Flee from the Past

by Carolyn G. Hart

In 1966, Ann Severin was a carefree college student in Italy...until she disappeared without a trace. Six years later, wife and mother Janey Hamilton is targeted by someone threatening to expose the truth about her connection to Ann and the horrible crime she committed. Janey thought she had outrun her past, but her secrets cast a long shadow.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

187 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

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

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 stars. Heart pounding read

[Nattie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn on this one. The book is good, and there were some moments that literally had me breathless, I thought I might pass out during many of the intense chapters. Janey is a character that makes you care about her, but that was my number one issue.

Janey Hamilton has a huge secret, a heartbreaking secret that she has been keeping for five years. You don't find out what it is until around page 96. When it was revealed, I felt hatred for Janey. She deserved to pay for what she did, regardless of the fact that she was used and duped and didn't know what she was actually doing.

We all have choices to make in our lives, and Janey willingly took on jobs from an unknown source. All she had to do was make a delivery here and there, and she liked the money she was making and that the jobs provided her with the ability to travel while practically doing nothing. Her choice eventually led to a horrific event taking place, one that devastated so many.

I felt that Janey understood what she unwittingly did was beyond wrong and was sorry for it, but she still didn't want to pay for it. She was 26 now, and had a new life that she cherished, and she did not want to lose it no matter what, which was why she refused to go to the police when she was being stalked, doing that would have ensured that she received proper punishment, so she decided to face down her enemy on her own.

I kept thinking well what if Janey's enemy was someone who had suffered the pain of losing a loved one because of what she had done? Even though they would obviously be going about getting vengeance the wrong way, was she right to hunt them down to protect herself?

This is once again one of those authors that acts like being over a certain age means you're falling apart. Janey reflected on how things had been five years ago, when she had been young and beautiful at 21. I guess 26 is old and ugly. In another chapter, she meets someone from her past, and when he smiled, she could see the telltale sign of age, though he was still handsome at 28.

It honestly boggles my mind how people used to think about age. No wonder so many had a complex, at least now they give you until your mid 30's before they start trashing you and sending you off to the old folk's home.

[LeAnne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This appears to be her first novel, written in 1975...a stand alone book, not part of any of her series novels. It is VERY good. Suspenseful and kept me up late reading it. Janey Hamilton has a past under a different name and now someone wants revenge for something she did. She doesn't know who it is. The person has left a warning in her newspaper and on her garage. She must now take steps to protect her four year old daughter, Margaret, and lead the killer away until she can find out who is trying to get revenge for something she did years ago. Slowly we get hints of what she is accused of and learn about some of the people in her past from that time. Janey uses all her wits to stay ahead of the killer and stay alive.