Carolyn Hart Popular Books

Carolyn Hart Biography & Facts

Carolyn Hart (also known as Carolyn G. Hart) is an American mystery and suspense writer. She is the author of 63 books, including the Death on Demand, Henrie O and Bailey Ruth series. In 2014, she was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. She was born in Oklahoma in 1936. Biography Hart was born Carolyn Gimpel and was raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she still lives. She attended Cleveland Elementary School, Taft Junior High School, and Classen High School. At the age of 11, Hart decided that she wanted to be a newspaper reporter. She worked on school papers beginning in grade school, continuing all the way through her college years.Hart is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Oklahoma (class of 1958), where she majored in journalism. Hart met her husband Philip while traveling in Europe during her junior year in college. After graduation, while her husband attended law school, Hart worked as a newspaper reporter for The Norman Transcript. She gave up journalism after the birth of her son, Philip Jr.In 1964, the year her daughter Sarah was born, Hart won a writing contest, sponsored by Dodd, Mead and Calling All Girls, calling for a mystery novel that would appeal to adolescent girls. She went on to write several more young adult mysteries between 1965 and 1972. From 1972 to 1987, she wrote nine stand-alone suspense novels and mysteries, with only modest success. Until the publication of mystery novels by Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, and Sue Grafton, publishers had little interest in mysteries written by contemporary American female writers; the success of these authors, however, opened the door for Hart's Death on Demand (1987), which became the first in a long-running series of the same name.Hart's stand-alone World War II novel Letter from Home was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction by the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers at Oklahoma State University–Tulsa. She has twice appeared as one of the featured mystery authors at the Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Awards Hart has won awards throughout her four-decade writing career. Mystery Writers of America Grand Master 2014 Agatha Award – nine nominations and three wins Anthony Award for Best Paperback Original – five nominations and two wins Macavity Award for Best Paperback Original – two wins Ridley Pearson Award for significant contribution to the mystery field Guest of Honor at the Malice Domestic annual conference in 1997 and recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 Oklahoma Center for the Book award for fiction in 2001 and Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 Distinguished Alumnus of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication Featured mystery author at the Library of Congress National Book Festival on the Mall in Washington DC in 2003 and 2007 Past president of Sisters in CrimeWorks Death on Demand series Hart's first commercially successful adult mystery series features Annie Laurance, proprietor of the Death on Demand bookstore, located in the fictional South Carolina island community of Broward's Rock. By using a mystery bookstore for her background, Hart has given her characters the opportunity to talk freely about other mystery authors and books. One of the ongoing themes of the series is a contest whereby the first customer who correctly identifies a series of five mysteries from the clues in a painting hanging in the shop wins his or her choice of a novel. Death on Demand (1987) also in Something Wicked Design for Murder (1988) Something Wicked (1988) Honeymoon with Murder (1988) A Little Class on Murder (1989) Deadly Valentine (1990) The Christie Caper (1991) Southern Ghost (1992) Mint Julep Murder (1995) Yankee Doodle Dead (1998) White Elephant Dead (1999) Sugarplum Dead (2000) April Fool Dead (2002) Engaged to Die (2003) Murder Walks the Plank (2004) Death of the Party (2005) Dead Days of Summer (2006) Death Walked In (2008) Dare to Die (2009) Laughed 'Til He Died (2010) Dead by Midnight (2011) Death Comes Silently (2012) Dead, White and Blue (2013) Death at the Door (2014) Don't Go Home (2015) Walking on My Grave (2017)Henrie O series Hart's Henrie O mysteries feature 70-something retired newswoman, Henrie O'Dwyer Collins, as she travels the country and the world, solving crimes that seem to follow her as she travels. Henrie gets by on her grit, tenacity, and sensible shoes. Dead Man's Island (1993), turned into a 1996 TV movie starring Barbara Eden and William Shatner Scandal in Fair Haven (1994) Death in Lovers' Lane (1997) Death in Paradise (1998) Death on the River Walk (1999) Resort to Murder (2001) Set Sail for Murder (2007)Bailey Ruth Raeburn series Hart's newest protagonist, the ghost of a woman killed at sea who returns to earth via the "Rescue Express" to help her fictional hometown of Adelaide, Oklahoma while trying not to violate the Precepts for Earthly Visitation and adjusting to her powers on earth. Ghost at Work (2008) Merry, Merry Ghost (2009) Ghost In Trouble (2010) Ghost Gone Wild (2013) Ghost Wanted (2014) Ghost to the Rescue (2015) Ghost Times Two (2016) Ghost on the Case (2017) Ghost Ups Her Game (2020) published by SEVERN House Great Britain and USANon-series books Pre-teens The Secret of the Cellars (1998, ebook 2013)Teens Dangerous Summer (1968, ebook 2013) No Easy Answers (1970, reprint 2013) Rendezvous in Veracruz (1972, reprint 2012) Danger, High Explosives! (1972, ebook 2013)Adults Flee from the Past (1975, reprint 1998, reprint 2012) A Settling of Accounts (1976, reprint 2013) also in Secrets and Other Stories of Suspense Escape from Paris (1982, reprint 2013) The Rich Die Young (1983, reprint 2001) Death by Surprise (1983, reprint 2013) Skulduggery (1984, reprint 2012) The Devereaux Legacy (1986, reprint 2013) Brave Hearts (1987, reprint 2013) Letter from Home (2003) What the Cat Saw (2012) Cry in the Night (2013) Castle Rock (1983, reprint 2014) Cliff's Edge (2014) High Stakes (November 2015) Peril Off Padre (2018) e-book onlyAnthologies Non-fiction books The Sooner Story, 1890–1980 (1980, with Charles F. Long)References External links Official website Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Hart, Carolyn G.. Discover the Carolyn Hart popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Carolyn Hart books.

Best Seller Carolyn Hart Books of 2024

  • Deadly Anniversaries synopsis, comments

    Deadly Anniversaries

    Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini

    A Best Book of 2020 from Suspense Magazine Deadly Anniversaries celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Mystery Writers of America with a collection of stories from some of the top ...

  • Escape from Paris synopsis, comments

    Escape from Paris

    Carolyn Hart

    Romantic suspense amid the chaos of a world at war. The year is 1940. As England braces for invasion and the German army overruns Europe, two American sisters in Paris risk their l...

  • Death in Paradise synopsis, comments

    Death in Paradise

    Carolyn Hart

    Six years ago, Henrie O's beloved newspaperman husband Richard lost his life on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Now, on a brisk March morning, a chilling message has arrived by Prior...

  • Set Sail for Murder synopsis, comments

    Set Sail for Murder

    Carolyn Hart

    When retired newspaper reporter Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins, Henrie O to her friends, receives a call for help, she discovers that love once kindled never burns to ashes. Although sh...

  • Crimes by Moonlight synopsis, comments

    Crimes by Moonlight

    Charlaine Harris

    A winning mystery collection edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harrisfeaturing an original Sookie Stackhouse story. Nighttime is the perfect time for the per...

  • Skulduggery synopsis, comments

    Skulduggery

    Carolyn Hart

    INTRODUCING A NEW LINE OF CAROLYN HART CLASSICS, each with a new introduction by the author! BEIJING, 1941: The ancient bones of the famed "Peking Man" are placed in two wooden cra...

  • Death by Iced Coffee synopsis, comments

    Death by Iced Coffee

    Alex Erickson

    A smart, wellcrafted mystery set in a charming Midwestern small town, where bookstorecafe owner Krissy Hancock has a sideline in sleuthingjust right for fans of Leslie Meier, Cleo ...

  • Two of the Deadliest synopsis, comments

    Two of the Deadliest

    Elizabeth George

    “This brilliant anthology of short stories by some of the most outstanding women now writing mysteries and crime fiction...is a truly glorious collection”  Globe and Mail New ...

  • The Devereaux Legacy synopsis, comments

    The Devereaux Legacy

    Carolyn Hart

    INTRODUCING A NEW LINE OF CAROLYN HART CLASSICS, each with a new introduction by the author! Leah Devereaux is a dead woman. At least, that's what the folks now running the Deverea...

  • Castle Rock synopsis, comments

    Castle Rock

    Carolyn Hart

    A young woman is convinced she's living with a murderer among family members, lodgers, and ranch hands in New Mexico. Serena Mallory came to the huge New Mexico ranch of Castle Roc...

  • Resort to Murder synopsis, comments

    Resort to Murder

    Carolyn Hart

    Exreporter Henrietta "Henrie 0" O'Dwyer Collins joins a wedding party in glorious Bermuda only to discover that death is an uninvited guest.Warm turquoise waters and balmy ocean b...

  • Captive Heart synopsis, comments

    Captive Heart

    Carolyn Keene

    Nancy Drew visits Belize and uncovers crime on the high seas in this addition to the Nancy Drew Files.

  • Brave Hearts synopsis, comments

    Brave Hearts

    Carolyn Hart

    A woman caught in a loveless marriage discovers love again in the midst of desolation. Romantic suspense amid the chaos of a world at war. Catharine Cavanaugh is caught in a lovele...

  • Death by Peppermint Cappuccino synopsis, comments

    Death by Peppermint Cappuccino

    Alex Erickson

    A smart, wellcrafted mystery set in a charming smalltown Ohio, where bookstorecafe owner Krissy Hancock has a sideline in sleuthingjust right for fans of Leslie Meier, Cleo Coyle, ...

  • Invisible Acts of Power synopsis, comments

    Invisible Acts of Power

    Caroline Myss

    For more than two decades, internationally renowned pioneer in energy medicine Caroline Myss has been studying how people use their personal power. Through her special brand of spi...

  • Follow Me synopsis, comments

    Follow Me

    Sheila O'Flanagan

    FOLLOW ME is a fabulously warm, witty and romantic novella from the No. 1 bestselling author Sheila O'Flanagan. A wonderful read, perfect for fans of Kerry Lonsdale and Liane Moria...

  • Death by Spiced Chai synopsis, comments

    Death by Spiced Chai

    Alex Erickson

    A charming, relatable smalltown setting and a cast of complex characters sets Alex Erickson’s Bookstore Café Mystery series apart from the cozy packand this time the stakes are hig...

  • Death by Surprise synopsis, comments

    Death by Surprise

    Carolyn Hart

    A woman is out to clear her cousin of murder charges after a blackmailer targeting the wealthy Carlisle family turns up dead. K.C. Carlisle and her cousin Kenneth Carlisle both gre...

  • Going Cowboy Crazy synopsis, comments

    Going Cowboy Crazy

    Katie Lane

    USA Today bestselling author Katie Lane welcomes you to the small town of Bramble, where you will fall in love with "handsome cowboys with hearts as big as Texas" (Lori Wilde, New ...

  • Mother Mary on the Heart synopsis, comments

    Mother Mary on the Heart

    Monroe Julius Shearer

    Mother Mary is lovingly known to Christians and Catholics around the world as the Queen of Angels, the Mother of God, and Saint Mary. In the book, Mother Mary on the Heart, Beloved...

  • Heart of Danger synopsis, comments

    Heart of Danger

    Carolyn Keene

    Nancy investigates the kidnapping of Caterina Reigert by posing as the writer of the girl’s father’s autobiography.

  • Heart of Ice synopsis, comments

    Heart of Ice

    Carolyn Keene

    For Nancy and Ned, a week alone together in Washington State is a dream come true. But at the last moment, their vacation plans take a chilling turn. The owners of the Alpine Adven...

  • Motherhood Is Murder synopsis, comments

    Motherhood Is Murder

    Carolyn Hart, Mary Daheim, Shirley Rousseau Murphy & Jane Isenberg

    Four of mystery's reigning matriarchs have joined together to concoct a delectable stew of clues, corpses, and felonious hijinks all spectacularly seasoned with a mother's loving ...

  • Dead Days of Summer synopsis, comments

    Dead Days of Summer

    Carolyn Hart

    Annie Darling, owner of the Death on Demand mystery bookstore, is understandably upset. It isn't like her p.i. husband Max to abruptly disappearand homicide is definitely not his s...

  • The Cheating Heart synopsis, comments

    The Cheating Heart

    Carolyn Keene

    While visiting Ned Nickerson at college, Nancy must ask him some sensitive questions after a scandal breaks out that could lead to his expulsion. and she uncovers a secret obsessio...

  • Death on the River Walk synopsis, comments

    Death on the River Walk

    Carolyn Hart

    Pulitzer Prizewinning exreporter 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 cal...