Review - An Eggnog to Die For

I'm just now getting into some holiday themed mysteries that I had planned on reviewing a few weeks ago.  I am just going to roll with it, which means even after the 25th I will probably still be reviewing some to stretch out the holiday season!  First up is a foodie themed holiday cozy mystery, check this out.

Author: Amy Pershing

Copyright: November 2021 (Berkley) 320 pgs

Series: 2nd in Cape Cod Foodie mystery series

Sensuality: mild, kissing

Mystery Sub-genre: Cozy mystery, Amateur sleuth

Main Characters: Samantha Barnes, chef turned restaurant critic for Cape Cod Clarion

Setting: Contemporary, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Obtained Through: Netgalley for honest review

Book Blurb: "Professional foodie Samantha Barnes has a simple Christmas list: a quiet holiday at home with her dog and a certain handsome harbor master; no embarrassing viral videos; and no finding dead bodies. Unfortunately she’s got family visiting, she’s spending a lot of time in front of the camera, and she’s just stumbled over the lifeless body of the town’s Santa Claus.

 

Plus, Sam’s plans for Christmas Eve are getting complicated.  There’s the great eggnog debate among her very opinionated guests.  There’s the “all edible” Christmas tree to decorate.  And there’s her Feast of the Five Fishes prepare. Nonetheless, Sam finds herself once again in the role of sleuth. She needs to find out who slayed this Santa—but can she pull off a perfect feast and nab a killer?"

Samantha is 6-foot tall, extroverted, clever, sarcastic, and easily relatable with a relentless curiosity-but she does some risky things.  She has an overly large dog name Diogi, always a hit.  Friends include Helene Greenberg, her nextdoor neighbor and the town librarian, Jenny Snow Singleton is a friend since childhood,  Miles Tanner is an old high school friend and local organic farmer, and Krista Baker is the publisher of the Clarion and old friend.  Her parents, Robert and Veronica Barnes, were the prior Clarion editor in chief and senior journalist, burst into town for the holidays.  Dad is secretive about something he spends time on and Mom is asked to do an article on the murder who thinks there is promise in a mob angle--further complicating Sam's holiday.  Introverted Jason Captiva is her old and new boyfriend who is the town harbormaster.  Sam's extroverted ways are struggling with Jason's introverted tendencies.

The main plot is finding the killer who killed Santa.  There are several subplots including keeping her mother out of trouble as she writes an article on the murder for the local paper, hosting and cooking a multiple-course Christmas Eve dinner, and navigating her confusing relationship with Jason.  Bad Santa knew a lot of people's secrets and had plenty of victims lined up to stop with his sanctimonious "doing the right thing" ways.  So there were plenty of red herrings.  Sam takes risks with her suspected killer suspects, which is out of character for an otherwise smart woman.  She goes through a few people she is convinced is the killer before she hits on the real killer. 

 

The killer confrontation is an example of best laid plans going awry (Sam was going to confront the killer safely). This provided a few tense moments that I enjoyed.  The wrap up finished up with family and friends.  It left me feeling a bit empty without all the characters that filled the book

My thoughts: If you enjoy cozies with lots going on outside of the sleuthing, then this will be a good book for you.  There is the still developing relationship with the harbormaster and her visiting parents to juggle, holiday errands, baking cookies and decorating them for the tree with her friend and three boys.  Additionally, her working for the paper and trying to keep her mother from investigating the mob angle while planning the details for a big holiday feast with friends invited keeps her busy.  Then her parents are going through her house and attic cleaning and rearranging etc.  Foodie talk with cooking tips/hacks are interspersed throughout the book, which I suspect most readers will enjoy.  

The characters are well drawn and portrayed with a mystery that keeps you guessing who did it.  The only downsides are how I found I didn't like that Sam refers to her parents as her ‘rents which is very annoying to me.  Am I the only one who doesn't like "sich/sitch" short for situation and 'rents short for parents etc?  Sam does do some risky things with who she suspects as the killer, but I still enjoyed her character.  Overall, I am glad to have discovered this new series and I'm looking forward to the next installment.  

Rating:  Excellent - Fun and entertaining holiday mystery, give it a try.

Review - A Christmas Homecoming

The holiday season is upon us and I wanted to review a few seasonal mysteries to help get us in the singing and decorating mood.  I took this opportunity to read my first Anne Perry holiday novel.  Let's go to Whitby England and an isolated mansion.

Author:  Anne Perry

Copyright:  October 2011 (Ballantine Books) 224 pgs

Series:  9th in Victorian Holiday Mysteries

Sensuality:  n/a

Mystery Sub-genre:  Historical Sleuth

Main Character:  From the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novels:  Charlotte’s mother, and her young actor husband, Joshua Fielding

Setting:  1897 Whitby England, isolated mansion

Obtained Through:  Library
 

I suspect that writing a holiday murder mystery is a delicate balancing act.  A murder doesn't bring visions of sugarplums dancing and nutcracker ballet dancers.  But to write a murder mystery where a troupe of snow bound actors are rehearsing to perform a play of Dracula is a tremendous challenge.  You must not bring too much of the horror out, emphasis the human touch and magic of relationships, and still have an interesting murder to solve.  This is the challenge in Anne Perry's newest holiday release, A Christmas Homecoming.

Anne Perry's popular characters of Charlotte and Thomas Pitt lend us Charlotte's mother Caroline and her younger actor husband Joshua for this story.  The acting troupe agrees to spend the holiday with a wealthy philanthropist helping his daughter polish her play adaptation of the wildly popular novel Dracula.  The troupe is sacrificing their holiday to work on the play and present to the local folks to ensure financial support from the family in the new year.  The snow starts piling up.  And a mysterious man, Anton Ballin, claims his carriage has broken down and seeks shelter with them.  The snow gets worse and roads are blocked by downed trees and deep snow drifts. 

They continue to refine the script and rehearse it.  During this process the new guest, Anton Ballin, seems to know a lot about the the themes of Stoker's book and has an amazing ability to suggest changes that bring the script and acting alive.  Yet nobody knows who this man is.  Caroline stumbles over Ballin's body late one night, with a wooden stake through his heart.  Then the body disappears over night.  But where could it have gone?

This book is an interesting story but other than knowing one of the people in the mansion is the killer, the reader does not have the final piece to the puzzle until the very end when Caroline figures it out as well.  Why was Anton killed?  It has to do with who he really was - and that is not obvious. 

This book is stronger on the character interplay than a taught mystery which keeps it a holiday story.  I like the characters of Caroline and Joshua and would love to know them even better.  This was my first Anne Perry mystery and I am interested in reading the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mysteries after reading this.

The one wish I have is that working out the mystery and the killer confrontation with the killer would have had more time dedicated to them.  It feelt like a rushed wrap up to the mystery.  Otherwise I did enjoy the writing and the story.  The insights provided by Anton Ballin about the themes of Stoker's Dracula has brought the classic to life once again for me.

If you are looking for a light mystery that won't be too heavy for the season, this might be the ticket.

For your holiday baking here is a Cherry Chocolate Cobbler
 

Ingredients
    1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    1/2 cup white sugar
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/4 cup butter
    1 cup chocolate chips
    1 egg
    1/4 cup milk
    1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling add a little almond extract flavoring

Directions
    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat a 2 quart casserole dish with vegetable cooking spray. Melt chocolate chips in a measuring cup in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds until smooth. Let stand for 5 minutes to cool slightly.
    In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until the dough is a uniform crumbly texture. Beat the egg into the melted chocolate chips, then stir the milk in. Pour the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients, and stir until well blended.
    Pour the cherry pie filling in an even layer in the bottom of the greased casserole dish. Drop spoonfuls of the chocolate batter over the cherries in a random pattern.  Optional: Sprinkle the topping on now.
    Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until top crust is not doughy when lifted. Serve warm.

Topping
a little flour,
some brown sugar,
oats,
sliced almonds,
butter and
a little almond and vanilla extract.
Mix together and sprinkled over the cherry filling then bake it.

Review - Mistletoe and Mayhem

We are jumping into the holiday spirit with another seasonal themed mystery.  Take the time during all your shopping, baking and visiting to kick back and read a good holiday mystery.  Today we visit Edwardian England, hang on.

Author: Kate Kingsbury

Copyright: November 2010 (Berkley Books) 304 pgs

Series: 6th Special Holiday Edition of The Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery

Sensuality: N/A

Mystery Sub-genre: Historical Cozy

Main Character:  Cecily Baxter, Manager of Pennyfoot Country Club

Setting: Edwardian England, during the holidays

Obtained Through: publisher for honest review


Another year and everyone at the Pennyfoot is holding their breath that the holiday curse has been broken and the season will be free of any untimely deaths.  In London the Mayfair Murderer is  attacking young women, but surely everyone is safe in small Badger's End.  

Charlie, one of the footmen is killed when a gargoyle falls from the roof and strikes him dead.  Clearly an accident.  Then the maid, Ellie goes missing.  Something is strange about  the secretive and mysterious guest Mr. J. Mortimer in room #9.  Then the missing maid's shoe is found in the coal shed.  Cecily goes about asking questions and sleuthing while her husband seems preoccupied. 

This holiday themed historical mystery is a nice light read.  It won't disturb your holiday cheer as it manages to maintain plenty of seasonal trappings among the sleuthing.  Nothing gruesome even though murders rack up.  

The Pennyfoot's employees figure into the story as their lives are intertwined with the two who died.  They're brought to life with all their concerns and desires.  The employees also wrap up some romantic themes that continue from the prior books.  I liked the various employee's viewpoints intermingled with Cecily, it brought the reader in for a fulller experience at the Pennyfoot - a sort of 380 view.

Cecily is a kind, imaginative, bright and observant sleuth whom I easily liked.   The plot was interesting and kept me guessing nicely.  The mysterious guest in room #9 was a great touch.  

It delivers a surprise or two along the way and Cecily has a harrowing confrontation with the killer.  There is a cliffhanger ending that has me anxiously waiting for the next book to find out what happens. 

A solid cozy sure to delight with a good mystery and plenty of holiday cheer.

PUMPKIN PIE PUDDING          (Slow Cooker)

1 can solid-pack pumpkin (15 oz.)

1 can evaporated milk (12 oz.)

½ cup biscuit/baking mix

2 eggs, beaten

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

2-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whipped cream or cool whip, optional

In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients.  Coat slow cooker with nonstick spray and pour mixture in.

Cover and cook for 6 to 7 hours until a knife comes out clean from center of pudding.  (6 to 8 servings)  My oblong slow cooker cooks much faster than 6 to 7 hours because the pudding is spread out over a larger surface than the round cooker.  (Any recipe with eggs needs to be started on high for approximately one hour and then turned down.)

We are approaching the end of this year and I would truly appreciate your vote if you haven't already.  If each follower voted for me I would win!!

* * * * * If you have enjoyed this blog, then PRETTY PLEASE vote for this blog as best Entertainment Blog (proving reading is entertainment) CLICK HERE and also as best Hobby Blog CLICK HERE. Thank you most sincerely. There are voting buttons on the sidebar too. You will have to register with Blogger's Choice, but it is a simple process. I am listed under Mysterysuspence.Blogspot.com. * * * * *  

 

Fall Winter Mystery Reading Challenge

Welcome to my first hosting of a reading challenge and boy am I excited! Since I love reveling in the seasons I thought a reading challenge that at the same time helps us to get into the seasons we tend to rush through would be nice.


*  This reading challenge runs October 1 - February 28

Suspense or police procedures and the entire menagerie under the mystery genre are all available for the challenge.

1 Paranormal or gothic mystery for Halloween (level of spookiness up to you)
2 Autumn/harvest/Thanksgiving related mystery
2 Winter/snow/Xmas//Hanukah etc related mystery
1 resolutions/new begininngs related mystery
1 Romantic mystery/Valentine's related (chocolate, February...) (level of romantic up to you)

Total of 7 books in all over 5 months for 1.4 book per month.  Hopefully not a burden of a reading challenge while adding a little seasonal fun.

 * Cross overs / overlaps to other challenges are okay and the more you can utulize your TBR stack the better.

*  Sign up below with Mr Linky, if you like. If you don't have a blog then post your list of books here in the comments and return to share what you finished.

*  If you have given the book you chose a good chance and you just can't finish it, feel free to pick a new one.

*  Those who complete the challenge get a Badge of Completion that can be posted on their blog or website and entered for a random drawing for one of ten Challenge winners bookmarks to be given away!!

*  Prize restrictions - bookmarks will only mailed within the U.S.
Random drawing winners will have 2 weeks from prize notification to provide a mailing address.  If a mailing address is not provided then a new person will be drawn and notified.

*  The books I am planning to read for the Fall Winter Mystery Reading Challenge are:

1. Dead Girls Are Easy by Terri Garey  DONE
2. Milwaukee Autumns Can Be Lethal by Kathleen Barret The Fall Hunt by Joanne Clarey DONE
3. The Thanksgiving Day Murder by Lee Harris Hail to the Chef by Julie Hyzy  DONE
4. In the Dead of Winter by Nancy Mehl  Death at Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn DONE

5. Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle  The Oxygen Murder by Camille Minichino DONE

6. Dying to Be Thin by Kathryn Lilley  DONE
7. A Catered Valentine's Day by Iris Crawford  Death of a Valentine by M.C. Beaton DONE

As you can see I have revised my list already

Feel free to use the graphic in this post for your blogs and please link it back to this post as well.  I am looking forward to hearing from all of you on how you are doing in the challenge.  Let's enjoy the season together!

WE ARE AT THE END OF THE CHALLENGE
 Comments are coming in as to how everyone did.  It looks as though Jo read all 7 (plus some extra credit.)  I will give (3) handmade bookmarks to be awarded to the top participants in the challenge.  Of course I will need to get mailing addresses to send the bookmarks to. 

Badge for Jo and anyone who read all 7 out of 7 in the challenge:

THANK YOU ALL FOR PARTICIPATING!!!