Dead Man's Island (Henrie O Series #1)

by Carolyn G. Hart

Overview

“A sassy heroine . . . [Henrie O] says what she thinks (when it serves her purposes) and pulls no punches.”—Chicago Sun-Times
 
When arrogant media magnate Chase Prescott is nearly killed by a box of cyanide-laced candy, he dials his long-ago lover, retired newshound Henrietta O’Dwyer Collins, with a simple request: He’ll assemble all the suspects if Henrie O will kindly point out the would-be murderer.
 
It’s a case—her first—that fills Henrie O with grave misgivings, especially when she arrives on Chase’s private island off the South Carolina coast to meet the players in this deadly drama. Among Prescott’s unstable young wife, his sullen stepson, and his toady of a secretary, she has trouble narrowing the field of suspects—even when a second attempt is made on Chase’s life. As Henrie O unearths a will and fascinating new evidence, a killer hurricane sweeps up from Cuba, threatening to maroon them in this vacation hell . . . where the trappings of luxury are put to lethal use and the secrets of the past have the power to engulf them all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780553091731
Publisher:	Random House Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/1993
Series:	Henrie O Series , #1
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 1.50(h) x 9.50(d)

About the Author

An accomplished master of mystery, Carolyn Hart is the New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty-five novels of mystery and suspense including the Bailey Ruth Ghost Novels and the Death on Demand Mysteries. Her books have won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She has also been honored with the Amelia Award for significant contributions to the traditional mystery from Malice Domestic and was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. One of the founders of Sisters in Crime, Hart lives in Oklahoma City, where she enjoys mysteries, walking in the park, and cats. She and her husband, Phil, serve as staff—cat owners will understand—to brother and sister brown tabbies.

Table of Contents

Editorial Reviews

In this action-packed series launch, the author of the Death on Demand mysteries introduces Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins, a widowed former reporter whose investigative instincts have not been blunted by retirement. Forty years after their love affair ended, media magnate Chase Prescott calls ``Henrie O'' for help in figuring out who tried to kill him with poisoned candy. He invites her and all those he suspects of wanting him dead to his private island off the coast of South Carolina, hoping that Henrie will be able to ferret out the identity of his would-be killer. While a brewing hurricane threatens the island, Henrie faces a full roster of suspects: Chase's young third wife; his second wife's sister; his idealistic sons; a sly secretary; the purported heir-apparent to Chase's empire; his firm's general counsel; and a surly, abusive employee. Feisty and incisive, Henrie tries valiantly to determine who is behind further attempts on Chase's life while the storm, a would-be killer of a different sort, gathers. Two people are murdered; the hurricane shears wings off the mansion and redoubtable Henrie figures out the motives and the murderer in a tumultuous resolution. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The creator of the popular Annie Darling series introduces an older sleuth of forceful charm and infinite wisdom. Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins, known affectionately as Henrie O, writes novels after working 50 years as a journalist. Longtime friend Chase Prescott, multimillionaire media magnate, begs her to visit his private island near Charleston so that she can deduce which of the people there wants him dead. Hart handles the classic situation (isolated mansion full of colorful suspects) with panache, controlling the melodrama but utilizing monster Hurricane Derek to great effect as plot and storm peak together. A surefire winner. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/93.

Library Journal

Agatha Christie aficionados will recognize Miss Marple's double in Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins, Hart's 60-something sleuth. The setting is America rather than Miss Marple's sleepy English village, and Henrietta, a well-traveled retired journalist-turned-thriller-writer, is a perkier, more "with-it" version of Christie's heroine. But "Henrie O," as she's known to her friends, is every bit as adept at corraling criminals, unmasking murderers, and solving crimes as the intrepid Miss Marple. In this story, Henrie O is asked by her old friend and former flame Chase Prescott, now a wealthy media mogul, to discover who's out to kill him. He invites all the suspects to his isolated private island off the coast of South Carolina, and while hurricanes rage, people are electrocuted in hot tubs, and hidden assassins attack, Henrie does her darnedest to find the killer. The plot is strictly formula (with a few nice surprises), the characters include the standard assortment of goodies and baddies, and the solution is really no surprise. Even so, this book has the same kind of pleasantly entertaining appeal as the Miss Marple stories and should prove popular with Christie fans.

Emily Melton