It’s not nice to use Santa as a weapon

Bestselling author Geri Krotow had me hooked from Ralph the watch parrot’s first squawk on the first page of her A Santa Stabbing, the first installment of her Shop ‘Round the World mystery series.

After traveling the globe, retired Navy pilot, Angel Warren, is excited to start the next chapter of her life in Stonebridge, Pennsylvania, close to family and reconnect with old friends. The widow and recent empty nester with twin girls off at college in opposite ends of the state is just weeks away from opening her Shop ‘Round the World, travel-themed gift shop when she discovers the body of an old classmate in her storeroom, stabbed with a broken Santa figurine from her shop. Despite the fact another old friend is now her hometown’s chief of police, Angel is the prime suspect.

She’s been away from Stonebridge for a long time. So even when she’s eliminated from suspicion, the town’s gossip mill continues to spread rumors she killed the cut-throat real estate agent. With her reputation and the success of her shop on the line, Angel sets out to find the real killer before she becomes the next victim.

I love Krotow’s easy style and humor, getting to know her rich characters, with plenty of suspects and plot twists and a possible romance with Nate the handsome and artistic barista — that is if he’s not the murderer. I look forward to reading future installments.

I ho-ho-highly recommend A Santa Stabbing to lovers of traditional mysteries, cozy mysteries, and Christmas cozies and look forward to reading future installments of the series.
Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

A Dickensian Delight

I absolutely loved Heather Redmond’s Mary Shelley series, so when I learned about her A Christmas Carol Murder, I had to read it and am so glad I did. My hopes for a glorious Dickens murder mystery were not dashed.

In this, her third installment of A Dickens of a Crime series, Redmond re-imagines Charles Dickens, his fiancée and friends caroling in the winter of 1835 when a body falls from a window wrapped in chains, ala Scrooge’s partner Marley.

In this instance, however, it is Jacob Harley, who fell, partner to Emmanuel Screws. Of course, Dickens the journalist sets out to not only find the murderer but also the father of an infant named Timothy, of whom he’s been accused of begetting.

I highly recommend this Dickensian delight to fans of Dickens, historical fiction and Christmas cozies. Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Mistletoe and Murder Most Cozy

In Mistletoe and Murder, A Kate Hamilton Mystery novella, we find my newest favorite crime solving duo — Kate, an American antiques dealer and her almost-husband, DI Tom Mallory in the days leading up to Christmas and their wedding in Suffolk, UK.

Despite the picturesque village winter scene, which she beautifully paints, USA Today bestselling author Connie Berry immediately sets the tone, with Kate having jinxed herself aloud by pronouncing her wedding would be perfect. It shows up in small ways at first throwing a wrench in timing for the big day in a Mercury retrograde kind of way. But the biggest jinx of all begins when Kate’s friend, Sheila — another bride-to-be, needs her help. Before long, a little help turns into a life and death situation when Sheila goes missing, that could not only nix the Christmas Eve wedding but their lives, as well.

I highly recommend Mistletoe and Murder, to fans of Christmas cozies, traditional cozy mysteries, British mysteries, and partners in crime-solving duos.

Order online or buy now at your favorite independent bookstore. Mine is Sellers Books and Art in Jim Thorpe, PA.

Review by Di Prokop, More Mystery Please

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