The Five Santas by Jay Mims
4 Stars
Dan Landis is a private detective who works as security in a store over the Christmas period. When he accidentally finds a ‘street collector Santa’ dead behind a dumpster he soon turns bodyguard for the Santa in the store he works for. It isn’t long before more Santa’s turn up dead, and with the help of a reluctant elf, Dan tries to solve the mystery of the Santa killer!
I totally didn’t know what to expect when I picked up this book … in June!…and I found the whole thing unpredictable while I read. It was a quirky little story with an MC that had a very dry and sarcastic sense of humour….Some of the author must be in there because no way could he write those one liners without having that kind of humour himself.
Dan was a likable character, he had an ease about him that was comfortable and made him attractive to me as the reader. I really wanted to see more between him an Abbey, I can’t seem to fully engage in any story that doesn’t have a romance thrown in……..I know I’m such a girl! There are going to be more books in the series, maybe it’s going to be one of those ‘will they, won’t they’ kind of drama’s that keeps us wondering right to the last book when finally they get together properly or walk away from each other for good…….who knows!!
Regardless of the ‘Santa’ theme this is predominantly a mystery/suspense/thriller with a PI who has a strong enough personality to carry a series for a number of books, providing the humour and one-liners stay fresh. Only time will tell if Jay Mims can keep it up, this could be a series to watch if this is your genre of choice.
I don't like the cover though, it doesn't stand out and doesn't scream 'read me'.
Copy supplied for review