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Series · cozy mystery
Death on Demand
The Death on Demand series by Carolyn Hart has 26 known books (26 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with Death on Demand (1987).
- Books
- 26 known books (26 novels)
- Published
- 26
- First published
- 1987
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
Start here: Death on Demand (1987)
— then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Death on Demand
Death on Demand, running 224 pages, opens Carolyn Hart's series in 1987 by introducing Annie Laurance's mystery bookstore on the fictional South Carolina resort island of Broward's Rock -- a setting that becomes a love letter to Golden Age mystery writers across the whole run. Design for Murder follows it. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Death on Demand - Book 2:
Design for Murder
Design for Murder, published in 1988 at 281 pages, is a novel by Carolyn Hart. It sits at #2 in Death on Demand's reading order. It sits between Death on Demand and Something Wicked. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Design for Murder - Book 3:
Something Wicked
Something Wicked is a novel by Carolyn Hart, in 1988 at 321 pages. It is book #3 of Death on Demand. It picks up after Design for Murder and hands off to Honeymoon with Murder. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Something Wicked - Book 4:
Honeymoon with Murder
Honeymoon with Murder is a novel by Carolyn Hart, in 1988 at 327 pages. It is book #4 of Death on Demand. It picks up after Something Wicked and hands off to A Little Class on Murder. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Honeymoon with Murder - Book 5:
A Little Class on Murder
A Little Class on Murder is a novel by Carolyn Hart, running at 299 pages in 1989. It is entry #5 in Death on Demand. Reading order runs Honeymoon with Murder to this book to Deadly Valentine. Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Little Class on Murder - Book 6:
Deadly Valentine
Deadly Valentine came out in 1990 at 214 pages, a novel by Carolyn Hart. It sits at #6 in Death on Demand's reading order. It sits between A Little Class on Murder and The Christie Caper. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Deadly Valentine - Book 7:
The Christie Caper
The Christie Caper is a novel by Carolyn Hart, in 1991 at 317 pages. It is book #7 of Death on Demand. It sits between Deadly Valentine and Southern Ghost. Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Christie Caper - Book 8:
Southern Ghost
Southern Ghost is a novel by Carolyn Hart, running at 322 pages in 1992. It is entry #8 in Death on Demand. It sits between The Christie Caper and Mint Julep Murder. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Southern Ghost - Book 9:
Mint Julep Murder
Mint Julep Murder, published in 1995 at 299 pages, is a novel by Carolyn Hart. It is entry #9 in Death on Demand. It picks up after Southern Ghost and hands off to Yankee Doodle Dead. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Mint Julep Murder - Book 10:
Yankee Doodle Dead
Yankee Doodle Dead came out in 1998 at 304 pages, a novel by Carolyn Hart. It sits at #10 in Death on Demand's reading order. It sits between Mint Julep Murder and White Elephant Dead. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Yankee Doodle Dead - Book 11:
White Elephant Dead
White Elephant Dead came out in 1999 at 304 pages, a novel by Carolyn Hart. It sits at #11 in Death on Demand's reading order. Yankee Doodle Dead comes before it, Sugarplum Dead after. Alternative text for cover: Cover of White Elephant Dead - Book 12:
Sugarplum Dead
Sugarplum Dead is a novel by Carolyn Hart, released in 2000 at 373 pages. It holds position #12 in Death on Demand. It picks up after White Elephant Dead and hands off to April Fool Dead. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Sugarplum Dead - Book 13:
April Fool Dead
April Fool Dead is a novel by Carolyn Hart, running at 307 pages in 2002. It is book #13 of Death on Demand. Sugarplum Dead precedes it, and Engaged to Die follows. Alternative text for cover: Cover of April Fool Dead - Book 14:
Engaged to Die
Engaged to Die is a novel by Carolyn Hart, released in 2003 at 352 pages. It is book #14 of Death on Demand. Reading order runs April Fool Dead to this book to Murder Walks the Plank. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Engaged to Die - Book 15:
Murder Walks the Plank
Murder Walks the Plank is a novel by Carolyn Hart, in 2004 at 298 pages. It is entry #15 in Death on Demand. Reading order runs Engaged to Die to this book to Death of the Party. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Murder Walks the Plank - Book 16:
Death of the Party
Death of the Party is a novel by Carolyn Hart, in 2005 at 293 pages. It is book #16 of Death on Demand. It picks up after Murder Walks the Plank and hands off to Dead Days of Summer. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Death of the Party - Book 17:
Dead Days of Summer
Dead Days of Summer is a novel by Carolyn Hart, released in 2006 at 280 pages. It sits at #17 in Death on Demand's reading order. It picks up after Death of the Party and hands off to Death Walked In. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dead Days of Summer - Book 18:
Death Walked In
Death Walked In is a novel by Carolyn Hart, released in 2008 at 304 pages. It is entry #18 in Death on Demand. Dead Days of Summer comes before it, Dare to Die after. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Death Walked In - Book 19:
Dare to Die
Dare to Die is a novel by Carolyn Hart, in 2009 at 288 pages. It sits at #19 in Death on Demand's reading order. It picks up after Death Walked In and hands off to Laughed 'Til He Died. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dare to Die - Book 20:
Laughed 'Til He Died
Laughed 'Til He Died is a novel by Carolyn Hart, running at 282 pages in 2010. It is entry #20 in Death on Demand. Reading order runs Dare to Die to this book to Dead by Midnight. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Laughed 'Til He Died - Book 21:
Dead by Midnight
Dead by Midnight, published in 2011 at 279 pages, is a novel by Carolyn Hart. It sits at #21 in Death on Demand's reading order. Laughed 'Til He Died precedes it, and Death Comes Silently follows. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dead by Midnight - Book 22:
Death Comes Silently
Death Comes Silently is a novel by Carolyn Hart, released in 2012. It is entry #22 in Death on Demand. It sits between Dead by Midnight and Dead, White and Blue. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Death Comes Silently - Book 23:
Dead, White and Blue
Dead, White and Blue is a novel by Carolyn Hart, in 2013 at 348 pages. It holds position #23 in Death on Demand. It picks up after Death Comes Silently and hands off to Death at the Door. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dead, White and Blue - Book 24:
Death at the Door
Death at the Door is a novel by Carolyn Hart, in 2014 at 284 pages. It is book #24 of Death on Demand. It sits between Dead, White and Blue and Don't Go Home. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Death at the Door - Book 25:
Don't Go Home
Don't Go Home is a novel by Carolyn Hart, running at 304 pages in 2015. It sits at #25 in Death on Demand's reading order. It sits between Death at the Door and Walking on My Grave. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Don't Go Home - Book 26:
Walking on My Grave
Walking on My Grave (2017, 336 pages) is, for now, the last book in Death on Demand, following Don't Go Home as the twenty-sixth entry in Carolyn Hart's self-aware cozy series, treated as complete since no new title has followed it. Alternative text for cover: Cover of Walking on My Grave
Key facts about the Death on Demand series
The Death on Demand series has 26 books on our list. Since all 26 are out now, you can read the whole list today.
Start with Death on Demand, since it opens the publication order in 1987. Design for Murder is book 2, from 1988. Something Wicked is book 3, from 1988.
Honeymoon with Murder is book 4, from 1988. A Little Class on Murder is book 5, from 1989. Deadly Valentine is book 6, from 1990.
The Christie Caper is book 7, from 1991, while Southern Ghost is book 8, from 1992. Mint Julep Murder is book 9, from 1995.
Yankee Doodle Dead is book 10, from 1998, while White Elephant Dead is book 11, from 1999. Sugarplum Dead is book 12, from 2000. Since the list above shows all 26, you can find the rest there.
Each title links to its own page, while the list keeps them in date order. Each book page shows its dates and editions. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.
The books came out between 1987 and 2017, while their length runs from 214 to 373 pages. That is a run of 30 years.
Carolyn Hart has 43 books on our list. Additionally, they write Henrie O and Bailey Ruth Raeburn. We shelve the books under cozy mystery.
About the Death on Demand series
Annie Laurance owns Death on Demand, a mystery bookstore on the fictional South Carolina resort island of Broward's Rock, where she sells classic whodunits by day and, with alarming frequency, finds herself investigating real ones. She's joined by her eventual husband Max Darling, a wealthy dilettante who turns amateur-investigation into his own semi-serious profession, and the island's tight social world of writers, retirees and local eccentrics supplies both suspects and victims book after book.
Carolyn Hart is one of the founding figures of the modern cozy mystery boom, and Death on Demand is explicitly a love letter to the genre itself: the bookstore setting lets Hart drop in constant references to Golden Age mystery writers (Agatha Christie gets a whole book, The Christie Caper, built around a fan convention), and the series' whodunit plotting is deliberately old-fashioned and fair-play in the classic tradition. It's for readers who want their cozy mystery self-aware about its own genre, with a bookseller heroine whose taste in reading doubles as a reading list for anyone who wants more of exactly this kind of book.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Death on Demand series?
There are 26 Death on Demand novels, from Death on Demand (1987) to Walking on My Grave (2017).
What order should I read Death on Demand in?
Publication order, starting with Death on Demand. Annie Laurance and Max Darling's courtship and marriage develop over the first several books, so early reading order matters more than later on.
Is the Death on Demand series finished?
No new title has been published since Walking on My Grave in 2017 and none has been announced, so the series is treated as complete for now; this page will be updated if that changes.
Is Death on Demand a standalone series from Carolyn Hart's other books?
Yes. It's distinct from her Bailey Ruth ghost-detective series and her standalone suspense novels.
Why is The Christie Caper a notable entry in the series?
It centers on a convention celebrating Agatha Christie, reflecting the series' constant, affectionate references to classic Golden Age mystery writers throughout the bookstore setting.
If you like the Death on Demand series
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