Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Funny Christmas mystery
Cons: Who do you think I am, Scrooge?
The Bottom Line:
Stingy man next door
Jaine finds a Christmas murder
Always delightful
Bah Humbug Murder
Normally, I read Laura Levine's books almost as soon as I
get my hands on them. However, I had to
save Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge
for my annual Christmas cozy readathon.
It was certainly worth the wait.
Christmas is coming, and Jaine Austen has landed a sweet
housesitting gig thanks to her neighbor Lance.
The two of them are staying at a mansion in Bel Air, and Jaine is
quickly loving the luxuries of the place.
And it's perfect since this is a slow season for Jaine's freelance
writing work.
Thanks to Jaine's cat, Prozac, she winds up meeting the
neighbors. Scotty Parker in particular
is a pain. The man is a former child
actor best known for his performance as Tiny Tim in a mostly forgotten remake
of A Christmas Carol. However, he seems to have taken on the
attributes of Scrooge, pinching pennies and getting into fights with his
neighbors. He's even roped Jaine into
helping him polish up his masterpiece, a bloated script called The Return of Tiny Tim: Vengeance Is Mine!. Yes, it's as bad as it sounds.
Christmas morning proves that someone has been very naughty
when Jaine finds Scotty's dead body. The
police seem to think she makes a great suspect, so Jaine puts on her part time,
semi-professional PI hat in order to clear herself of the crime. But with so many suspects, will Jaine figure
out who killed Scotty?
Those who are familiar with the series know exactly what to
expect here. If that's you, know you'll
love this book as much as the others.
As usual, the murder takes place later in the action than
some of the series I read, but the pages aren't waisted. By the time Scotty dies, Jaine has already
met several viable suspects with strong motives. As she goes about trying to nail down alibis,
she only gains more. The ending makes
perfect sense when Jaine does finally piece everything together.
Along the way, we get some fun sub-plots. Lance has signed Jaine up for an on-line
dating site, and we are treated to several dates. Plus, Lance has a new crush of his own. Meanwhile, Jaine's parents and several of
their neighbors are taking a cruise. We
are treated to their misadventures thanks to a series of e-mails from Jaine’s
parents. Just from the initial e-mails
from her parents, I knew we were in for a treat with that sub-plot, and I was
highly rewarded.
Yes, this is a comedic mystery. There are a few strong laughs, mostly coming
from these sub-plots, and plenty of grins and snickers as Jaine works her way
through the latest misadventure.
The characters are more caricatures in this series, and that
holds true again here. They are designed
to give us laughs, but they totally fit into Jaine's world. Trust me, you won't be complaining about that
as you breeze through this book.
And the ending? I'm
very anxious to see exactly where that goes in the next book.
Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge is a delightfully fun Christmas mystery and another
great addition to the Jaine Austen series.
Fans old and new will be left with a smile on their face as the pages
fly by all too quickly.
Looking for more laughs and clues? Here are the rest of the Jaine Austen Mysteries in order.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book.
Thanks mucho for the kind words, Mark!! Much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteOh, wonderful, I was looking for a good holiday read. Thank you, Mark!
ReplyDelete