It's Christmas in Mistletoe, Maine, and for the fourth year in a row, someone is murdered. This time around, the dead woman is the lead ballerina in the visiting production of The Nutcracker. And of course, several members of the ballet and the choreography master are staying at Holly's inn at her parents' tree farm.
I love a good holiday mystery and Stalking Around the Christmas Tree was fun. It's filled with all things Christmassy - The Nutcracker Ballet, presents for charity, delicious goodies, and plenty of snow. There's enough romance to make me smile, but not so much that it takes over the story. And there's a murder.
I enjoy the characters in this series. Holly is surrounded by a supportive, loving, quirky bunch of family and friends. And yes, her boyfriend Evan is the town sheriff, which seems a bit of a cheat, but I actually like him and he treats Holly as if she's capable and intelligent....
Slashing Through the Snow is the third book of the cozy A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery series. Each book works as a standalone, but some of the characters and relationships evolve through the series.
In the first book of the series, Holly had returned back home to her parents' Christmas Tree farm in Mistletoe, Maine. Now, the farm's bed and breakfast that she will be managing is open. Unfortunately, one of the first few guests, a rather nasty critic, is found dead just off the front porch. And one of Holly's friends, Cookie, a sweet if kooky older woman, is the most obvious suspect.
Holly decided she has to investigate so she can provide her sheriff boyfriend with another suspect. The mystery itself was good, with several potential suspects, and enough clues and red herrings to keep you guessing. Holly stirs up a bit of trouble with her questioning and gets rather serious threats and finds herself in two more...
'Twas the Knife Before Christmas is a perfect cozy mystery for this time of year. It's Christmassy from beginning (the corpse being found in a candy dish of peppermints) to end (a Christmas Eve party at an inn that may or may not have been built by Santa Claus).
Holly is our amateur sleuth. She works at her parents' tree farm where the annual Reindeer Games is underway. She's also the future innkeeper. Her parents are building an inn at the farm to help accommodate all the tourists that come to Mistletoe, Maine. Her friend Caroline is accused of murder, actually arrested, so she takes it upon herself to do some investigating, not trusting her maybe-boyfriend/sheriff to handle the job on his own. In her defense though, Evan, the sheriff, clearly has something else on his mind. It turns out his sister is in some trouble and is hiding out at his house.
There were a lot of people in town who...
Mistletoe, Maine, the setting of Twelve Slays of Christmas, is a wonderful little town, the perfect place for Holly to head home to after her wedding is called off. Her family and the town welcome her back with open arms and working at the family Christmas tree farm keeps her busy. In all reality, though she's not too heartbroken over her fiancé; he was a jerk anyway, and good riddance. Then she finds one of the townspeople dead at the farm, killed by one of the candy cane shaped markers. It throws her for a loop, which is understandable, and she feels the need to investigate, both to keep the people she loves out of suspicion and to find justice for the victim.
Twelve Slays of Christmas is the first in the series and I think Holly will make a good lead character. She's curious and smart, prone to doing what she wants regardless of others telling her to stay out. I...
