Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Strong, warm characters; Christmas spirit
Cons: Plot could be stronger
The Bottom Line:
Murder on tree farm
Mystery, Christmas spirit
Great holiday read
Murder on a Christmas Tree Farm
Given my love of Christmas, it’s hard to resist when a new
cozy mystery series starts up with a Christmas theme, which is why I knew I’d
be reading Twelve Slays of Christmas
pretty much as soon as the title crossed my radar. A series set at a Christmas tree farm? Sign me up, please.
The farm in question belongs to the White family, and has
been operating for four generations just outside of the town of Mistletoe,
Maine. Holly has returned home after a
broken engagement in the middle of December.
While she figures out what to do next, she knows she can help around the
farm since they are not only selling trees, but they have a café, gift shop,
and host the Reindeer Games, different holiday themed games on the twelve days
leading up to Christmas.
However, things take a decided un-merry turn when Margaret
Fenwick shows up on the farm. She is
from the historic society, and she has been making everyone’s lives miserable
recently in her desire to get every single building up to code. After a fight with several people in the
café, including Holly’s father, Margaret leaves. A few minutes later, Holly responds to a
scream to find Margaret dying in one of the rows of trees. In an effort to focus the investigation away from
her family and the farm, Holly starts poking around. But what secrets might she uncover?
If you are looking for a warm, cozy Christmas book, you’ve
come to the right place. There is
Christmas atmosphere in spades. And the
games that the farm hosts? I want to
play them, too! Okay, so maybe the last
one wouldn’t be my cup of peppermint hot chocolate, but I would watch that one.
Speaking of food and drink, there are so many delicious
sounding treats in this book, I think I gained weight just reading it. There aren’t any recipes in the back, which
might be a good thing for my scale.
Unfortunately, this did come at the expense of the plot, and
at times, the Christmas spirit overshadows the mystery. Holly also spent some time reacting to events
(which is understandable) instead of actually detecting. She does piece things together in the end,
however, and the climax is very suspenseful.
The characters are outstanding. Holly may not have lived in the area for a
few years, but she still has obvious strong ties to the community. I felt the love coming through in her
interactions with the various characters.
They provided much of the warmth and Christmas spirit I felt. Even though this book is set in Maine and
there is all kinds of snow, I would love to hang out with these characters in
real life. Maybe I should plan my visit
for summer when it would be warmer.
I’m already looking forward to visiting Holly and my new
friends again. Grab your favorite warm beverage,
cuddle up by the fire, and slip into Twelve Slays of Christmas.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book
Definitely adding this to my holiday TBR!! Great review!
ReplyDeleteOh I love the sound of this one! It's too bad that all the food and family did negatively impact the plot but hopefully that will get better with the next one. In the meantime this sounds like a great Christmas read! Just your review has me wanting peppermint hot chocolate!
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