Carolyn Hart

On the horizon....

10/26/2018

A smudge of smoke on the ocean’s horizon is the first sign of a faraway vessel. A sailor knows a craft will eventually hove into view. I hope that readers, like the sailor, will be pleased to know there are stories coming.

I am thrilled that my short story "All Kinds of Fear" will appear in the March-April 2019 issue of Ellery Queen Magazine. A distraught widower begs a homicide detective for help after a psychic contacts him with news that his wife’s drowning was murder, not an accident. The detective suspects fraud, but the psychic won’t be denied.

A new edition of Miss Pinkerton by Mary Roberts Rinehart will be published June 18, 2019, by Penzler Publishers under the American Mystery Classics imprint. I loved writing the introduction about one of my and America’s favorite authors, the irrepressible and amazing Mary Roberts Rinehart.

I’ve just turned in GHOST UPS HER GAME, the ninth in the Bailey Ruth mystery series, and hope it will see publication in 2019. Bailey Ruth and Police Chief Sam Cobb rustle up a very special posse as they try to trap a dangerous, clever, and unsuspected murderer.

Mystery Writers of America will celebrate its 75th anniversary at the 2020 Edgars. Edgars will mark publication of the MWA anthology, Deadly Anniversaries. Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller edited the anthology and Laurie King collected the stories. In my story, "Case Open," a vibrant woman dies in a fall from a cliff. Did she jump? Did she fall? Was she pushed? Rumors still swirl a year after her death. Her sister is determined to confront the ugly gossip. She invites all who were present the night Evelyn died to gather on the terrace. Death is the uninvited guest.

This year Oconee Press published an e book edition of Peril Off Padre, the first and only publication of a long ago suspense novel that explores the dangers and passions when Spanish gold is found in a galleon that sank in the Gulf of Mexico.

Published in 2017 by Berkley were Walking on My Grave, the last in the Death on Demand series, and Ghost on the Case, 8th in the Bailey Ruth series.

On the horizon . . .

Bailey Ruth is on the case!

10/3/2017

I always start a new book with a title. My working title for Bailey Ruth’s new adventure was GHOST THROWS A HAIL MARY. All Dallas Cowboys fans recall Roger Staubach’s fabled pass and his murmured prayer to Mary. When I turned in the manuscript, the editor pointed out that readers might expect a sports novel. I agreed to GHOST ON THE CASE, but to me the book will always be GHOST THROWS A HAIL MARY. I think readers will agree.
~ Carolyn

Bailey Ruth Raeburn is back, racing against the Heavenly clock in an all-new mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Times Two.

Bailey Ruth finds herself comforting a distraught sister when she’s sent to Adelaide, Oklahoma, on her latest mission. Susan Gilbert receives a $100,000 ransom demand for her younger sibling. When the caller wants Susan to pay a visit to her wealthy boss and take the cash from his safe, Bailey Ruth follows Susan to the home. But she finds herself in a quandary, knowing that robbery is hardly a Heavenly pursuit.

While Susan waits to hear back from the kidnappers, Bailey Ruth attempts to piece together how the criminals targeted Susan and how they know about her boss’s money. At a luncheon the previous week, Susan’s boss asked her to open the safe so all the attendees knew it was filled with cash. Could one of the rich man’s closest confidants be behind the abduction?

Bailey Ruth is positive she can use her detective skills to figure out which luncheon guest arranged the kidnapping. But an unexpected twist in the case soon has Bailey Ruth seeking a murderer who has plans to send more victims to the great beyond..

A note from Carolyn

4/28/2017

WALKING ON MY GRAVE is the 26th in the Death on Demand series which began in 1987 with Annie Laurance, a young bookseller, and Max Darling, the handsome suitor who follows her to the sea island of Broward’s Rock. I always picture them standing on a grassy bank of a lagoon in the shade of a live oak draped with Spanish moss. All is beautiful but the alligator half submerged in the murky water hints at the possibility of danger.

My 60th novel – GHOST ON THE CASE, a Bailey Ruth mystery – will be published in October. Bailey Ruth arrives to hear a terrified young woman agree to rifle a safe to save her kidnapped sister. Is safe cracking a Heavenly attribute?

I am always and ever grateful to the wonderful readers who have made it possible for me to be a writer.

From Death on Demand to Walking on my Grave, I've loved spending time with Annie and Max on their sea island. Walking on my Grave is their last adventure and I will leave them as I found them, young, happy, always there for each other. My thanks to the wonderful readers who welcomed them. It's been fun. _ Carolyn

Ghost Times Two

10/2/2016

Featuring Bailey Ruth Raeburn, late of Adelaide, OK

The surest way to lift an author’s spirit (can’t resist) is to receive an e-mail from a Hollywood producer inquiring if the rights are available to the Bailey Ruth Raeburn series. Yes, indeed they are. And Bailey Ruth’s new adventure, GHOST TIMES TWO, is a love story and a mystery that would make a GREAT movie

As is often the case with Hollywood queries, nothing has come of it to date, but I’ve had great fun picking out a superb cast and I want to invite readers to offer their choices.

In GHOST TIMES TWO, Bailey Ruth returns to earth to encourage Jimmy Taylor, an engaging fun madly-in- love ghost to climb the Golden Stairs to Heaven. The object of Jimmy’s affections is Megan Wynn, a young lawyer. She is beginning to recover from his untimely death in a kayak accident in the rapids.

A fellow lawyer Blaine Smith would like for her to join his law firm and be his partner in both law and love. Jimmy is doing his best to thwart the romance. Megan quarrels with a partner in her present firm who blocks her plan to leave.

Megan is found at the scene of his murder, Bailey Ruth and Jimmy go into overdrive to save her from arrest. Jimmy truly loves Megan and will go to any length to save her, even if she ends up in Blaine’s embrace.

Here, in case Hollywood is listening, is my dream cast of characters:

Bailey Ruth - Debra Messing
Jimmy Taylor - Ansel Elgort
Megan Wynn - Kaitlynn Dever
Blaine Smith - John Francis Daley
Doug Graham - Michael Shannon.

There is also a bevy of sharply defined women who work in the law offices of Layton and Graham. Each one has a reason to wish Graham dead.

Now that the new adventure is on sale, movie minded readers are invited to submit their own choices for the cast to my website It will be fun to report the variety of actors and actresses who fit the bill in the eyes of readers. And perhaps a concentration of thought waves wending to Hollywood might stir action. You know, lights, camera, action!

In my dreams . . .

Ladies of Intrigue gather in Huntington Beach

9/25/2016

I'm looking forward to this! Please join us if you can. (Click anywhere on the image below to enlarge.)

Summer Reads

4/28/2016

I love booksellers, especially independent booksellers, and most especially Southern independent booksellers. I am thrilled to announce that DON’T GO HOME, now available in paperback, has received a great honor from the Southern Independent Booksellers Association. Don’t Go Home is included in the short list for the Beach Music Prize (named in honor of Pat Conroy) for best mystery of 2015. The other titles are by wonderful authors I admire. (See the full list on the SIBA site by clicking here.)

In DON’T GO HOME, a bestselling author comes home to the island and announces he will reveal the inspiration for his characters, which are based on the lives of people he knows. Annie Darling’s good friend Marian Kenyon has a secret she is determined to keep. When he is murdered, Annie helps Marian investigate even though Annie promised Max she wouldn’t delve into danger.

There will be a new Death on Demand in spring 2017: WALKING ON MY GRAVE. Annie and Max Darling know a murder is planned. Can they save the victim?

The late Bailey Ruth Raeburn returns in GHOST TIMES TWO in October. Jimmy. a handsome ghost, doesn’t want to leave his girlfriend, especially since she ‘s falling in love with a fellow lawyer who wants her to join his firm. Megan’s efforts to leave her present job firm are blocked by a senior partner. When he’s found dead and she’s at the scene, it’s up to Bailey Ruth and Jimmy to save her from jail.

Ghost to the Rescue

10/6/2015

When you wish upon a star, you get... Bailey Ruth? You do if you are a little girl whose mom needs help and you touch the soft heart of Wiggins, supervisor of the celestial Department of Good Intentions. Wiggins dispatches the late Bailey Ruth Raeburn, an energetic redhead, to her hometown of Adelaide, Oklahoma, to help a single mom and struggling writer find some creative solutions to her challenges.

Deirdre Davenport writes mysteries, but doesn’t earn enough to support her two kids. Desperate for a job, she has her hopes pinned on getting a writing position at Goddard College. Jay Knox, who is in charge of the writers’ conference she is attending, will decide who gets the job, but he is more interested in her body than her body of work.

Not long after she shows him the door of her hotel room, resisting his advances, Knox turns up dead -- and Deirdre’s fingerprints are on the weapon. Bailey Ruth knows Deirdre is innocent and she’s sure Jay’s overbearing personality rubbed others the wrong way. Now she must find out who plotted his murder if a little girl who wished upon a star is to have a happy ending.

ALSO NEW!

WHAT GOES AROUND
Now in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine: Devilish doings daunt five mystery five authors who thought they were clever to purchase a fine cliff side home as joint tenants with right of survivorship – until they start dying, one by one.

FROM THE QUEEN
a short story now available online for $1.99:
Everyone dreams of stumbling upon a long-lost treasure in the attic or inheriting a fortune from some distant relative. But for Ellen Gallagher, the impoverished owner of a thrift shop in South Carolina, that dream comes true. She finds in her possession a first edition of Agatha Christie’s Poirot Investigates that has been signed by the author . . . and inscribed to the Queen of England. When the book disappears from her shop, Ellen must call on her friend Annie Darling, owner of the mystery bookstore Death on Demand, to track it down.

--available from Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook

Annie and Max will go on!

3/29/2015

I penned a Farewell to Death on Demand this spring, but a funny thing happened on the way to Life Without Annie and Max.

A knock on my door. There stood Annie, a glint in her steady gray eyes, a determined tilt to her chin. “What are you thinking?” Max was right behind her, his usual easy going smile absent. “No more island sunshine? No alligators basking on a bank? No more laughter?” Annie and Max looked me in the eye and said, “We’re here to stay.”

Do I want to see the displays at Death on Demand, catch up on the new mysteries, talk about old favorites? Or drop into Confidential Commissions and have a slice of Barb’s lemon pie?

Oh, yes. The scent of the ocean, the rattle of magnolia leaves, the grace and elegance of Spanish moss, hot heavy summer days, windy walks on a chilly winter beach, all await on the small sea island of Broward’s Rock. I’ll see everyone again, ebullient Annie, charming Max, curmudgeonly author Emma Clyde, mystery maven Henny Brawley, ditzy mother-in-law Laurel Darling Roethke, intense reporter Marian Kenyon, stalwart police chief Billy Cameron, observant officer Hyla Harrison . . .

I realized I’d miss them too much. So I changed my mind and hope to write their 26th adventure as soon as Bailey Ruth persuades a lovelorn ghost to climb the shining stairs to Heaven.

And now for Annie and Max’s 25th (and continuing) adventure:

DON’T GO HOME – Annie is hosting a party to celebrate a successful Southern literary icon and island native and his best selling novel, Don’t Go Home. The local newspaper announces that the author intends to reveal the real life island inspirations behind his characters and the dark secrets in their lives. Reporter Marian Kenyon, Annie and Max’s good friend, quarrels bitterly with the author. When his body is found, Annie knows her friend will be a suspect. Despite an array of people who feared the author’s revelations and Annie’s promise to Max that she will steer clear of sleuthing, Annie is drawn into the hunt because the police may close the book on Marian unless Annie finds the truth.

Small but lethal....

2/18/2015

Carolyn is excited to announce the publication of a Bibliomystery by Mysterious Bookshop. From the Queen, a short story, is now available in three different editions -- a lettered edition, a numbered edition, and in paperback.

All book lovers dream of stumbling upon a long-lost treasure in the attic or inheriting a fortune from a distant relative. For Ellen Gallagher, the impoverished owner of a thrift store in South Carolina, the dream comes true when she finds in her possession a first edition of Agatha Christie's Poirot Investigates that has been signed by the author -- and inscribed to the Queen of England.

When the book disappears from her shop, Ellen calls on her friend Annie Darling, owner of the Death on Demand mystery bookstore, to track down the stolen volume. Annie pursues the book and meets Death face to face.

For more information, please visit The Mysterious Bookshop by clicking on these links: Paperback - Numbered - Lettered

New in October ... Ghost Wanted

10/15/2014

In GHOST WANTED, the late Bailey Ruth Raeburn, an irrepressible ghost, mends broken hearts and uncovers the dark and devious mind behind unauthorized entries into the college library. What began as pranks at the library ended in the theft of a rare book and an attack on a night watchman.

Bailey Ruth is aided by the library’s resident ghost, the elegant and lovely Lorraine Marlow, who hides a secret sorrow. Bailey Ruth brings a happy resolution to the long ago parting of sweethearts and a wonderful beginning to a new young couple. Only Bailey Ruth’s last minute action traps a killer who felt certain of safety.

GHOST WANTED is fifth in the series. Kirkus Reviews says: " Hart's amusing and vivacious ghostly sleuth ... puts her invisibility, her gusto and her sharp mind to good use in her latest outing."

Also new this fall is CLIFF’S EDGE, love and danger in first century Rome. Camilla and Marcus are in love but the debauchery of the time may destroy them.

Recently reprinted are three WWII novels, ESCAPE FROM PARIS, two sisters caught in Paris after it fell to the Germans; BRAVE HEARTS, danger, death and love in the Philippines, and A SETTLING OF ACCOUNTS, a woman marked by the war confronts the man who brought death to those around her.

For those who like tougher books, DEATH BY SURPRISE features a street wise young woman lawyer in the political campaign of her life.

For suspense, please consider CASTLE ROCK, murder stalks a fabled ranch; FLEE FROM THE PAST, the past catches up with Janey Hamilton; SKULDUGGERY, an intimate look at the realities of San Francisco’s Chinatown thirty years ago, and RENDEZVOUS IN VERACRUZ, college students find danger in Mexico City.

<<Previous