Christmas Card Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Peggy Ehrhart

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

This is actually a collection of three novellas by established cozy mystery authors, all of which use a Christmas card as part of the mystery.  Leslie Meier is arguably the best known of the three, as evidenced by the size of the type on the cover! I was familiar with Peggy Ehrhart, so I thought this might serve as a good introduction to the other two. 

“Christmas Card Murder” by Meier is the first entry, and it features her series sleuth Lucy Stone. Lucy has finally convinced her carpenter husband to renovate their bedroom which starts with taking out part of a wall.  Tucked inside they find an old Christmas card. The placement had to have been deliberate, and when they open it, the inscription isn’t a cheery greeting but a nasty message.  Intrigued, Lucy decides to investigate amid all the holiday preparations and neighborhood upset over the possible parole of a convicted murderer.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Meier.  This was an intriguing mystery from the start and I enjoyed the well-developed characters.  Lucy and her husband Bill have a much more believable marriage than most cozy couples who seem to be in near perfect harmony, except when the plot needs distractions. I also liked that not everything was tied up in a neat little bow at the end, leaving space to wonder.

Lee Hollis’ “Death of a Christmas Carol” opened with three women receiving a Christmas card from Carol Waterman, announcing that she is going to run off with one of their husbands.  Unsurprisingly, Carol ends up dead.

I was less impressed with this entry.  The card gimmick – well, I guess “gimmick” says it all.  I found it all a bit stagey and I didn’t connect as well with Hayley Powell, the lead character as I did with the aforementioned Lucy Stone.  It’s possible that I would have had no trouble if I’d read any of Hollis’ previous books. (As an aside, I’ll note that “Lee Hollis” is a pseudonym for a brother and sister writing team of Rick Copp and Holly Simason.) It certainly wasn’t a bad story, but for me it was a little bit of a let-down after the one by Meier.

Finally, there was “Death of a Christmas Card Crafter” by Peggy Ehrhart.  Her sleuth, Pamela Paterson is shocked to find that Karma Karling, a popular art teacher, has been found murdered.  As usual, Pamela finds herself trying to solve the mystery, and she thinks that a clue is to be found in the last Christmas card that Karma designed.

For those who’ve read Ehrhart, this is was a solid and comforting entry in the series.  All the regulars were there and following their usual routines of knitting, going to the Co-op, and eating.  I’ll admit I found it somewhat annoying when I read the first two books in the series, but I finally entered into the spirit of the thing and now find it soothing to read about Pamela’s careful coffee preparations (which begin with measuring out the beans through the smell of fresh coffee) or the descriptions of Bettina’s outfits and brightly colored dinnerware. For a newcomer, I don’t know if that would appeal. As a long time reader, I enjoyed it.

If you’re a cozy reader looking for new authors, this is a good way to test the waters.  Meier has several of these collections with some changes in co-authors, so you may want to take a look.