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It is Christmas time in the iconic town of Mistletoe as the residents prepare to celebrate their 150th anniversary and attempt to make a one-thousand-three-hundred-and-eight pound and eight-ounces gingerbread man to break the Guinness World Record. I bet you will never guess where the body drop takes place.
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It is Christmas time on Sea Isle, one of the Scottish Islands, and Doctor Emilia McRoy is off for the entire month. Em hasn’t had Christmas off in years much less an entire month. What is she going to do to keep busy? Thank goodness Mara, best friend and manager of the Pig & Whistle, has plenty for Em to do in the way of festivities. Jasper, friend and owner of a local bakery, says that December is an entire month of cultural events, and after all, Scots love a party.
This week we have reviews and giveaways of 4 Christmas mysteries for your holiday reading-Blue Christmas Bones by Carolyn Haines, Rockin Around the Chickadee by Donna Andrews, Silent Nights Are Murder by Libby Klein, and Madrigals and Mayhem by Elizabeth Penney.
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This book grabs your attention with snark and honesty within the first few pages. Delores Diane Myer-Johansson has been sentenced to 40 hours of community service for having that second glass of wine before driving home. Better known as DeeLo, she is very recently divorced and has relocated to Pecan Pointe, where her mom is in a memory care facility.
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Welcome to Vermont’s own Sappy Endings maple syrup farm, where the syrup is sweet and the pastries are perfect. Well, at least the tasty treats that Leila’s talented mom, Selma, bakes at the Sappy Hour Café are. This is the 3rd book in the Maple Syrup Mystery series, and it has been perfectly named. In the book, the well-earned reputation of the Sappy Endings farm goes from great to deadly because of a killer pie baking contest.
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Welcome to the most unique cookbook that I have ever perused. It begins with a prologue of general tips noting that if butter is in a recipe, it is salted butter; eggs should always be large sized eggs; nuts are interchangeable but be careful of allergies; and not all types of flour can be substituted for another.
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This is my favorite Camelot Flowers Mystery yet, and not just because our intrepid sleuth Gwen has come to a decision regarding romance. It is my favorite because it happens during the time leading up to Halloween. Much like Gwen, I like the decorations, but can do without things that go bump in the night or cackle in the dark.
This week we have 4 more cozy and historical mysteries for your fall reading-Quilty as Charged: A Measure Twice Sewing Mystery Book Two by Maggie Bailey, No Paw to Stand On: A Bookmobile Cat Mystery by Laurie Cass, The Grim Steeper: A Witches Brew Mystery #3 by Gretchen Rue, and Murder at the White Palace by Allison Montclair.
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This is the second book in a new Jackie Layton series. I just want to start by saying how much I like that the series is titled “Organized Crime” as a play on the word organized, as in organizing spaces. Cozy sleuth’s usually have regular day jobs, like café owner, librarian, baker, and even pet-care specialist, but never an organizer.
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This is my first Jake Longly thriller, but I did not feel lost and was able to keep the players straight. An enjoyable mystery, it reminds me a bit of the Travis McGee books I read when I was younger. Different from those older novels are the multiple points of view which give more insight into what the characters are thinking. This might be book seven of the series, but it does a very good job as a stand-alone.
