Book Reviews – Carol's Notebook

The Christmas Eve Murders by Noelle Albright

December 19, 2024December 20, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

I don't know. The Christmas Eve Murders had a lot of what I'm looking for in a Christmas cozy - a warm fire, Christmas decorations, good food, too much snow, and quirky characters, but I never really bought into it. Maddie Marlowe, a reporter, is having the worst Christmas Eve ever. She's heading home to a town just outside of Edinburgh, but got a late start because she had to work late. Then a traffic tie up made her reroute taking her through the Yorkshire Dales, where her car breaks down. Due to the increasing snow, the auto club can't get to her until the next day, so she has to take refuge at the local pub, the Merry Monarch, which also has rooms for rent. For some reason, the pub hosts a Christmas Eve scavenger hunt, which she is convinced to join in on. And then of course, there's a murder. Maybe the fact that Maddie is an outsider,...

A Holiday Homicide by Ellie Alexander

December 18, 2024December 18, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

This time around the Secret Bookcase bookstore is hosting a gingerbread house competition, with celebrity host, baking influencer Lily. Really, what could be more Christmassy than a decorate bookstore and gingerbread? The event is going well, with only a bit of minor drama, until Annie finds Lily's dead body. Of course she's been murdered, and Annie decides to start investigating, assuming the woman was poisoned. At least the local police detective/ Annie's mentor appreciates her efforts and insights. This is a series where the main character and the authorities work well together. I like Annie. She's smart and has made a couple life decisions that have been weighing on her for a book or two. This is the fourth in the series and does pick up strands from the previous installments. I'm not sure how I feel about her love interest, Liam, yet. I think he's supposed to be sweet and caring, but he totally overreacted a time or two. Turns...

Who Slayed The Santas? by Leighann Dobbs

December 13, 2024December 13, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

Who Slayed the Santas? is fun, short, quirky and a little silly, just like the rest of the Juniper holiday series. This time around Juniper is getting ready for her over-the-top Christmas party and hires a Santa and his troupe for entertainment. The next day, one of the resident ghosts finds Santa dead under the Christmas tree. And that's just the first dead Santa. Detective Mallard and Juniper are both intent on solving the case. I like Juni. She's exuberant and caring, but she can be a little too mean to people sometimes. This is a totally Christmas mystery - decorations, food, music, it's all there. The mystery itself was fine if rushed. I did listen to the audio version. At least this time I knew in advance that the narrator wouldn't be my favorite....

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter

December 12, 2024December 12, 2024 by Carol2 Comments

The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year is as fun as the cover looks. Rom-com mysteries can be hit or miss, but this one was funny and cute and twisty without being annoying. Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt are both bestselling authors, rivals who don't get along well. Now they have both been invited to spend Christmas with a mysterious "fan" in England, who turns out to be the queen of mystery writers, Eleanor Ashley. They are joined by Eleanor's various family members and other staff, but on the night after their arrival, Eleanor disappears from a locked room. They're snowed in and it seems that someone wants to commit murder. Maggie and Ethan have to put aside their differences to figure out what's going on. The mystery is put together surprisingly well. Just about everyone on the estate is a potential suspect - Eleanor was rich and most of them have something to gain from her death. Eleanor herself has...

The Twelve Saints of Christmas by Karen Baugh Menuhin

December 11, 2024December 11, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

Major Heathcliff Lennox was formerly an RAF pilot and hero. But, now WWI is over and Lennox is acting as an investigator along with his good friend Former Detective Jonathan Swift, for Scotland Yard on an as needed basis - usually when the upper classes are involved. This time, they've been been called to Temple House, where one of the saints has been murdered. The saints are a group of extremely wealthy, elderly, heir-less philanthropists living in retired semi seclusion. And yes, they are as eccentric as you might imagine. The mystery was put together well. We had several clues and suspects and I have to admit that I was fooled. Lennox and Swift's investigations can seem a little haphazard, since they each have their own approaches, but they get there in the end. This is definitely a Christmas mystery. We've got a decorated tree and some cute cats and a dog to play with the ornaments. We have some present...

The Knife Before Christmas by Kate Carlisle

December 10, 2024December 10, 2024 by CarolNo Comments

There are a lot of things I enjoyed about The Knife Before Christmas and a few things I didn't. Shannon and her crew are working on a Christmas carnival at the Cliffs Hotel that has a Victorian flair and a couple of surprises. It sounded fun, but it was hard to picture how it all fit together - the tent, Santa's stall, the carousel. We get introduce to the Garrisons, the family that owns and runs the hotel. There's a lot of family drama, with almost all of them working and living at the hotel, and it's not surprise when one of them ends up murdered. I won't say who because even though it's obvious, it takes the story a while to get there. The killer, once we get to the reveal, isn't much of a surprise either. We do get a lot of Christmas touched here, plenty of decorations and food and drinks. I like Shannon - she and Mac...