Sometimes, you’re looking for something short and sweet that immerses you in the familiar traditions of the holiday season. The Reverend Richard Coles’s Murder Under the Mistletoe does just that, taking the readers to an English country parish. This novella continues the story of Canon Clement and his family in the days leading up to a fateful Christmas lunch. One of the guests drops dead – but it is death by misadventure or willful murder?

(Note that I’ve been seeing a ton of search traffic for “mistletoe murders” this year. If this is you – welcome! If you’re looking for the P.D. James short story collection, you can find my thoughts here. If you want the Maid novella instead, this is the link for you. And if you want the cozy mystery that inspired the new Hallmark series, here’s a link to the Audible Original. Lots of mistletoe-named mystery to go around!)

This is my second Canon Clement read – I first started with Murder Before Evensong, which originated the series – and the tone, pacing, and vibes are largely similar. We’ll get into what that means to me, but for now, if you already like Canon Clement’s mysteries, you will probably enjoy this little novella.

A mellow murder…

Like Murder Before Evensong, Murder Under the Mistletoe spends a lot of time building up to its murder, and not a ton of time solving it. Coles seems to enjoy exploring the intricacies of English village life. Several chapters are spent building up the social dynamics of Champton – who’s invited whom, how they feel about it, why it matters. Several pages are spent building up the mystique around the Canon’s mother’s bread sauce recipe. As someone used to the more fast and dramatic pace of modern murder mysteries, I found myself chomping at the bit, wondering when there might be a death.

I’m not sure this pace is inherently bad, particularly in a full-length novel, and if one is expecting it. In this novella, however, it leaves little room for actual deduction once the murder has occurred. Not only that – we spend a large amount of time with the characters that matter to the Canon, rather than eventual suspects for the murder. This makes the puzzle relatively simple to solve on the basis of motive – there aren’t too many characters who could even want to kill the victim.

…in perfect pastoral holiday tradition

But the structure of the novella allows Coles to spend time with most of the major traditions of the holiday season, creating an almost nostalgic holiday vibe. Life in Champton is slow and most of the drama is small, relatable, annual. There’s the setting and updating of the nativity, the planning of the Big Meal, the selection of presents. Reading Murder Under the Mistletoe feels like watching an intricate diorama of the perfect pastoral holiday season – bustling, but cozy.

I can’t perfectly relate – I’m American, and Hindu, to boot. But it feels peek into someone else’s nostalgia, and that can be a comforting thing during the festive season. It’s a great view into what Clement – and, by extension – Coles, loves about the holidays, in their purest and most naïve form. And sometimes, it’s good to get that aspirational reminder (especially when you’re in peak holiday stress-hustle.)

An escape into rural English Christmas

I’m not sure I endorse Murder Under the Mistletoe as a mystery, per sé – there’s little puzzle to solve. But it more than makes up for it in slow, cozy holiday warmth. A great read to escape into a holiday tradition where life is a little slower, and just as meaningful.

We’re almost through the shorter-form content this year, with just one short story collection left for tomorrow. Until then – stay cozy, and stay curious!