Christmas

Daryl Wood Gerber: A Classic Case of Murder

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Literary Dining Mystery #3

It’s Christmas time in Bramblewood, NC and personal chef and caterer Allie Catt is getting ready for a special literary dinner party with a Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol theme. What makes the event so special? An actual first-edition of Dickens’ famous novella will be on display.

The setting is the Amber Lantern, an inn owned by Noeline Merriweather (mom of Allie’s best friend Tegan); there’s a snowstorm; most of the major characters are staying at the inn… it’s a classic Mousetrap setup, just as the title indicates! There’s also list of characters at the beginning of the book. The only Golden Age element missing is a map of the Inn and Bramblewood. read more

Mariah Fredericks: Murder on 34th Street

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What Fredricks has put under the tree for her readers this year is an instant Christmas classic, the kind of book you might reach for every December – but only if your taste runs to a few murder victims in Santa’s bag.  Set in 1932, main character Grace Verlander is in charge of much of the big Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade, an event as big in 1932 as it is today.  Her biggest headache is that someone has threatened Santa Claus, and she must do everything she can to keep the big fellow safe despite the chaos of the parade. read more

Leslie Meier: Countdown to Christmas Murder

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Lucy Stone  #32             

It’s been years since I’ve read a Lucy Stone mystery but I couldn’t resist this holiday tale and I loved it so much I could hardly put it down! Lucy and her husband are now empty-nesters and as Christmas approaches, Lucy just hopes all her children come home for the holiday.

Tinker’s Cove, Maine, is gearing up for the holidays with a Merrie Olde Christmas festival that keeps Lucy busy rehearsing her Mrs. Cratchit role when she’s not working as a reporter and features writer for the Courier, now in print and online, covering all the related holiday events. Among Lucy’s assignments is interviewing Merrie Old Christmas volunteers. She starts with bank manager Bert Cosgrove, an all-around nice guy who is very enthusiastic about playing Marley’s ghost in the Christmas Carol vignettes and being a judge for the plum pudding contest – but after his interview is published he’s attacked online when someone posts nasty photos and comments about him. (I learned that attacking someone’s reputation online like this is called doxing. I had no idea there was a term for it!) And he’s not the first; at least two other people Lucy knows have been doxed. read more

Dianne Freeman: A Christmas Guide to Family and Murder

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Countess of Harleigh #9

A Christmas Guide to Family and Murder is the ninth book in Dianne Freeman’s delightful series set at the turn of the 20th century, about Frances, the American-born Countess of Harleigh, and her second husband, George Hazelton, a younger son of an earl and a secret agent for the British government.  The two of them solve crimes together, usually among the upper classes in London, even though the two books before this one have taken them to Paris.  This novel introduces a new setting: a country estate in Norfolk.  Frances is looking forward to spending Christmas of 1900 in London when she and George receive an invitation from Fiona, George’s sister and Frances’ best friend, to join her and her husband, Robert, at their estate, Hadley Grange.  Rose, Frances’ nine-year-old daughter by her first husband, is excited about spending Christmas in Norfolk, as are the two most recent additions to the family: Lissette, George’s fifteen-year-old cousin and ward, and her half-sister Christine, a young woman in her early twenties.  Frances’ aunt Hetty joins them as well, after indicating that things are not going smoothly between her and her suitor Gilliam, a theater manager. read more

Jacqueline Frost: A Wonderful Christmas Crime

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Christmas Tree Farm Mystery #6

Every Christmas season there’s a murder in the town of Mistletoe, Maine. Every year Holly White, the Gumdrop Gumshoe, solves the case. Until this year, that is. Holly and hubby Sheriff Evan White are expecting a baby and both are determined that Holly will not risk her life or that of their unborn child chasing murderers.

The plot revolves around the theft of heirloom antique Swedish Christmas goat figurines from the collection of Holly’s friend Alice. A dead body is found at the crime scene making Alice the prime suspect. Antiques Roadshow is in town along with a huge antique show, which means there are several people who might know how valuable Alice’s antique Swedish Christmas goats are. And is there any connection between the theft of the antiques and the theft of giant inflatable snowmen from front yards around the town? read more

Charles Todd: A Christmas Witness

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This novella is set in Dec. 1921 after the events of the forthcoming novel A Day of Judgement, which is set in July 1921.

A few days before Christmas, Chief Inspector Ian Rutledge is sent to Kent to the home of Lord Edward Braxton, a retired Army Colonel who has survived an attempted murder. As the newest Chief, and one who has no children to spend Christmas with, Rutledge takes the case.

The Colonel, who prefers his Army title to ancestral rank, is cantankerous, uncooperative, and convinced that someone will kill him before he sees another Christmas. The problem is, he can’t describe his attacker in detail or think of a specific person who means him harm. Since he spent the war as part of the staff for Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, referred to as “Butcher Haig” by Hamish because his orders sent many good soldiers to unnecessary deaths, any number of people could want Braxton dead: soldiers who survived as well as loved ones of soldiers who died. read more

Elizabeth Penney: Madrigals and Mayhem

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Cambridge Bookshop #4

In Madrigals and Mayhem, the fourth Cambridge Bookshop book by Elizabeth Penney, Molly Kimball is an American ex-pat who has made her home on Magpie Lane in Cambridge, England, with her Aunt Violet and her bookshop. Her mother also lives there and helps out at the bookshop as well. Molly has established herself with a bit of a reputation for solving mysteries in town. Friends and family are well aware that if they run into trouble, Molly will be more than willing to jump in to try and help prove their innocence. While the local authorities are not thrilled to have her poke around, they will not turn down a good lead or ignore any clues she offers to them. Madrigals and Mayhem focuses on Molly’s first English Christmas, and meeting her new neighbor and owner of a toy store, Charlotte Pemberly. read more

Benjamin Stevenson: Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret

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Ernest Cunningham #3

This amuse-bouche of a Christmas read features intrepid detective Ernest Cunningham.  In the first book, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, murders piled up at a family reunion; in book two, Everyone on This Train is a Suspect, Ernest is on a train trip through Australia featuring mystery authors, when – you guessed it – bodies pile up.  In the Christmas version Ernest is summoned by his ex who is sitting in jail, covered in blood, accused of killing her partner. read more

Liz Ireland: Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year’s

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Mrs. Claus #5

As August comes to a close, I’m sure we’re all sick of the summer heat and more than ready for cooler weather. Liz Ireland takes readers on a winter vacation in Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year’s, the fifth book in the Mrs. Claus series. The fantastical town of Santaland is where April, the current Mrs. Claus, makes her home with the current Santa, Nick. The whole town is alive with Christmas cheer as Nick is about to head out on his yearly excursion. All the elves are ready for the celebrations, already singing carols, well into eggnog, dancing with abandon. April is a little less enthusiastic simply because she worries about Nick making it home safely. He’s done the trip plenty of times, but the idea of him rocketing about the world in an old sleigh without seatbelts and only flying reindeer to keep it steady has April uneasy. read more

Catriona McPherson: Hop Scot

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Last Ditch #6

This hilarious breath of fresh air from Catriona McPherson has rocketed on to my all time favorite Christmas mystery list.  This series centers on Scot Lexy Campbell, who has settled in the strange land of California, and lives in a motel surrounded by an array of interesting characters who often help her solve crimes.  Her “real” job is working as a life coach, but honestly, sleuthing takes front and center stage for her.

In this outing McPherson has flipped the script, and sent Lexy and her buddies home (Lexy’s home, anyway) to Scotland for Christmas.  While it was a trip planned for just her and her fiancée, their buddy Roger the doc says he needs to get out of town and buys them all swanky airplane tickets – how can they refuse? read more