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Design for Murder (A Bantam Crime Line Book)
by Carolyn G. Hart
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Crimeline (1988-01-01)
ISBN: 0553265628
EAN: 9780553265620
Dewy Decimal #: 813
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
Release Date: 1988-01-01
SKU: M130844
Condition: Good
Comments: 0553265628 MMPB free of markings but rubber stamp impression from used book store inside. Cover shows moderate wear. Interior evidences only gentle use, spine is lightly creased & slightly cocked, pages clean; overall, a very serviceable copy. Your book will be carefully protected for transit in sturdy, weather-resistant packaging. We are prompt, efficient, communicative.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Annie is asked to stage a murder for the annual spring house tour sponsored by the Historical Society of Chastain, South Carolina. Her only problem is deciding which fictional murder to stage--until a corpse turns up in the town pond. The second Annie Laurance/Max Darling novel. Original.
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Customer Reviews
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not a page turner-
Rating  (3)
Date: 2008-11-04
Design for Murder book two was a push for me to get through- I was excited to read the 2nd in the series after enjoying the first(Death on Demand).
There were no surprises in the plot and easy to figure out "who dunnit" and it seemed like the other suspects were very very thin with little motive.
I bought some of the rest of the series after reading the first so hope they improve!
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Garden Party Murder
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-09-16
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
The suspense picks up for the second Death on Demand,"Design for Murder." Annie Laurence is dithering about a wedding to Max Darling, she wants small--he wants big into the fray comes Chastain socialite Corinne Prichard Webster with an offer no budding mystery bookstore owner can refuse. Corinne wants Annie to design a murder to be staged during their annual garden/home show, the parts to be played by local citizens with prizes and clues to rake in funds for the Historical Society.
Before Annie's carefully planned production begins someone is out to sabotage Corinne's plans with a poison-pen letter exposing all the sins of the actors. Then Corinne ends up floating in her own garden pond.
The pace is fast as Annie and Max race to save her program and discover a killer. Lots of southern tradition is found within the pages of "Design for Murder."
Writing as a Small BusinessUnder the Liberty OakSins of the Fathers: A Brewster County NovelGuns Across the Rio: A Texas Ranger in Old Mexico
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Welcome to a southern mystery night!
Rating (4)
Date: 2006-07-18
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This second in the Death on Demand series is a good, solid mystery. We still get that wonderful name-dropping from the world of "mystery fiction", and we get Annie planning a murder-mystery surprise for a small Southern town's annual spring celebrations. And no one is more surprised than Annie and Max when a real mystery occurs in the little town of Chastain. As they delve into motives and opporturnites they find more secrets in this little town than they ever dreamed. It was fun reading about their efforts to solve the mystery of the death of one of Chastain's leading citizens, while Annie's scripted plot ran through the book.I think I'm going to enjoy this series.
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Mystery Game-board, Black Checkers `n Chin (No Gin). Reader/Author Double Win.
Rating  (5)
Date: 2005-11-24
2 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
This 2nd in the DEATH ON DEMAND series has an intriguing set of intro chapters which compete with the brilliance of the pilot's opening salvos.
After the classic-mystery jazz-steps of the intro chapter pair sat me down in my chair, I, of course, couldn't resist reading further. As I did so, I couldn't help but notice that the contrast of the society maven's chill to Annie's enthusiasm was dramatic and effective.
Transition-ed from that point of awe, I was warmed into the story by Annie's reaction to being asked to do a mystery program and get paid $1000. As noted above, Annie's "badee, badee, badee" enthusiasm was an engaging contrast to the perfect portrayal of the repulsive chill of the society maven. What with the up angle in which Carinne carried her rigid, frigid chin, she'd never develop horizontal neck wrinkles, though vertical, hair-line-fissures would likely apply in rivulets. And, I'd bet money I have not, that one of her eyebrows was spring loaded.
A couple questions came to me early in the reading:
-- Was Annie going to use the Maven as victim and Roscoe as murderer, as a reality switch to the victim and perpetrator in the murder mystery game Annie was being paid to produce?
-- How would the contention between Annie & Max over having a fancy Vs intimate wedding relate to the plots-within-plots, and their resolution?
Hart entertainingly dramatized Annie's cracking out of the egg of an endearing, feisty childhood (even as a "mature," brilliant, and independent young woman), with Max as a backdrop of the truly mature, already-arrived one in the self-actualization game. In this sense, the irony of Annie's compulsive responsibility bounced off Max's (seeming) childish nonchalance was well wrought. And, Hart's periodically designing Annie as wrong and Max as right could be taken as proof that Hart's healthy self-depreciation and personal generosity has cancelled any egotism or arrogance in her character.
I believe that those tendencies seem to magnetically attract themselves to most creative persons; maybe it's the charisma they're charged (up) with. Me too. I, I, I be creative! Gotta get these thumbs out of my vest. But, only because it's hard to type that way. "Me, me, me." (Practicing my operatic slavos. Doe & Ray are continually dogging my voice, trying to get ahead.)
The type of sexual tension toyed with between Annie & Max is refreshing. It sometimes feels delightfully (and effectively) staged (like culinary mysteries collecting quotas of cooking hits, which I, for one, appreciate, yum intended). Hart's romantic sidelines are fun, cute, warming, and absolutely appropriate for her characters and genre. I appreciate the fact that the innuendos aren't obviously spiced for reader turn on ... Hart's style of sexual undertone is Leo's childlike, playful toying with male-female differences; it's not Scorpio's intense and steamy, heavy-hitting below the belt (which has been well-placed and hotly-paced in the romance genre). In my opinion Hart's style of light, Leo romance suits this series to a "T" ... or maybe I should say, to a steam-rolled-over "R."
It was worth my time to savor Hart's artistically portrayed characterizations. An especially luminous introductory description of the society maven's niece follows:
>>The young woman was as clearly limned as if by a spotlight, her attractive auburn hair glistening like the flank of a sundrenched Kentucky colt, her delicate, anguished face a study in anger. <<
My first flash upon reading the segment around the above quote was of Daisy in THE GREAT GATSBY, though of course Daisy is lifetimes jaded while Gail is a fresh pick (which is not meant to diminish either character, it's merely to attempt to get the contrast clear while the comparison is made).
Another great character description:
>> Corinne looked every day of her fifty-nine years, her cheekbone drawn so tight that hairline wrinkles marched on her upper lip like a stockade fence. <<
So was it the facelift or the upward chin habit which did Corinne(`s youthful plushness, if she ever had any) in?
In this second in the DOD series, I was captivated and literarily impressed by its use of various levels of mysteries as an echoing mirror-within-mirror, reality-within-reality. This novel could go undercover as an entertaining class on the genre, which I was certainly able to benefit from, because I'm not anywhere near as well read as most buffs of classic mysteries.
Some readers have reported feeling irritated or insecure at the mention and plot use of such an awesome collection of reality mystery titles, many of which are known only to mystery buffs of the first water. I can understand that natural sensitivity. Yet, I see that situation as an opportunity to introduce myself into the nuances of the genre, and to spotlight other series I might like to explore. I also receive a pleasant hit of recognition when one of the titles or authors happen to be one I've actually read. This constant "listing" of mysteries also allows me to know I'll be able to return to reread this series and get even more out of it as I progress in my consumption of offerings in the genre. So much to look forward to. Even with my having read so few classic mysteries, I had no trouble keeping up with the story and retaining a solid and strong interest within full entertainment regalia.
The resolution of tangents, sidetracks, mysteries within mysteries was satisfyingly, almost uncannily smooth. The mood-and-action to wrap, as expected, held several surprises and variations on mystery form schematics. The style was an opposite type of drama from the resolution of the pilot to the series, in which Annie & Max dug into a hilarious bull-dog standoff (after the murder-mood-run had its due).
Overall, to me, the style of DBD gave evidence that Hart's confidence in this series had leaped beyond growing pains, as she seemed to be taking her time developing the plot-lines without losing a Quantum of reader interest. The graceful flow exposed an author absolutely relaxed in her craft, certain of its guarantee to result in reader involvement and appreciation. This isn't to imply that Hart hadn't been a fully-seasoned author for many years prior to this novel. It's merely to note that the author's relaxation with developing characters and machinations seemed to show off a well seated rhythm and stride here.
More than most, this novel showed me why mystery afficionados reportedly reread stories in this genre. There's enough in each offering that a reread will continually surface segments which appear to have been written in invisible ink the first time around.
Well done Oh Mystery Queen, who knows how to honor the gestalt of her genre.
Linda G. Shelnutt
P.S. I probably shouldn't post 3 reviews on Thanksgiving morning. Makes it too obvious what kind of life I live. Furthermore, my holiday trilogy will probably sit on Amazon's pages in lonely, zero-vote solitude, sans coveted spotlights, until at least a week after everyone's finished burping up turkey. Okay, here's mine, offered even before I get to the oven on time. Burp. "Buzzzzz." (That's the stove alarm.)
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Got me almost to the end
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-09-09
What a great mystery - it was almost Perry Mason-like with seeing all the suspects at the beginning of the book and why they would have a motive to kill Corinne. Also like Perry Mason you had to pay attention to what was going on. It was a good believable story. I really enjoyed it and cannot wait to start the next book in the series.
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