Henrie O Books In Order

Publication Order of Henrie O Books

Henrie O is a series of novels from American Author Carolyn Hart, following the adventures of a retired newswoman, Henrie O’Dwyer Collins and the various mysteries she encounters.

+The Story

Henri O Collins is a retired Newswoman. Her career has seen her traverse the wider world, covering disasters, revolutions, murders and public scandals.

Having eventually removed herself from a field she has occupied for so long, Henrie now solves murders.

The Henrie O series began in 1993 with Dead Man’s Island. And it isn’t set in any one location, with Henrie essentially traveling the world and solving those mysteries that pique her interest in the various destinations she stumbles upon.

Already in her 70s, Henrie is as tenacious as they come, well known for her intelligence and grit.

+The Author

Carolyn Hart is an American author specializing in the so-called cozy mysteries.

Born Carolyn Gimple in 1936, Hart was raised in Oklahoma, attending Cleveland Elementary and Taft Junior High. At a very early age she set her sights upon the field of Newspaper reporting, spending a considerable portion of her young life working in the newspaper departments of the different schools and colleges she attended.

Hart majored in journalism at University . During her travels in her earlier years of college, she met Phillip, her husband. She would go on to work for The Norman Transcript after graduation. This was while her husband finished law school.

Following the birth of Phillip Junior, her son, Hart left journalism. In 1964, the same year Sarah, her daughter was born, Hart came first in a writing contest centered around mysteries. The contest required participants to craft a mystery/suspense story primarily targeted towards teenage girls.

She would go on to write many a mystery novel for younger girls. Between the years of 1972 and 1987, she produced nine stand-alone mystery novels, most of which attracted modest success. Because publishers in her day had little interest in mysteries penned by female authors, Hart didn’t truly hit her stride, becoming a popular name in the publishing industry, until the success of authors like Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton and Marcia Muller, female writers who proved that there was indeed a market for female authored mysteries.

Because of the successful trends being set by these female authors, Hart’s later works (especially Death on Demand) were able to reach their full potential. Her first commercially successful adult mystery series, Death on demand, told the story of Annie Laurence, the proprietor of a bookstore known as death on Demand. By utilizing the background of a bookstore for her stories, Hart’s characters had the freedom to talk about other mystery authors.

Letter for Home, Hart’s standalone novel about World War II, earned her a nomination for the Pulitzer prize.

Some of Carolyn Hart’s works include the Henrie O series, the Bailey Ruth Raeburn series and non-series books such as Brave Hearts, The secret of the Cellars and Flee from the past.

+Dead Man’s Island

Not many men would respond to an attempt on their life by inviting the killer to try again. However, most men are not arrogant media magnate Chase Prescott, who has done just that, even while summoning to his side the one person he trusts to locate his would-be murderer.

The retired newshound, Henrietta O’Dwyer Collins, was once Chase’ colleague and lover. With a lifetime of disasters, murders and revolutions under her belt, Henrie O would rather spend her days writing mysteries.

Upon arriving at Chase’ opulent house on his private Island off the South Carolina Coast, she is immediately assaulted by a sense of unease. Chase, with his high-octane charm and confidence, saw no reason to seek out the police when he was nearly killed by cyanide-candy in New York.

Rather, he thought it better to assemble anyone and everyone he thought could have planted the lethal dose on Dead man’s Island, this including his lovely yet unstable young wife, Miranda; the sullen stepson, Huskell Lee whose dreams Chase has refused to finance; his son Roger Prescott, insistent that Prescott communications should prioritize social issues over capitalist concerns; and Valerie St. Vincent, his ex-sister-in-law and a beauty desperate for money to stage her comeback on Broadway, and that isn’t even taking into account Chase’ staff.

When Chase barely survives a hail of bullets on a secluded sandy beach, Henrie O determines to put her sharp writer’s mind to the task of locating Chase’s would-be murderer even as a killer hurricane sweeps up from Cuba, marooning the lot of them on the island.

Most fans of cozy mysteries will enjoy this, the first in the Henrie O series of novels. Taking the classic whodunit route and gathering a pool of suspects on an isolated island, Dead Man’s Island is an easy read, delivering just enough clues and digging deep enough into the guilty minds of the suspects to keep readers guessing about the true identity of the murderer.

Some readers might find Henrie O, the protagonist of the story, a little unlikable; for all her intelligence and will, Henrie is a little too bossy and conceited, lacking the charm of her counterparts in the cozy mysteries arena.

Some of the characters are a little too stereotypical as well, this not taking into account Chase, whose good looks and suave demeanor hide his unpleasant mannerisms.

Over all though, while far from amazing, Dead Man’s Island is quite the delight.

+Scandal in Fair Heaven

The second novel in the Henrie O series brings its protagonist, the retired Henrietta, back to tackle a classic teasing puzzle.

In the second novel of the Henrie O series, Henrietta is supposed to vacation with her good friend Margaret at her cabin; when Margaret falls sick, Henrie decides to go alone, a decision that entangles her in the mess of Margaret’s nephew, Craig, who comes banging at the door one random night, covered in blood and fleeing from the police.

Traumatized from discovering his wife’s body, shot to death, Craig is arrested; Henrie travels to Fair Haven, the location of the murder, and there she determines to find the real killer in a quiet town teeming with suspicious incidents.

This novel is a pleasant read that will keep you guessing till the end.

One Response to “Henrie O”

1. Pat France: 2 years ago

   These Henrie O Mysteries are soooo good! I never stay up late at night to finish a book, but I did for “Dead Man’s Island”!

   Reply