by Sandra Murphy

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of Naughty on Ice, a link to purchase it from Amazon, and an indie bookstore where a portion of the sale goes to help support KRL.

Lola Woodby is a society matron, although a poverty-stricken one most of the time. She’s formed the Discreet Retrieval Agency with the help of her very organized Swedish cook, Berta. Cedric, the Pomeranian, accompanies them on their cases.

Each of the women has a boyfriend. Lola’s is Ralph, another detective of the more conventional sort, while Berta favors Jimmy, a small-time mobster. Their newest case takes them to ski country. Berta, being Swiss, is used to snow, but Lola and Cedric are not. The job, arranged anonymously by letter, is an easy one—get a red ruby ring from an old lady and put it in the breadbox in the kitchen.

Of course, anything with Lola and Berta gets more complicated than ever imagined so when they arrive, there’s a party going on. Not to be thwarted, they crash the party and claim to be friends of Aunt Daphne. In the bad-to-worse category, they’re found trying to remove a ring from an elderly woman’s finger, while a recently dead body is sprawled on the living room carpet. Since they are strangers, despite their claims otherwise, they are also prime suspects in the sudden death.

In spite of having a boyfriend, Berta seems to attract men wherever she goes, much to Lola’s dismay. It’s no different in this case. On a visit to the local ski jump, Berta finds herself with not one, but two suitors. The police have told the women not to leave town until the killer is found, so in order to get home by Christmas, they have to solve the case and clear their names themselves.

Lola, Cedric, and Berta manage to get themselves into hilarious situations with the best of intentions. Lola’s looser style of investigating (read: no plan) and Berta’s stricter sense of how things should be done are a nice contrast. The story is set during Prohibition times although that doesn’t seem to keep anyone from drinking what they want and in any quantity. Readers will enjoy the mystery, the potential romances, Cedric always, and the less technical times. Usually it could be said to be “slower times” but not when Lola and Berta are involved.

This is the fourth book in the entertaining series, a perfect read for the holiday season.

To enter to win a copy of Naughty On Ice, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “ice,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen December 29, 2018. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address (so if you win we can get the book sent right out to you), and if via comment please include your email address. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Be sure to check out our new mystery podcast too with mystery short stories, and first chapters. Our latest episode is set at Christmas time.

Use this link to purchase the book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Naughty on Ice: A Mystery (Discreet Retrieval Agency Mysteries #4)

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Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the Arch in St. Louis Missouri. She writes about eco-friendly topics, pets and wildlife for magazines and reviews mysteries and thrillers for KRL. A collection of her short stories, published by Untreed Reads, From Hay to Eternity: Ten Tales of Crime and Deception can be found at all the usual outlets. Each one is a little weird and all have a twist you won’t see coming.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases using those links. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.