Death on the Riverwalk

Henrie O #5

by Carolyn G. Hart

In the opening scenes of Death on the River Walk, the veteran journalist and crime solver Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins (better known to mystery lovers as Henrie O) has a rendezvous with the matriarch of a San Antonio family. She says of this encounter with Maria Elena Garza:

We regarded each other. Her hair was as dark as mine, though mine does not have a raven gloss. My face is the more lined, hers smooth with a creamy complexion. I'm afraid that through years of asking questions and so often hearing lies or distortions, perhaps my gaze is more skeptical than accepting. But in the warmth of her regard, I felt my own defenses crumbling. She looked at me with eyes that have surely seen as much as mine and yet there was an eagerness and a vivacity I have lost. This perceptive self-knowledge gives Carolyn Hart's Henrie O books an extra ingredient not always present in mystery series--characters who display real-life emotions, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses, who we can easily empathize with. The circumstances in which Henrie O meets with the woman are troubling to say the least. Maria Elena Garza owns an art gallery on San Antonio's River Walk, and one of her young female employees has disappeared. A member of the large Garza tribe is a prime suspect in the girl's vanishing act. Although the potential scenarios under consideration aren't particularly profound or surprising, the milieu (a lovely shop full of gorgeous objects), the characters, and the bracing Henrie O herself are well worth the price of admission.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Audiobook, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller

Audio Cassette

First published March 9, 1999

About the author

Also writing as Carolyn Hart.

An accomplished master of mystery with 46 published books, Carolyn Hart is the creator of the highly acclaimed Henrie O,Death on Demand, and Bailey Ruth Raeburn series. Her books have won multiple Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Awards. Letter from Home (2003), her standalone mystery set in Oklahoma, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Her latest book is Dead by Midnight (William Morrow/HarperCollins, 2007). She is one of the founders of Sisters in Crime, an organization for women who write mysteries. She lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma."
New Books: Dead By Midnight Carolyn Hart


DEAD BY MIDNIGHT by Carolyn Hart On Sale March 29

The police say suicide. Annie Darling suspects murder. Max is unconvinced until Annie follows a trail behind the dead woman's house.

Annie unravels the mystery of a towel hidden at midnight in a gazebo, the interesting lack of fingerprints on a crystal mug, blood on a teenager's blue shirt, and the secret of a lovers' tryst. Max plunges deep into the woods to find incriminating evidence.

Annie sets the perfect trap for a merciless killer, but her cell phone rings and Death is on the line.

www.CarolynHart.com

And for cat lovers:

DEAD BY MIDNIGHT by Carolyn Hart

I love to have fun when writing a mystery. If I laugh, I think a reader will laugh. In the Death on Demand series, I especially enjoy writing about Annie Darling's ditzy mother-in-law, Laurel Roethke. Laurel is usually excited about a new interest, something that surprises and often confounds Annie.

In Dead by Midnight, Laurel creates Cat Truth Posters, which she wants Annie to hang in the bookstore. Annie thinks books should be the store's focus, but the posters enchant her.

Each poster features a cat's photograph with a caption. Here are three of the Cat Truth posters;

. . . a silky furred, mitted, and bicolored Ragdoll stretched out on a red silk cushion, looking as comfy as Eva Longoria in a Hanes ad: Go with the Flow.

A rectangular-muzzled, green-eyed, cholocolate colored cat appeared as brooding as a Gothic hero: Always Say Yes to Adventure.

. . . a thick-furred, piebald Siberian forest cat, its white front a brilliant contrast to a charcoal back and head. Its face appeared almost angelic: Always try a Smile First.

And yes, one of the posters points to a killer.

Fun for me and fun, I hope for readers

Reviews

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feel badly just giving this book 3 stars. She's a good mystery author but first time I've read one of her books and not to my taste. I don't like wasted words describing every dish on a buffet the character encounters at a party or a description of most of the items on the shelves of a shop. I skipped over too much of this book saying, "Get to the point "!

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was much better in terms of plotting and characterisation, as we were presented with a reasonably delectable mystery. Perhaps the setting of the story compelled the author to be PC and make her characters sympathetic and likeable to some extent. But two things robbed the novel of its potential allure. They were~
1. Intermittent descriptions and newspaper extracts bogged down the pace to snail-level.
2. The resolution, as usual, took place only in the final hushed & rushed chapter, while stuff had only kept piling up till then. Also, lots of soul-to-soul talks resulting in revelations took place only in the airport that made all those pile-ups completely redundant.
Overall, The book again felt like a lazy and vastly inferior clone of Dame Christie's works, rather than an original mystery with wit and charm.
Just one more book to go in this series now!

[Sera Lewis · Rating 2 out of 5]

New pet peeve: Mystery writers who fill pages with "PI reports" and "news clippings" instead of weaving information into the story. Like the songs in LOTR , all this noise is best skipped over... and what's left isn't all that compelling.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pulitzer Prize-winning ex-reporter Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins no longer chases hot stories all over the world, but murderous mysteries seem to find her. This time, a frantic phone call from an old and dear friend on the other side of the world sends Henrie O rushing to the fabled city of San Antonio to check out the baffling disappearance of her friend's devoted granddaughter, Iris Chavez. Iris, employed at the Tesoros Gallery on San Antonio's famous River Walk, has suddenly dropped from sight without a word.

Soon Henrie O discovers that amidst the exquisite objects in the prestigious gallery and among the family members is hidden a dark secret--one Henrie O must uncover if she is to find Iris. Late one dark night on the River Walk, Henrie O sees a sprawled body...and realizes that treachery and disgrace lurk in the shadows of an old and respected business...and death awaits anyone daring to uncover the truth.

[Linda Smatzny · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book Henrie O goes to San Antonio to help a friend of long standing find her missing? granddaughter. When she starts asking questions she is stone walled by one member of the famous Garza family. Henrie makes a connection with Maria Elena Garza and some of the questions start being answered but when a murder occurs and the least capable member of the Garza family looks to be arrested then the questions become even more important. The flavor of the River Walk in San Antonio comes thru the story. The book was a quick easy read.

[Karen Hufman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if I've ever read one from this particular series before. Henrie O. is in San Antonio to help a friend locate a missing granddaughter. The search takes her to a high end antiques store run by a matriarch along with the rest of her family on the River Walk. It was enjoyable to read and I liked the main character who is an older woman (I say that knowing that she is probably not much older than me!).

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This entry in the Henrie O series was so interesting to me since the mystery and its subsequent solving took place in San Antonio. For whatever reason, I love that area and I could just picture everything that took place. This time, a good friend's granddaughter seems to have disappeared and Henrie O immediately agrees to investigate. The trail leads her into the dazzling, moneyed world of antiquities and the folks that will do anything to acquire what they want.

[Kathleen Loose · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a read for a group that we travel with. Our destination for 2023 was San Antonio. We tend to like mystery books and so this one was selected for our group read. We read it during the months approaching our long weekend vacation and then we had fun during vacation hunting down places mentioned in the book. All six of us enjoyed the book. Carolyn G. Hart wins ... none of us solved the mystery.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun cozy. Henrie O. is an older character that has a lot a inquisitiveness and tenaciousness. This mystery has lots of possible suspects and a few twists. I kept thinking who could be the killer? Who had the time and opportunity? I was was intrigued by the story and the way it unfolded. I was surprised when the murderer was revealed. Great read!

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up because the story was set in San Antonio where my mother's family was from. Quick read. The story involves a family that owns an art gallery of sorts on the Riverwalk and it was probably just me, but there were a lot of family members in the story and I had a hard time remembering who was who. Overall good cozy mystery, though.

[Nicholas George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reads like an episode of "Murder She Wrote" with Angela Lansbury as Henrie-O Collins. Hart provides rich detail of the antique art scene in San Antonio, and the mystery surrounding a stolen horde of gold from a Mexican museum is involving. There are a few too many players, however, which lessens some of the impact.

[Babs Gleason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

Keeps your interest, good character development, descriptive. I enjoyed the book, as I have many of Hart's before! Anyone who likes mysteries that don't give you nightmares would love it.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been a chore to read. It just didn't flow like the others. Everything was overly described and the plot was lacking something. I reread a couple of chapters because I thought I missed something. Just disappointing read.

[Haley The Caffeinated Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/3

The mystery itself was fun but the author went so overboard on details (as an SA native, I was amused but also flabbergasted on the amount of details of the city itself let alone all the descriptions in the book).

[Cathie Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book was interesting but too detailed. Too much repetition. Storyline and plot were okay but not that interesting. Characters were well developed. There were some twists and turns, but overall, too much repetitive detail for me. Recommend.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical murder mystery. Sort of a cliche but had a surprise ending. I read it because I was interested in the setting. OK.

[Carolyn (in SC) C234D · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this so long ago that I can't remember details. I just noted at the time that it was well done; perhaps a 3.5.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not getting as Jazzed about Henry O as I am about Annie Laurence.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter lives in San Antonio, and I have visited the river walk often. I very much enjoy the book and it's locale.

[the lorde’s advocate · Rating 3 out of 5]

some things were overly descriptive and redundant which kinda pissed me off

[Dawn Cyr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great plot twists!

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only got about 50 pages into this book and decided to give up.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast moving pleasant mystery (a cozy mystery). It's set in San Antonio which I especially liked since I love that city.

[Mary D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book in this series--great characters, spot-on for the location, and really good plotting.

[Jinny · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mystery was okay but there was too much extraneous detail otherwise for my taste.

[Martha D. Eubank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Henrie O. Carolyn Hart has created a heroine for all, but she let's us "getting along in years" cheer for our heroine. Enjoyed learning about Mexican art.

[Linda Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really like this author and have read many of her books but I did not care for this particular story. I don't really need detailed descriptions of food or scenery....I skimmed through this book quite a bit due to details that really didn't contribute to the story line.

[Marcy Skala · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely right reviews, but I so enjoyed dining by the River Walk, strolling along the River Walk and enjoying a boat ride along the River Walk and then coming back to my cozy Airbnb and reading Carolyn G. Hart's Death on the River Walk. I love Henrie O -- not too cozy, but just right for traveling. I enjoyed Henrie O. in Set Sail for Murder as I travelled through Estonia and St. Petersburg. When I returned from my recent trip to Texas, I wondered what other trips I could take and bring Henrie O. along? Oh, I was so disappointed to find out there are only 7 Henrie O's! Ms. Hart, please have a heart and take Henrie O. all over the world so I can continue to have her as my travelling companion!

[Ann Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good solid mystery that transports the reader to the colorful River Walk in San Antonio. The famous Tesoros Gallery run by generations of the Garza family is ensconced in a web of family secrets and deception that takes the reader into the world of antiquities.

I really enjoyed traveling to San Antonio through the dramatic Garza family and their wonderful gallery. I learned a great deal about the history of the city and the daily responsibilities of a gallery owner as well as antique auctions. It was fascinating as Henry O., The main character navigated through the tangled web of family secrets to uncover more than one mystery. A pleasant mystery!