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Friday, November 25, 2022

Novella Review: Yule Log Murder by Leslie Meier (Lucy Stone Mysteries #25.5)

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Fun seasonal mystery
Cons: The subplots with Lucy’s family annoy
The Bottom Line:
Christmas novella
Good mystery, bad sub-plots
Worth it for her fans



Christmas Murder on a Film Set

I don’t read the Lucy Stone novels, but I do check in with her when she has a story in the holiday anthologies.  That means sometimes I struggle a bit with her stories.  That was certainly the case with Yule Log Murder.

This story opens to news that a major Hollywood movie is going to be filmed just outside of town, and many of the townspeople are going to be used as extras.  Lucy manages to snag one of those spots, but her joy turns to sorrow when a young woman dies on the set.  The police seem quick to settle on a killer, but Lucy suspects that something else is going on.  Can she figure things out?

As I said, I don’t have the history with Lucy’s family, so I found the sub-plot involving them extremely annoying.  The mystery itself was very strong, however, with a solution I didn't see coming.  I enjoyed that aspect of the story, but I found myself wanting to skip over the sub-plots involving her selfish, annoying family.

At only 100 pages, this is a short read, so you can easily find time to read it during December.  And you’ll find a recipe for a Yule Log cake at the end.

This story was originally the opening story in the Yule Log Murder anthology released several years ago.  If you have that, there’s no need to get this novella.  But if you haven’t read it yet, now’s the time to pick it up.

1 comment:

  1. Terrific review, Mark. I have never baked a yule log, but I've always wanted to try one.

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