Book Look Review "April Fool Dead"

“April Fool Dead”


I want to do my part to help the economy. My stimulus package is simple. It involves a library book and chocolate. If you are really in a financial crisis you could skip the chocolate but I wouldn’t suggest it. Times are tough and we are looking for ways to cut back on our expenses and shop for deals on the necessities. The first item in my stimulus package - love that new term by the way and have been using it whenever appropriate, is to get free books from the library instead of buying them. The second part, the save on necessities part, is to then cancel your cable TV and movies by mail subscription. You will save big bucks in just one year. Enough to buy chocolate for 30 cents a bar at the Nestle (Stouffers to us locals) outlet store here in Springville. You will be helping our local economy by keeping a large local employer in business and our local doctors in business treating us for the chocolate consumption side effects. Economic crisis solved for Springville by reading and eating chocolate!

As you can see by the title, this week’s book is a light read appropriate for escaping the economic bad news we read every day. Carolyn Hart is an author who only wants us all to be happy. She writes mysteries so unbelievable with characters so implausible that we are surprised we like them so much. In “April Fool Dead” – which I chose shamelessly for the title this month, Hart sticks to her whodunit formula. It is part of the Death on Demand Mystery series featuring Annie and Max Darling who live on an island in South Carolina. Islands of course being the perfect setting for mysteries since the author can control the movements of the characters.

Annie decides to bring a special guest mystery author to talk at her bookstore on the island. She offers a free book to whoever can solve the riddles on a flyer she has distributed all over the island. However, someone else uses the promotion to promote their own agenda and it is causing lots of problems for the Darlings and their neighbors. Things really heat up when they discover that they are searching for a murderer, not just a prankster.

This book is like a chocolate bar. You know what’s in it from the wrapper, but you just can’t resist it. It won’t do you any good – but you don’t care. Sometimes you just need to have a little fun while saving the economy by reading a library book and eating Nestlé’s
chocolate.