Christmas – Page 3 – Carol's Notebook

An Ale of Two Cities by Sarah Fox

December 12, 2019December 12, 2019 by CarolNo Comments

I picked up An Ale of Two Cities thanks to Kensington's November Mystery launch party on Facebook. I had not heard of the Literary Pub series before, but it sounded like a fun idea. Sadie, our amateur sleuth runs a bar, the Inkwell, that serves food and drink with book pun names and the shelves are full of her book collection. I wish we had a place like that in our town. This is the second in the series, but it worked fine as a stand-alone for me. I skipped to #2 because it's set around Christmas, which was the second draw for me. It's Winter Carnival Time in Shady Creek, Vermont. One of the highlights is the ice sculpture contest and one of Sadie’s employees, Mel, has entered. One of the other contestants is a local man who made it big in Boston and is now a famous chef. He's a jerk and treats everyone in town like...

The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly

December 9, 2019December 9, 2019 by Carol4 Comments

Three days before Christmas, Inspector Nightingale is called to the scene of a suspicious death. An elderly woman has been found dead in her bed. It may have been natural cause, but she has been robbed. Nightingale discovers she was a Russian princess who had fled to Britain during the Revolution, bringing with her jewelry and valuable pieces of art. There has been a recent spate of burglaries and Nightingale suspects this is another by the same group. We know from the beginning that the princess's grandson is probably involved and there's never really any doubt that it's connected to the other thefts. The bulk of the book follows Nightingale and his sergeant as they identify and catch the thieves. While the story takes place around Christmas, it's not very Christmassy. There are no interrupted celebrations, no warm feelings. There is a bit of present buying, but even that turns out questionable, and traipsing through the snow can be deadly....

Mailbox Monday

November 25, 2019January 6, 2020 by Carol12 Comments

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. Tell us about your new arrivals by adding your Mailbox Monday post to the linky at mailboxmonday.wordpress.com. Left-Handed Death was first published in 1946. I've never read anything by Richard Hull, so am looking forward to it. My review of Christmas at the Chateau is scheduled for December 5. ...

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

January 3, 2019January 3, 2019 by Carol6 Comments

When will these older, wealthy men stop inviting their whole families, most of whom hate them or each other, to Christmas house parties? Simeon Lee is the one who's done it this time. All his children, a grandchild none of the others know, and an old "friend's" son, are at the house for Christmas and of course Simeon Lee ends up dead, killed in a locked room. There are plenty of motives, although how was he killed is a good question. The killer was a surprise to me. I'm not sure we really had enough clues to guess who it was on our own. But it's a good ending. I do love Christie. I also listened to this short story. It's another Christmas only this time, Poirot already knows what the crime was, a stolen gem. It's his job to track it down. But he also learns how enjoyable an English Christmas can be. There's no actual murder in this one, which...

Slay Bells by T. C. Wescott

January 2, 2019January 4, 2019 by Carol9 Comments

Slay Bells by T. C. Wescott was one of the books I finished on New Year's Eve. I had two current reads that I wanted to finish before the end of the year, which I did, this one and Hercule Poirot's Christmas. They winded up my year's reading and my Christmas books. Slay Bells is probably the most Christmassy mystery I've read. It takes place in Christmas Village during the annual Christmas festival and stars Mrs. Maribel Claus as our amateur detective. She has plenty of time on her hands this time of year, since her husband is so busy in his workshop. The entertainers lodging in Plum Cottage are hired for the festival, but then one of them is murderer in a rather mysterious way. The actual villagers are never suspects. The killer is obviously a member of the troupe, no one else could have a motive. I loved the holiday atmosphere, the customs and stories of Christmas Village. The characters...

‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost

December 14, 2018December 14, 2018 by Carol6 Comments

'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...