These Christmas themed mysteries offer a light, quiet diversion and chance to send part of the holidays with favorite characters.
CHRISTMAS SWEETS by
Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, Leslie
Meier is another collection of three novellas by prolific mystery writers: The
twelve desserts of Christmas; Nightmare on Elf Street and The Christmas thief,
respectively.
Fluke’s story takes place at a boarding school
where a few students are spending the holidays with two romantically inclined
teachers. Hannah Swenson, of course, makes an appearance along with several
holiday recipes. Levine’s nightmare story involves a murdered Santa with one of
his elves as a key suspect.
And, Meier transports Lucy Stone from Tinker’s
Cove, Maine to Florida where her own daughter is embroiled in a puzzling theft.
Familiar characters and the holiday theme (plus some great recipes!) make this
a fun read – cozy up by the fire and enjoy! 3.5 stars
CHRISTMAS CARD
MURDER by Leslie Meier,
Lee Hollis, Peggy Ehrhart was just recently published and contains a collection
of three stories by these authors: Christmas Card Murder; Death of a Christmas
Carol; and Death of a Christmas Card Crafter. As I often do (guilty pleasure), I
enjoyed escaping reality for a bit with the Lucy Stone story which involved a
threatening message on an old Christmas card found during a house renovation. Frankly,
though, I gave up in the midst of Death of a Christmas Carol after a human character
“barked” for about the tenth time; who says that?
Ratings on amazon and GoodReads are more
positive for this set of stories so maybe I missed a clever play on words instead
of the editor missing a chance to improve the writing? 2.5 stars
THE CHRISTMAS SPIRITS ON TRADD STREET by Karen White is a blend of mystery, history, and romance
with a dash of paranormal spirits.
Technically part of a series set in Charleston and featuring Melanie Trenholm, this title can be read
alone. Disturbed by some construction, the spirits are related to a long ago spy
ring. Melanie deals with their attempts at messaging as well as current day
rivals, business concerns, and holiday entertaining obligations. A light and
undemanding, entertaining read. 3.0
stars
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