{"product_id":"mint-julep-murder-isbn-9780553572025","title":"Mint Julep Murder","description":"One of America's most beloved mystery writers, Carolyn G. Hart, the Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award-winning author, returns to her original mystery\u003cbr\u003eseries that features Annie Darling, owner of the Death on Demand Bookstore, and her husband, Max, with \u003ci\u003eMint Julep Murder\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNormally, Annie Laurence Darling would be eagerly awaiting her trip to Head Island, where this year's Dixie Book Festival is being held. But this year Annie has agreed to be the author liaison to five authors honored with the much-coveted Dixie Book Festival Medallions, and she fears she is going to have her hands full juggling murderous egos. What Annie doesn't count on is the untimely death of ambitious Mint Julep Press publisher Kenneth Hazlitt. Hazlitt arrives at the Festival peddling a proposal for\u003ci\u003e Song of the South\u003c\/i\u003e, a trashy \u003ci\u003eroman  clef\u003c\/i\u003e that details the indiscretions of some famous Southern authors at a writers' conference--writers who more than resemble the Dixie Festival Medallion winners. When Hazlitt drops dead after drinking a hit of bourbon from his private stock, the evidence points to Annie--the fatal glass is imprinted with her fingerprints. As more and more evidence points her way, Annie and Max must act fast to catch a wily killer...before the police throw the book at Annie!\"Hart wraps her light tale in a deliciously inviting setting and offers mystery readers a winsome treat.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hart offers fans another inventive and lively Annie Laurence Darling tale...Hart paints her Southern literary scene with a keen satirical brush and an impish display of colorful comedy.\" \u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003eAlfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine\u003c\/i\u003eAn accomplished master of mystery, \u003cb\u003eCarolyn Hart\u003c\/b\u003e is the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 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.The flurry of faxes began a week before the Dixie Book Festival. Sherry Felton's first fax was circumspect. Sherry was well aware of her bestselling author's temperament. She had a queasy feeling that she was damned if she did and damned if she didn't, but a long-distance outburst was infinitely to be preferred over a face-to-face explosion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFAX 1 - \u003cbr\u003efrom: Sherry Felton\u003cbr\u003eto: Leah Vixen Kirby\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDear Leah,\u003cbr\u003eBiddy Maxwell tells me a Georgia publisher named Kenneth Hazlitt has approached her with an idea for a novel, a steamy sex-and-tell piece, all about some famous Southern writers and their indiscretions at a conference. He hinted to Biddy that it's a roman  clef. She's shopping the idea around.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYour latest sales figures are super. The paperback of \u003ci\u003eLove's Lost Splendour\u003c\/i\u003e is shipping like hotcakes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSee you at Hilton Head.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBest,\u003cbr\u003eSherry\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt came as no surprise to Sherry when her fax machine signaled incoming material.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFAX 2 - \u003cbr\u003efrom: Leah Kirby\u003cbr\u003eto: Sherry Felton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDear Sherry,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKenneth Hazlitt is a mediocre publisher and he couldn't write a decent novel if somebody handed him a mouse with an IQ of 200-plus. He's a buffoon who loves Dracula, Frankenstein, and Little Orphan Annie with the Statler Brothers bellowing in the background. But who gives a damn about quality? How much sex and who are the main characters?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf I could get a spot on \u003ci\u003eOprah\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLove's Lost Splendour\u003c\/i\u003e would sell five times what it's doing now. I must talk to you about publicity. And whose idea was it to schedule my Festival signing at four o'clock? They've got to be kidding. I want nine a.m. And I mean it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs ever,\u003cbr\u003eLeah\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSherry read as the fax paper oozed out. Damn. It was too late to change autographing times. The conference program was already printed. Leah knew that, of course. But who expected the world's most famous author of Civil War novels to give a damn about minor facts like printed programs? Sherry debated calling the Festival programmer. Maybe they could put up a sign announcing a time change at the information booth. . . . Oh, hell, what a bother. She didn't reach for the phone. Instead, her eyes glinting with malice, she waited thirty minutes, then dispatched a reply. As always, she used her author's full name. One had to take pleasure where one found it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFAX 3 - \u003cbr\u003efrom: Sherry Felton\u003cbr\u003eto: Leah Vixen Kirby\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDear Leah,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe programmer regrets being unable to change your autographing time. The committee wants the most famous author available at four p.m. The local TV promises a crew, and they feed to CBS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLots of sex, according to Biddy. And the cast of characters includes the most famous author of Civil War novels; the author of the latest male romance novel Ó la \u003ci\u003eBridges\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLove Story\u003c\/i\u003e; the author of Southern sojourns of the soul; the author of good-old-boy diatribes against blacks, Jews, feminists, and women in general; and the world's bestselling mystery writer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOh, and congratulations upon your receiving a Medallion at the Festival. I'll be sure and attend the ceremony.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBest,\u003cbr\u003eSherry\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFAX 4 - \u003cbr\u003efrom: Leah Kirby\u003cbr\u003eto: Alan Blake\u003cbr\u003eMissy Sinclair\u003cbr\u003eJimmy Jay Crabtree\u003cbr\u003eEmma Clyde\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDear Fellow Medallion Honorees,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFYI, Kenneth Hazlitt is shopping a proposal using thinly disguised (if disguised at all) characters patterned after all of us. Remember Wynnewood?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe sorry bastard.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLeah Kirby\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFAX 5 - \u003cbr\u003efrom: Emma Clyde\u003cbr\u003eto: Leah Kirby\u003cbr\u003eAlan Blake\u003cbr\u003eMelissa Sinclair\u003cbr\u003eJimmy Jay Crabtree\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDear Fellow Honorees,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI smell a Medallion-sized rat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBest regards,\u003cbr\u003eEmma\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFAX 6 -\u003cbr\u003efrom: Errol Beatty, publicist\u003cbr\u003eto: Leah Kirby\u003cbr\u003eEmma Clyde\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDear Ms. Kirby and Ms. Clyde,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Crabtree is presently on a book tour. I will bring your faxes to his attention when I speak to him this evening.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBest wishes,\u003cbr\u003eErrol Beatty\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFAX 7 - \u003cbr\u003efrom: Alan Blake\u003cbr\u003eto: Leah Kirby\u003cbr\u003eEmma Clyde\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDear Leah and Emma:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet's talk when we arrive at the Festival. They're putting me up at the \u003cbr\u003eBuccaneer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFondly,\u003cbr\u003eAlan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFAX 8 - \u003cbr\u003efrom: Melissa Sinclair\u003cbr\u003eto:Leah Kirby\u003cbr\u003eEmma Clyde\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLadies,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI'll call Kenneth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCiao,Missy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFAX 9 - \u003cbr\u003efrom: Melissa Sinclair\u003cbr\u003eto: Leah Kirby\u003cbr\u003eEmma Clyde\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDear Leah, Emma,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe dolt's excited out of his mind. He says Barker, Dunwoody \u0026amp; Kell is interested. This is all on the basis of a three-page proposal. I can't believe this!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy the way, who picked us as Medallion winners? Does anybody know? Kenneth swears the Medallions have \u003ci\u003eNO\u003c\/i\u003e connection with his book. And the Republican National Committee is proposing Clinton for the Nobel Peace Prize.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI am not a happy camper. Should we cancel?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMissy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn a separate sheet faxed solely to Leah Kirby, Missy appended the following:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eP.S. The writer of Civil War novels is a redhead who always wears green--and there's a broad hint of sexual dalliance \u003ci\u003eNOT\u003c\/i\u003e with her spouse.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn her Belle Meade mansion in Nashville, Leah Kirby savagely crumpled the fax. She was a strikingly beautiful woman, tall and slender with hair as fiery as molten lava. Today's silk suit was a soft jade.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFootsteps sounded in the hallway.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLeah jammed the fax into her pocket as her husband, Carl, entered the room.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCarl Kirby was slender, sixty, with thinning gray hair. His face was pale and drawn, but when he saw Leah, his mouth curved into a cheerful smile.  \"It looks good on the interview with \u003ci\u003ePeople.\u003c\/i\u003e They'll focus on you as the greatest living writer of tender love stories.'' His voice was full of pride. For Leah. Of Leah. \"The \u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e crew wants to follow us around for a week or two. Maybe right after the Festival. They want to get the flavor of our true-life love story.''\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe stepped close, held out his arms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLeah moved into his embrace, pressed against him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe fax crackled in her pocket.","brand":"Bantam","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303261163749,"sku":"NP9780553572025","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780553572025.jpg?v=1767732763","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/mint-julep-murder-isbn-9780553572025","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}