Twelve Slays of Christmas
A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery, Book #1
Jacqueline Frost
5 Stars
Synopsis:
When Holly White’s fiance cancels their Christmas Eve wedding with less than two weeks to go, Holly heads home with a broken heart. Lucky for her, home in historic Mistletoe, Maine is magical during Christmastime–exactly what the doctor prescribed. Except her plan to drown her troubles in peppermints and snickerdoodles is upended when local grouch and president of the Mistletoe Historical Society Margaret Fenwick is bludgeoned and left in the sleigh display at Reindeer Games, Holly’s family tree farm.
When the murder weapon is revealed as one of the wooden stakes used to identify trees on the farm, Sheriff Evan Grey turns to Holly’s father, Bud, and the Reindeer Games staff. And it doesn’t help that Bud and the reindeer keeper were each seen arguing with Margaret just before her death. But Holly knows her father, and is determined to exonerate him.The jingle bells are ringing, the clock is ticking, and if Holly doesn’t watch out, she’ll end up on Santa’s naughty list in Twelve Slays of Christmas, Jacqueline Frost’s jolly series debut. (Goodreads)
Review:
The characters are well developed and well rounded. I thought Holly was a smart tough woman who just wants to put her life back together after being jilted by her fiance. She figures returning home to Mistletoe, Maine, is just what she needs. But when a dead body turns up on her parents tree farm, she is going to have to use all of her smarts to figure out the culprit. I really enjoyed spending time with her and her parents. I think one of my favorite characters was Cookie because she was quirky and unconventional. She had me smiling throughout much of the book.
The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and through much of the book I felt like I was right there, watching all of the action taking place. I could almost smell the evergreens on the tree farm and see all of the holiday decorations that Mistletoe had displayed.
The mystery was well plotted and it was not an easy crime to solve. There were enough suspects (including Holly’s father) to consider and clues to sift through that even the most experienced armchair detective will have trouble solving this mystery.
I would recommend cozy mystery to anyone who enjoys a well crafted book. This book has everything that I look for in a cozy and it is hard to believe that this book is a debut for the author-it is that good. I cannot wait to read the next release in this series. I sure hope it is a long running cozy series.
I received a free copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and review this fantastic book.
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