This was the only Christmas story I read this year, and I started it just as everything started going pear shaped in RL, so it took me forever to read it.  I know this is a 'me' problem, but the longer it takes me to finish a book, the more scattered the story feels to me, so this entry by one of my favorite current authors got short shrift from me this year.  Still, it was good; the mystery was well constructed and the holiday spirit was high.  The Christmas dinner almost made me misty eyed and made me love Donna Andrews as an author just a little bit more than I already did.

What can I say - I love this series because it features a strong woman MC, with strong supporting characters, solid family relationships and tons of humor.  The Christmas ones have become an annual tradition (no pressure Ms. Andrews) I look forward to every year, and I always save them to read in the day or two before Christmas.  

This year's involved a baby in a manger, a paternity allegation, and some dark dealings in a neighbouring county that lead to some very dangerous events in the lead up to Christmas. The mystery was pretty much over by midway, and the rest of the book was more rescue mission with shades of three stooges.  

The finale was ... the very best kind of holiday wishful thinking.  This was definitely Andrews taking the opportunity to create the kind of reality she'd like to see and I loved it; it was outrageous and wonderful.  Not my favorite of her Christmas books, Duck the Halls still holds that place of honour, but an excellent, festive read nonetheless. 

I meant to write this up back on Christmas Eve, but this year the holidays have gotten completely away from me, which is sort of unexpected only because it's one of the less frantic holiday seasons MT and I have had.

Anyway - I've only read 6 of the stories so far, and 5 of them I've read previously in another anthology, but they've all been excellent, save 1 (A Visit From St. Nicholas by Ron Goulart; not badly written, I guess, but it didn't really feel like much of a story, either).

If you're into short stories and holiday reading, I'd recommend this one as a very worthwhile investment.

This is from an old series, published back in the late 80's / early 90's that I read when they were new.  At the time I was in my very early 20's and I vaguely remember that the writing was ok, but overall not very interesting.  I definitely wasn't the book's demographic at the time.

Recently, I saw this one for sale and snagged it wondering what I'd think of it now, all these years later and I'm happy to say it wasn't a wasted purchase; a mystery centering on 40-somethings, oddly enough, appeals to me more now that it did then.  

Susan Henshaw is a married, upper-middle-class suburbanite, desperately trying to get ready for Christmas while juggling her two teenaged kids and a mother-in-law that arrived a week earlier than planned.  Her best friend, Kathleen, is a former cop, newly married and in a much higher tax bracket, trying to negotiate a new town and social strata while dealing with a visit from her own mother.  Together they get involved in the mystery surrounding a murdered neighbourhood man whose body disappears right after it's discovered, leaving his ex-wife implicated in the crime.

It's a great mystery plot - really convoluted but in a way that makes complete sense at the end.  The writing is solid, too, although my recently purchased copy is an ARC, and absolutely riddled with continuity errors - I'd like to think they were caught before publication, but I did ding the story 1/2 star, regardless.

Were I ever to stumble across the other books in the series, I'd definitely snap them up; it's been so long since I've read them that I've forgotten all the pertinent details of the mysteries themselves.  It would be like discovering them all over again.

Book themes for Mōdraniht: Read any book where the MC is actively raising young children or teens.

I didn't realise I had another book in this series to read until it arrived the other day; nor did I remember it being a Christmas themed one.  One it showed up in my mailbox, of course I had to move it up the top of the TBR pile and get it read before Christmas.

In my post about her previous book, Mission Impawsible, I complained about the additional character and the emerging love triangle.  Now, I don't know if a lot of other people felt the same way or what, but this book neither included that character nor referred to him in any way.  Davis simply acted as though Mission Impawsible never existed in the Wagtail timeline, and as things end in this book, I doubt he'll be popping back up.

The mystery was much better plotted too, although the murder a horribly sad one, something not typical of cozies.  All in all, it was a very solid cozy read with lots of effort at Christmas spirit (the murder in this one makes it hard to feel like the effort succeeded).

Not sure if I'll use this for a festive square or not, but if I do, I'll update my post accordingly.