Who Made Sure Marley Really Was Dead as a Doornail?
I hadn’t expected to get a Christmas entry in Linda Reilly’s Grilled Cheese Mysteries this year until You Feta Watch Out crossed my radar. I’m so glad it did since this was a fun entry in the series.
This Christmas, a theater company has come to town to put on a production of A Christmas Carol. While Carly Hale is focusing on her grilled cheese diner, her friend Gina has joined the cast as a background extra, singing in some of the caroling scenes. Gina’s been excited, so when Carly gets a chance to attend the dress rehearsal, she jumps at it.
It’s at the dress rehearsal that Carly discovers the flaw in the cast, Preston Lennon, who is playing Jacob Marley. Preston is so disruptive that the production must take an early intermission. But things get worse when Gina finds Preston’s dead body in his dressing room. The evidence seems to point to Gina as the suspect. Can Carly prove her friend’s innocence?
This isn’t the first time I’ve read about a production of A Christmas Carol in a Christmas cozy mystery. I appreciated that it was the actor playing Jacob Marley who was the victim this time. It was a fun little tweak.
The plot itself is good. We have more than enough reasons to dislike Preston, which means there are enough suspects to keep us guessing. I didn’t figure out what was going on until the end. But the killer and motive made sense when Carly figured it out.
And the characters are fantastic. I like how author Linda Reilly is progressing their lives in logical ways. The series regulars are fun to be around, and the suspects were believable as well. I also appreciate that, while Carly does get a few warnings to be careful, people don’t pile on her like they did in the previous book in the series.
I was reading this book at the beginning of November so I’d have enough time to review it around release date. Even so, it put me in the Christmas spirit. I was wishing I had my trees up already so I could be reading it while enjoying them. I’m not sure I’d want to try the new grilled cheese sandwich featured here, but I appreciate the theming there as well.
Speaking of which, the recipe for that and an appetizer is at the end of the book.
If you are looking for a Christmas cozy, you’ll be glad you picked up You Feta Watch Out. Grill up a sandwich and enjoy.
Be sure to savor the rest of the Grilled Cheese Mysteries.
NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.
This series looks so fun and is on my TBR. I'm so glad to see you enjoyed it!
ReplyDeleteI’m glad it turned out to be a good book!
ReplyDelete