Candy Cane Murder with Other

This is a collection of three Christmas mystery novellas written by three great cozy writers. Starring their series sleuths, they stand alone well enough to be entertaining for any cozy fan looking for some light reading in December.

Up first is the title story. "Candy Cane Murder" by Joanne Fluke finds Hannah Swenson playing Santa's helper, literally, at the Lake Eden Inn. Wayne Bergstrom, owner of a local department store, is doing his annual good deed playing Santa for the underprivileged kids in the area. But when leaving the party a little while later, she follows a trail of candy canes to find Wayne's body in a snow bank. Who would want Wayne dead? For a novella mystery, this one is fairly complex. Any of Hannah's numerous fans will love this story. It's a cozy Christmas offering and includes 8 cookie recipes, 2 drink recipes, and 2 quiche recipes.

Next comes "The Dangers of Candy Canes" by Laura Levine. I'm a fan of Laura's books so was thrilled to find another story starring freelance writer Jaine Austen. When one of Jaine's clients, Seymour Fiedler of Fiedler on the Roof Roofers, is sued for wrongful death, he hires Jaine to put down her pen and solve the crime. Seems that Garth Jankin fell off his recently reroofed house while decorating for his neighborhood's annual Christmas decorating contest. Since Garth had numerous enemies, Jaine quickly decides that the tiles were loosened. But who would do something like that? As with the books, this story is very funny. A sub-plot about Jaine volunteering with a group that mentors underprivileged girls almost slows the story down at times. But in the end this is a fun read.

Even though she's a staple of the cozy sub-genre, I have never read Leslie Meier before. I changed that with the third story, "Candy Canes of Christmas Past." This story takes us back in time to the first Christmas that series star Lucy Stone spent in Tinker Cove, Maine. Lucy is trying to deal with her husband's project, fixing up their home. So when town librarian Miss Tilly is nice to Lucy, Lucy looks for some way to repay her new friend. And that's how she begins trying to uncover the circumstances surrounding Miss Tilly's mother's death almost 50 years before. This story is as much about Lucy's struggles to fit into a new town and live in an old house as it is about the mystery. In fact, this was the weakest mystery of the book by far. But I liked the characters and plan to read the first in the series soon. This story includes 2 recipes, bringing the total for the book to 14.

If you love cozies and want to book to put you in the Christmas mood, this is the book for you. Pick it up and enjoy today.

A Bit of Seasonal Fun with Familiar Old Friends... (3/3 people found this helpful)

This `Christmas Special' is made up of three seasonal novellas written by well known cosy-crime authors:

The first of these is `Candy Cane Murder' by Joanne Fluke. In this story Hannah, the owner of `The Cookie Jar', is helping out at a Christmas Charity event when the man playing Santa is found dead. As you would expect Hannah tries to help solve the murder with the help of her sisters, mother and boyfriend Norman. This is a nice novella, very Christmassy and will be a great seasonal fix for those who enjoy the novels in this series. The other good thing about it is that is doesn't really interfere with the `love triangle' element of the series which means that it isn't essential that you read it before the next full length novel is out in the spring.

The next novella is `The Dangers of Candy Canes' by Laura Levine. I hadn't read anything by this author before and so it came as a nice surprise. The lead character, Jaine Austen, is a freelance writer and part-time sleuth. She is asked to investigate the death of a man who has fallen from a roof whilst putting up his Christmas decorations. Jaine finds that a number of the neighbours take the competition very seriously, but would anyone take it seriously enough to kill?
The heroine of this story is really likeable and the plot of the novella was good even though it was short. A great taster of a series that I will be going back to!

The last novella in this edition is `Candy Canes of Christmas Past' by Leslie Meier. I have to say that I haven't read any of Meier's previous novels although I am aware of them. I have to say that this was the most disappointing novella of the three although it might be a nice seasonal taster for fans of the series. Lucy Stone thinks back to a mystery that took place when she first arrived at Tinker's Cove, twenty years ago. The plot is flimsy and I couldn't really relate to the characters so not one for me!

Despite my feelings about the last novella, the edition as a whole is good value for money and will make pleasant light reading for the holidays. Recommended.

Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, Leslie Meier

Reader Reviews:

Christmas Can Be Murder (4/5 people found this helpful)

A Bit of Seasonal Fun with Familiar Old Friends... (3/3 people found this helpful)

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