Series: The Dunbarton Christmas Mysteries

Gingerbread to Die For

LauraLeave a Comment on Gingerbread to Die For
Gingerbread to Die For
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, Book # 2
Red Cottage Books
November 1st 2019
eBook
220
English
December 29, 2022 December 31, 2022
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Cookies and corpses, not the picture-perfect Christmas Chris and Alicia Mallory had planned.

Recipe for a Christmas Murder:

Take one gingerbread competition, one mayor looking for publicity, one egocentric celebrity chef and a killer with an axe to grind. Mix thoroughly for the perfect Christmas murder.

Well, almost perfect.

It’s one month until Christmas in Dunbarton and the town is buzzing with the news that a famous celebrity chef is coming to judge and televise the gingerbread competition at the new community centre. Confident that the event will attract hordes of food-loving visitors to town, the mayor has Dunbarton decked out in all its Christmas finery and directs Alicia and the deputy mayor to make sure everything runs smoothly.

All is going as planned until a body is found in the life-sized gingerbread house outside the community centre, with a gingerbread dove stuffed in the victim’s mouth. The distraught mayor once again calls on Alicia and Chris to solve the murder before it sounds a death-knell to the holiday festivities.

It’s not long before Alicia and Chris discover that it’s not all sugar and spice in the world of big-time baking and that one too many cookies can be the death of you.

What I think

Last book of the year and last book for the Cloak and Dagger challenge.

I can’t give more than 3 stars even if I liked it better than the first book. Too simple to give Alicia the ‘oh it was him’ idea and leave it there. This particular one didn’t make me give more stars.

I know they’re not cops, but I found the case underdeveloped. It’s also too simple to have Alicia come to the solution (complete with a light bulb) and go “oh the killer was….” without saying how she found out. I understand how she found the murder weapon, but from there to say who the killer is (without saying why you think such a thing) is preposterous. Anyone could take it (the weapon) to kill.

I like Alicia and Chris as characters, maybe I’ll start reading the series and not just the Christmas ones, but I already have too many series to finish, so I don’t know.

There was more Christmas in this book and I enjoyed it more. But nothing exceptional, obviously I recommend it, but read it at Christmas time.

The Reindeer Caper

LauraLeave a Comment on The Reindeer Caper
The Reindeer Caper
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, Book # 1
Red Cottage Books
November 9th 2017
eBook
252
English
December 23, 2022 December 28, 2022
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With a missing reindeer, a murdered elf, and a mayor one Christmas Carol short of a breakdown, it looks like Christmas festivities in Dunbarton are in danger of being cancelled - especially since Santa is in jail, charged with murder!

It's coming up to Christmas and everyone in Dunbarton is filled with excitement at the arrival of a reindeer, a gift from their twin town in Norway. But when Dasher disappears, children and parents alike are devastated, and the mayor fears an international incident.

In desperation, the mayor turns to the Mallorys to save the town's Christmas, but the more Chris and Alicia investigate, the more they realize it isn't just Christmas that's in jeopardy.

What I think

The story is pleasant, I was hoping for more Christmas atmosphere but apart from saying that the fair starts in a certain number of days and the lights put up by Chris around his house, I haven’t felt it that much. Be that as it may, I never thought that the killer was that person.

The book has some grammatical and spelling errors but since it is a “free” book it can be overlooked.

I haven’t read the previous books because I honestly wanted to read the Christmas book after this one and since I read the books in order of publication, I had to read this one first, but I didn’t want to read the books before this one because there are too many and I wanted Christmas. Maybe I’ll pick up the series later.