Mrs. Claus and the Nightmare Before New Year’s by Liz Ireland

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

April Claus is trying to stay calm, but when your husband is out making stops all over the world in an aging sleigh pulled by reindeer it’s a little hard.  The sleigh doesn’t even have seatbelts.  Although everyone tells her not to worry, that Santa always comes back, she’s still very tense.  She’s trying to immerse herself in the welcome back preparations, but then there’s a Situation.

Three humans have been found near Santaland, all injured from an apparent plane crash.  They can’t just be left to die, so they are transported to Christmastown where they’ll have to kept isolated and unaware of where they are.  There’s a complication, though:  one of the men has been stabbed—with a reindeer antler.

When the man dies, the ante is upped:  not only does April have to find a murderer, but she also has to keep the survivors convinced that they’re in Canada, that reindeer and snowmen don’t talk, that the elves are just somewhat short humans, and that all the Christmas stuff is just seasonal decorations and not a way of life.

Okay, so when I first heard about this series I thought it sounded way too cutesy for my taste.  Maybe even silly.  Then a reviewer whose opinion I respect gave it a very good review and I decided to give it a try.  I first read a novella set in this world, and found it to be delightful so I moved on to a full length book. 

I’ll admit that it does require a certain suspension of disbelief, what with talking reindeer, elves, snow monsters, and such, but then again so do books in which the local pastry chef solves murders and doles out recipes with equal aplomb.  Most of all, I found this book to be fun and imaginative.  Since April is still an outsider in some ways, having been a human innkeeper in Oregon before meeting Nick, she’s a good guide to the intricacies of Santaland living.  There’s a good bit of world-building and some wonderful characters.  Some of the reindeer were my favorites—oh, not the celebrity reindeer, but the off-beat ones like Wobbler and Quasar. The elves’ efforts to pretend to be Canadian were as humorous as they were earnest, and while I wouldn’t classify this as a fair play mystery, I had such fun reading it that I didn’t care.

While this may not be everyone’s cup of Christmas cheer, I found it was definitely mine. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series.

Death by Smoothie by Laura Levine

 

Reviewed by Kristin

Jaine Austen (no, not that Jane Austen), can’t seem to get away from Cryptessa Muldoon. Cryptessa was the main character in an extremely short lived and mercifully cancelled sitcom entitled I Married a Zombie. The actress who played the television role used to live down the street from Jaine, until she was, umm, murdered. Jaine, freelance writer and amateur sleuth, solved that murder back in Death of a Neighborhood Witch. Realtors and buyers beware; Jaine does always seem to have trouble with neighbors.

Zombie superfans Becca and David have decided to resurrect the story on the stage, renting out an old theatre and hiring fresh actors to reprise the old TV show. They have a script, but they need a writer to make some edits….enter Jaine. Sure, she’ll be glad to take a stab at it, especially with the offered payment of $5000.

Jaine jumps in with her usual aplomb, happy to be associated with something other than her Golden Plunger award winning slogan: In a Rush to Flush? Call Toiletmasters! This is the theatre, what could possibly go wrong?

Murder. Of course.

Misty is the actress playing the stage version of Cryptessa. Pretty much everyone hates her, except director David who is besotted. Or is he? When someone spikes Misty’s daily smoothie with rat poison, suspects abound.

I had read the first dozen or so titles in this series years ago, and then sort of dropped them because my to-be-read list was just too long. I am very glad that I picked this one up because I had forgotten how laugh-out-loud funny they are. Sure, it’s slightly slapstick, but it’s clever slapstick. The cover artwork is eye catching and cute.

Also included in this outing are many emails from Jaine’s parents, each telling their side of the story as her father practices for their retirement community talent show with Iggy the iguana; a charity auction date Jaine did not mean to bid on (not to mention, win); and bestie Lance checking out the hot guys in the play and repeatedly stealing Jaine’s cinnamon raisin bagels. Can’t a woman eat breakfast in peace?

And let’s not forget Jaine’s cat: Prozac. The first sentence is in this volume is “Prozac Elizabeth Austen!” as Jaine chases her cat out the front door. Prozac is a bit of a wild child at home, but is a perfect angel around others. (Except when a neighbor’s roast chicken is involved.)

The series includes:

This Pen for Hire

Last Writes

Killer Blonde

Shoes to Die for

The PMS Murder

Death by Panty Hose

Killing Bridezilla

Killer Cruise

Death of a Trophy Wife

Pampered to Death

Death of A Neighborhood Witch

Killing Cupid

Death by Tiara

Murder Has Nine Lives

Death of a Bachelorette

Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge

Death of a Gigolo

Murder Gets a Makeover

Death by Smoothie

Introducing Gertrude Gumshoe by Robin Merrill

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Gertrude is an elderly curmudgeon with a lot of “collections.” Including cats—real ones.  While searching for an errant stray, Gertrude discovers two children hiding out in their trailer, waiting for their mother to come home.  While not too crazy about children, Gertrude does have a heightened sense of nosiness and she decides to poke around—which isn’t easy when you don’t drive and have to get around using a walker. It seems Mom works at a local club so the first problem is finding a ride there. 

Fortunately, Gertrude is 1) not afraid to ask for what she wants and 2) won’t take no for an answer.  Also, having an elderly lady demand to be taken to a “nudie bar” is just confounding enough to make someone want to take her just to see what happens next.

This is a book that requires a certain suspension of disbelief.  I was willing to take the leap and was rewarded with some very funny scenes.  Oddly, Gertrude is just the sort of character I usually dislike and yet her determination and bull-headedness somehow won me over, and I don’t think it was just the cats.  This little old lady who has her own collection of, well, EVERYTHING and can produce walkie-talkies at the drop of a hat. Some may even work.

We all know someone like this and generally try to avoid her or him, but I found watching her nag/ bully/ demand things of other people was pretty entertaining. Which is not to say that Gertrude doesn’t also have to take her lumps—she does, and she still doesn’t back down. She’s sort of the personification of “old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill.” She may not understand cell phones but Gertrude has grit and common sense and she’s not afraid to use both.

The book is helpfully printed in large type, just the way Gertrude would like, and if you are looking for a very light mystery this might fit the bill.