Just like the one and only other Annie and Max book I read, this one got on my ever-loving nerves! Why must Ms. Hart constantly reference other books, authors and even characters? It happens on almost every single page of the 300+ page book. She combined the doggedness of Bertha Cool (who?) confronting Donald Lam (who?) with the serenity of Maud Silver (who?) quoting Tennyson. That entire sentence could have been written and better understood without all those extra people that mean nothing to most readers.
Obviously she is a talented writer so why does she rely on other authors characters to move her story along? It was hard to stay invested in the mystery because all these references to other characters kept pulling my attention away from this mystery. That said, I did enjoy the mystery itself which literally kept me guessing until the last chapter. I never suspected the guilty party and was shocked. And honestly WTH did Laurel's flower crap have to do with the mystery? It was just put there for no reason and was another annoying aspect of this book.
I own one other book in the Death on Demand series so I guess at some point I'll actually read it but I won't be picking up any others. They are just too irritating.
