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Holidays & Vacation

Review

Countdown to Christmas Murder

by Dodie Ownes

Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone Mysteries continue to delight and entertain. Lucy, a crack reporter for the Tinker’s Cove newspaper, The Courier, always gets into the thick of it when a crime occurs, and this is a big one. Bert Cosgrove, bank president and all around good guy, is found dead by apparent suicide just days before the Merrie Olde Christmas event that draws crowds (and money) to the town. With a decades-old tragedy involving a bad plum pudding, family travails, sloppy police work, a Dickens re-enactment and flip-flopping editor, Lucy has her hands full. Meier addresses current concerns, such as doxxing and online fraud, against the backdrop of a community committed to being “merry and bright” no matter the circumstances. With characters for readers to love and loathe, Countdown to Christmas Murder offers holiday cheer and chaos alongside a solid small-town mystery and has an ending as satisfying as a Bûche de Noël.—Dodie Ownes

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Review

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder

by Jeff Ayers

Ella Chambers is barely scraping by, taking on odd jobs just to pay the rent. A few nights before Christmas, she attends a party at a mansion where her mother once worked as the housekeeper and comes face to face with Liam Montgomery, a man tied to her past in ways that she’d rather forget. Their argument that night sets off a chain of events she never could have predicted. She grabs a life-size nutcracker that she was gifted when she was younger and struggles to get it into her car trunk. Later, she’s detained by police who are convinced she killed Liam then disposed of his body. She knows she’s innocent and that he’s alive. But no one believes her, and the one person who could clear her name is determined to stay hidden. Just when Ella thinks that she might track him down, Liam collapses in her living room with a bullet wound, and the mystery deepens. Carter masterfully weaves together classic mystery and heartfelt romance, delivering a story that’s as clever as it is charming. Sharp, memorable characters and unexpected twists keep the pages turning, making this festive read impossible to put down. It’s the perfect pick for gifting to anyone who loves their rom-coms with a generous dose of intrigue.—Jeff Ayers

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Review

Murder Most Delicious

by Henrietta Thornton

Someone with no taste seems like the last person who would enjoy Paris, but Olivia Beech has a good reason for a trip. She’s a master sommelier—a highly expert wine taster—whose sense of taste has been destroyed by COVID. Before this catastrophe, she was a rising star in the wine world, and, trying to maintain her New York Michelin-star-restaurant career using only her sense of smell and the help of a trusted coworker, she has kept her malady secret. But the problem was revealed and Olivia was humiliated, and now she’s trying for a job at a Paris bistro. There’s only one problem: her arrival sees the poisoning death of the chef who might hire her, and she’s the main suspect. Thus starts a delightful mystery set in a cozy Paris neighborhood that houses friends for decades. They have formed a quirky neighborhood watch and are determined to find the killer, bringing Olivia into their kindly fold. The clever storytelling and vibrant language that Postel-Vinay brings to the books that she writes as Danielle Trussoni are here on clear display, along with intriguing glimpses of the high-end wine and perfume worlds. Lovers of European-trip books and friends solving mysteries à la Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club will especially enjoy this whodunit.—Henrietta Thornton

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Review

Such a Perfect Family

by Henrietta Thornton

Tavish Advani has found an idyllic new life. He’s newly arrived in New Zealand, having eagerly left Los Angeles to live with the love of his life, Diya Prasad, in her home country. But Tavish can’t leave behind a dogged LA cop’s suspicion that he caused the deaths of several women he was involved with there. When a fire consumes the lavish home he lives in with Diya and her wealthy doctor parents, is he responsible? The savvy local police officer assigned to the case thinks so. Case notes by that officer and the LA cop who still suspects Tavish of murder are sprinkled throughout the story of the young man’s desperate efforts to clear his name and will lead readers to think that the legal picture doesn’t look so good for him. But as the details of Diya’s earlier life with her family and their friends unspools, a toxicity emerges that makes things far less clear cut. A suffocating family is perfectly drawn here, and Tavish’s early life has its own surprises; with the brilliant twists bestselling Singh drops in, it all adds up to a gripping tale.

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Review

Solid Gold Murder

by Brian Kenney

My fear of woodland creatures (read “bears”) is so great I could never imagine hanging out in the California forests. Especially overnight. In a tent. But I sure do love reading about life in Foundgold, CA and Dee Stern, the proprietor and part-owner of Motel-of-the-Mountains. It’s early in the season, and Dee is developing family-friendly activities to attract new visitors. But when her socials start to blow up, and it is reported that someone found a gold nugget in Foundgold, Dee realizes that she has a problem on her hands. Or an opportunity? That problem/opportunity is none other than Sylvan Burr—a retired tech industry billionaire, under 30—who suddenly shows up with his entourage; he’s managed to bribe his way into several motel rooms. He’s so rich, how could he be seeking even more money? This all makes for a wonderful cozy. Dee, a former Hollywood sitcom writer, brings sophistication to Byron’s (A Very Woodsy Murder) story, along with plenty of humor, while tiny Foundgold, with its mash-up of crazy residents, provides plenty of entertainment. Sure to appeal to all who love cozies or traditional mysteries.

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Review

Murder on a Scottish Train

by Danise Hoover

It’s hard to believe that Dr. Emilia (Em) McRoy has been in Sea Isle, Scotland for a year. She moved from Seattle to the village to take over as doctor and, to her surprise, as the local coroner as well. In this fourth outing (previous titles include Death at a Scottish Christmas) in the series, she and her family of friends become involved in the death of a local accountant and train fancier on the opening night of a restored historic train ride. Ewan, local Laird, constable, and her sometime nemesis, has decided it’s easier to include her in the investigation than to rescue her from the scrapes she gets herself into when she goes off by herself. With suspicion of financial skullduggery, there are plenty of suspects, but no one stands out; we have anaphylaxis, cheating spouses, and estranged siblings. The charming customs and landscape enhance the story as Em continues to settle into the folklife and tempo of the village and, of course, solves the crime. The engaging characters and tightly worked plot will leave readers eager for the next installment.

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Review

Widows and Orphans

by Henrietta Thornton

Humor, up-to-the-minute political clashes, and more humor meet in this cozy-adjacent small-town mystery. Our protagonist, Canadian journalist Cat Conway, has had it with the wellness industry, especially its craven criticism of vaccines. Her series of articles on the anti-vax movement has made her a target of right-wingers, and scared advertisers could be the kiss of death for the Quill and Packet—the struggling Port Ellis newspaper Cat works for. Still, when the industry comes to town in the form of the Welcome, Goddess event, at which insufferable influencers Bree and Bliss bring their crystals, navel-gazing, and clothes in colors like oatmeal and wheat, Cat doesn’t shy from covering it. She aims to buttonhole the two about why they’re peddling harmful advice, but plans are derailed in favor of a murder investigation when one of the influencers is found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Finding out who did it brings us into the underbelly of the wellness industry, which is perfectly and hilariously lampooned here, but also invites readers into Cat’s thorny but loving relationship with her wellness-guru mother and an enjoyable will-they-won’t-they romance with her coworker Amir. While this can stand alone, readers will want to go back to series debut Bury the Lead to spend more time with this gutsy journalist.

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Review

Molten Death

by Danise Hoover

Kristen and Valerie, long a couple, are in Hawaii on vacation, partly to help Valerie come to terms with her brother’s death. They are staying with Isaac, who’s a surfer buddy of Leslie’s, a high-school science teacher, and a lifelong resident of the islands. During an early morning excursion to see the glowing lava rolling down the landscape, Valerie sees a boot in the lava and realizes that there is a leg attached. It is quickly consumed by the lava, and as she is the only witness, all doubt the truth of what she has seen. The police report goes nowhere, so Valerie takes on the task of finding the identity of both the victim and the killer herself. With the luck and determination of the amateur, and the friendly and open nature of Hawaiians, allowing for a few glitches, she succeeds. This is a Hawaii we seldom see in TV police dramas. The locals speak a pidgin dialect, the importance of which is carefully explained by Isaac, and the customs and practices date back centuries. The landscape is of course dramatic and beautiful and the descriptions of food and produce mouthwatering. There are recipes for some of the dishes at the end, and a glossary of words and phrases. This is billed as the first in a series, so expect more to come from our interesting characters.

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Review

Death at a Scottish Christmas

by Henrietta Thornton

Christmas and cozies just go together. And the setting of this particular cozy series, Sea Isle in rural Scotland, is even more perfect than most for a Christmas tale. The seaside town where American doctor Emilia McRoy has made her home celebrates in a big and inclusive way, with traditional Christian festivities rubbing elbows with celebrations like Viking Yule and the Swedish St. Lucia Day. This year, an internationally famous band with roots in the town is visiting, adding at first to the excitement and then to Emilia’s tradition of investigating killings in Sea Isle. Taking the criminal side of the investigation is the doctor’s nemesis/crush Constable Ewan McGregor. Their future possibilities are already happening in the burgeoning, and cute, relationship between Emilia’s assistant, Abigail, and Abigail’s love interest, Henry. The four have their work cut out for them as they pry into secrets in the band’s relationships while dodging the media in a town that wants to help but is naive to the dangers afoot. The great cozy setting is matched here by the lovable but flawed characters and the tricky whodunit element. Readers won’t see the ending coming and will be eager to get Connelly’s two earlier books in the series (An American in Scotland and Death at a Scottish Wedding, both published earlier this year) while they wait for this one.

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Review

A Nutcracker Nightmare

by Henrietta Thornton

Alex Wright and her sister, Hanna Eastham, co-owners of Murder and Mayhem: Killer Chocolates and Bookshop, are hard at work preparing goodies in their Montana store for the Festive Foods Chocolates Competition. It’s just their luck that at the same time as they’re hard at work preparing sweets for the local high-school reunion they’re also smack in the middle of their busiest season, the winter holidays. Still, they’re muddling through until a murder at the reunion stops the community in its tracks. A man who was unpopular in school and has increased his enemy count by being “gropey” at the reunion (Hanna suspects he has “an octopus in his bloodline”) meets his not-so-sweet end. And unbelievably, Hanna is suspected in the killing. The elements we love in a cozy are all here: tight family relationships, romantic interests with law enforcement, off-screen killings, food, and bookstores. What’s not to love? This one has rich characterization to boot and a story that will keep readers guessing till the last Strychnine Strawberry chocolate is but a gooey memory.

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