by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Walking on My Grave. We also have a link to order it from Amazon, and from an indie bookstore where a portion goes to help support KRL.

Ves Roundtree has money, lots of it. She inherited from her brother who recently passed away. The will states she has use of the money for her lifetime, and then it passes to six other people. Of those six, it’s pretty much unanimous that they should get the money now.

Ves invites them all to dinner to give an accounting of the money as it stands now. She’s spent some, of course, but investments mean it made enough money to replenish that and add some too. Frankly, she’s worth a lot more to them dead, rather than alive. Add in the fact that they’re all desperate for money due to blackmail, an aversion to work, a potential investment, a desire for adventure, to keep a spouse hopeful, and poor investment choices, and they’re liable to do anything to get the cash.

A few days after the dinner, Ves arrives home and while going upstairs, slips and falls. It’s only by chance she’s able to save herself, resulting in a wrenched shoulder. After a visit to the doctor, she examines the stairs and finds they are exceptionally clean. Her theory is someone, one of the six heirs, wants her dead. Not only that, but after making the stairs slippery, they broke into the house again to clean up so it couldn’t be proved. It takes a cold person to stand outside and wait to see what happens after a planned accident.

Ves tells her concerns to Annie Darling, owner of Death on Demand bookstore because she wants someone to know in case she’s killed. Ves doesn’t think Billy Cameron, police chief, will believe her with so little to go on. Annie’s married to Max who works (sometimes) at his business, Confidential Commissions. With the help of Emma Clyde, famous mystery author, Henny Brawley, Annie’s best customer, and Laurel Roethke, Annie’s mother-in-law, they set out to find out each of the six alibis.

When a body is found, seemingly an accident or suicide occurs, everyone believes the victim had caused Ves’s fall. Everyone but Annie and her friends, that is. Billy is almost on board with their theories but he needs proof. A second death baffles them all and proves the first was murder as well. It’s up to Annie, Max and their friends to work with Billy to bring the truth into the open.

This is book number twenty-six, and the final book, in the long running Death on Demand series. As usual, Hart weaves a tight storyline with plenty of clues, red herrings, misdirection, and a goodly number of suspects, all with iffy alibis. Readers will delight in Broward’s Rock and Annie’s mystery book shop where Annie has new paintings each month so customers can guess what book they depict. Annie also recommends books to customers, thereby increasing the number of books in the To Be Read pile for readers as well.

Carolyn Hart also writes the Bailey Ruth Ghost mysteries (7 books with another one set for October) and has three stand-alone books.

To enter to win a copy of Walking on my Grave, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “grave,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen May 20, 2017. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section.

Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Walking on My Grave

You can also use this link to purchase the book on Amazon. If you have ad blocker on you may not see the link:

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch, in the land of blues, booze and shoes—St Louis, Missouri. While writing magazine articles to support her mystery book habit, she secretly polishes mystery books of her own, hoping, someday, they will see the light of Barnes and Noble and a Kindle. You can find several of Sandra’s short stories at Untreed Reads including her newest, “Arthur,” included in the anthology titled, Flash and Bang, available now. Look for Denali, in the anthology Dogs and Dragons.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases using those links. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.