Poor Holly. It's Christmastime again at Reindeer Games Christmas Tree Farm and, for the fifth December in a row, someone is killed.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The setting is wonderful. Mistletoe, Maine sounds like such a cute place. I love how close Holly and her family and friends are. They have fun together and work together and they're people I'd like to hang out with . Holly and her husband, Sheriff Evan Gray, have a good relationship.
The plot was put together well and it moved along at a good pace. We have several potential suspects and the whodunnit wasn't overly obvious.
The book and the series are so Christmassy. From the town to the food to the way the man was killed, it just screams Christmas, which I enjoy. It would be a perfect December read. And it has several touches of Christmas magic that set it apart....
Rosi is recently divorced and out of a job. She heads from her home in Illinois to Tucson to help out with her dad, who is having knee surgery, planning to stay for a couple of weeks. Her parents rent a house for the cooler months in the Tucson Valley Retirement Community. She meets a few of the locals, but of course it's not long until she finds a dead body, Salem Mansfield, the bookstore owner. Rosi doesn't think Police Officer Dan Daniel is up to the task of finding the killer, so does some investigating of her own.
I like Rosi. She's funny and smart and the relationships between her and her mom and dad felt real. She also connects with the local landscaper, her potential love interest, and gets an adorable puppy. All the good ingredients in a cozy. I will say that even though the mystery was good, the characters stole the show.
Rosi has, of course, decided...
Rockin' Around the Chickadee is #36 of the Meg Langslow books, a series I dip in and out of. I think that's part of my problem with it. Andrews does a good job with the characters growing and changing, but I only catch bits of it. But it's way too long a series for me to go back to the beginning.
Meg is a blacksmith, wife of professor/ actor Michael, mother of twin boys, assistant to the mayor, and a member of the quirky Hollingsworth family, and, of course, our amateur sleuth. She wears a lot of hats and in each book one or the other seems to be at the forefront. This time, being a member of the Hollingsworth family is at the top of the list. Her grandmother is hosting a conference highlighting the Presumed Innocent organization and several of the family members are helping by being on panels or making sure it all runs smoothly. While most attendees...
I love a good Christmas mystery and this had all everything I could ask for. We've got a manor house turned hotel where a tension-filled family is spending the holiday. We've got a snowstorm, making transportation nearly impossible. And then one of the guests, press mogul Duncan Fern, is found dead. Susan, our amateur sleuth with two adorable dogs, is at Bishopstone Manor helping Meera, the owner/manager, who hurt her leg in a fall. Susan is convinced the man was murdered, even if the family and police would rather pretend otherwise.
The mystery was well put together. We had plenty of suspects all of whom had secrets. Duncan was mean, rich, and a bully. He gave plenty of people reason to want him dead.
This is the third mystery in the series, but worked fine as a stand-alone. Susan is likable even if she makes some odd decisions. And the island seems like a lovely place to live, discounting the occasional...
It's Chinese New Year and Lana Lee is busy managing Ho-Lee Noodle House and organizing a celebration to take place at Asian Village. The head event planner, Ian Sung, has decided there will be music, a lion dance performance and a raffle. Lana, as his second in command, is looking forward to the event but is understandably tired of Ian's nagging. And of course someone is killed during the event - one of the lion dance performers.
By now, most people assume/expect Lana to investigate, and of course she does. It's nice to see Lana back in Cleveland, even if any closeness she developed with her sister while they were in California has disappeared. I also like the way she and her boyfriend detective handle trying to solve the same murder. Lana's grown over the series and it's nice to see her coming into her own. The mystery itself was well-done. The dead woman was surrounded by messy relationships and secrets....
This series has the cutest covers.
This is the typical Andy Carpenter book. We've got a rescue dog, an innocent client, and a possible mob connection. That being said, the formula works every time, mostly because Andy is a great character. He's funny, smart, self-effacing, sarcastic, and loves dogs. And the narrator, Grover Gardner, pulls it off wonderfully. Andy's friends and family are also likeable and well-developed, if a bit quirky at times.
The mystery itself is well-done, with plenty of red herrings and potential suspects. I like how all of Andy's team gets in on the action.
While the story takes place around Christmas, the holiday does not impact the story much. It's not a book I would feel the need to save till December....
