Christmas – Page 5 – Carol's Notebook

The Twelve Dogs of Christmas by David Rosenfelt

December 17, 2021December 17, 2021 by CarolNo Comments

Isn't that cover adorable? If you read the blurb above, you know Andy's client, Pups. is clearly not guilty. Then it turns our the gun used to kill the neighbor was used a year and a half ago to kill Pups' husband. Someone is framing her, but who and why? The mystery is good. As Andy starts digging, he finds a prodigal son, a real estate broker, gang members, and a lawyer. I like Andy, especially as narrated by Gardner. He's smart and sarcastic and funny. The plot gets a little rambly for me and sports trivia is never going to be a clue I'll catch, but overall I enjoyed it. Really, how could I not enjoy it with dogs and humor, murder and Christmas? ...

A Murder Yule Regret by Winnie Archer

December 15, 2021December 15, 2021 by Carol2 Comments

A Murder Yule Regret is the 7th in the series, but the first I read. It worked fine as a stand-alone, but I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I knew the characters better. Ivy is a good character, curious, caring. She's a freelance photographer and an assistant in the bakery. Her photos are important to solving the case, but to be honest I was more interested in the bakery and the bread than I was about her photography business. I'm not sure if that's because I haven't read earlier ones in the series or not. Or because I really love bread and this book has inspired me to try some baking of my own - or at least plan to try some baking of my own. I have a recipe and ingredients, just haven't started yet. The first victim is a "journalist" found dead at the bottom of a cliff during a party held by film...

Best in Snow by David Rosenfelt

December 10, 2021December 10, 2021 by Carol2 Comments

Best in Snow is the first Andy Carpenter mystery I've picked up. I couldn't resist the adorable cover and Grover Gardner as narrator. It worked fine as a stand-alone for me, although I'm sure I would have known more about Andy and the other recurring characters had I read the series from the beginning. At 24 books, that's not going to happen. This time around, Andy finds a dead body while walking his dogs. A former reporter for Andy Carpenter is an almost retired defense attorney with more than enough money, so he can pick and choose his clients- unless his friend and newspaper editor asks him to help out a former reporter charged with the mayor's murder. Then he doesn't get much of a choice. Andy is clever and sarcastic and downright funny, all of which Gardner pulls off perfectly. The dialogue is entertaining and the dogs are all adorable. The plot was well-done, with plenty of twists and turns,...

Half-baked Holidays by Kat Bastion

December 6, 2021December 6, 2021 by CarolNo Comments

Half-Baked Holidays is a collection of novellas full of romance and holiday fun. They're short and pretty much rely on love at first meeting, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. All of the characters are charming or adorable or sexy. The stories are light, with attraction and flirting and learning about themselves and each other, but no major complications, no major tensions, just sweet stories. There's no cheating on each other, no love triangles. There's also no sex, just plenty of kissing and holding hands and cookies and hot chocolate. I don't know that I had a favorite story - they all made me smile. ...

Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off by Darci Hannah

December 4, 2021December 3, 2021 by Carol8 Comments

The Murder at the Christmas Cookie Bake-Off cover is absolutely adorable and honestly may have been the reason I picked it up. It's the second in the Beacon Bakeshop series but worked fine for me as a stand-alone. Lyndsey wants a perfect Christmas, she's got tons of lights for her lighthouse bakeshop, her family is coming, and her bakery is filled with all kinds of goodies. Then, of course, things start to go awry. The town announces a Christmas cookie contest with a celebrity judge, hoping to draw more tourists and their money. Every business that wants to participate, and everyone does, must have a signature cookie set out for visitors, then there's voting and a live finale. Except, most business owners don't bake or don't have time to, so Lyndsey's phone starts ringing off the hook for "signature cookies." She is overwhelmed until Carol Nichols arrives out of the blue and takes over most of the baking. And then the...

The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder by Marla A. White

December 2, 2021December 2, 2021 by CarolNo Comments

Mel is a former cop, now the owner of the Babbling Brook Inn. When she finds a guest dead in front of the fireplace in her lobby, her instincts won't let her believe it was a simple heart attack. The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder is a fun, Christmassy novella. Mel is a good character, smart, tenacious. She's afraid the death will scare guests away from her inn, so decides she has to do some investigating with the help of a local restaurant owner, Jackson, and the town doctor. At the same time, she's trying to perfect her grandma's cookie recipe for the town's contest. A good cozy mystery sleuth always has to juggle real life and solving the crime. I was suspicious of the killer pretty quickly and it turned out I was right. That didn't stop me from enjoying the book though. The clues are well-placed and the story moves along quickly. We had a couple of suspects and Mel tries...