class about three great mystery writers only to have her plans upset by three ladies of mystery. One is Annie's mother in law, as always, is delightful. Slightly off kilter and yet she is on the mark with most things. The other two are fans of mysteries and known for causing problesm where they go. Very good. Although it is usually easy to figure out who did it by the end of Carolyn Hart's books, it doesn't make it any less of an enjoyable read. THis is one of my favorite Death on Demand mysteries. As an added bonus, you get a lot of references to other mysteries that are good reads as well.

You have to like mysteries about the field of mysteries or else the numerous allusions to other mysteries could be annoying. You do NOT need to have read other mysteries to read this one, however. The writer uses other titles to make comparisons, generally. I found it all fascinating and am whiling away a medical leave ordering titles I find mentioned. There are some real classics, many out of print but available used, that I never would have thought to look for. Hart's allusions extend outside the mystery field to jurisprudence, biography, and journalism, but the real meat is the mystery bibliography. The actual mystery is interesting, with lots of list writing and puzzling, livened up with eccentric characters. I particularly liked a very minor character, a befuddled student in a class on Mysteries who had never read one. One puzzle--why teach a course on mysteries in a journalism department? Only vaguely explained. An earlier reviewer mentioned bad language which puzzled me. I didn't notice any.

I enjoyed A Little Class on Murder more than any of the other Death on Demand books, and I love them all. This one was the most enjoyable to me because Henny, Miss Dora, and Laurel are all in Annie's class together. They have all wrecked havoc in Annie's life before, but it is when these three ladies form their own manic version of the 3 Musketeers that they really shine. Being in Grad school, I enjoyed reading a mystery set at a college campus. And, as always, Annie and Max are the perfect couple. Very fun!