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Advent of Mystery, Day 7: Murder Under the Mistletoe
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…
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Advent of Mystery 2024, Day 6: The Christmas Eve Murders
For today, we’ve got a British import: The Christmas Eve Murders by Noelle Albright releases June 2025 stateside. (This strikes me as strange timing for a Christmas mystery… But who am I to dictate to Big Publishing?) When Maddie Marlowe’s car breaks down on Christmas Eve, she takes shelter in a tiny pub in Yorkshire.…
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Advent of Mystery 2024, Day 4: The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning
Last year, just as I was wrapping up the final Advent of Mystery post, a recommendation from crossexaminingcrime landed in my inbox. Not only that – a comedic Christmas mystery with a strong rating from a blogger who cares just as much (if not more) about the puzzles! Despite having just binged several Christmas crime…
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Advent of Mystery 2024, Day 3: The Mistletoe Mystery
For day 3 we’ve got a short and sweet novella that continues the Maid series by Nita Prose. The Mistletoe Mystery catches us up with Molly the maid and her cinnamon roll boyfriend Juan as they celebrate the holidays together. This one is really tiny, clocking in at just 128 pages. (I’ve also seen a…
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Advent of Mystery 2024, Day 2: Murder at Holly House and The Christmas Stocking Murders
Next up is a double feature with a bit of an epistolary twist: Denzil Meyrick’s Inspector Frank Grasby series. This first came on my radar last year with Murder at Holly House, as an epistolary mystery potentially worth reading. This year, Meyrick expanded the series with The Christmas Stocking Murders, which follows up with Grasby…
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Advent of Mystery 2024, Day 1: Everyone this Christmas Has a Secret
Every year, I tell myself that this is my last year with the Advent of Mystery. And every year, new Christmas mysteries pop up on my radar that I feel I have to read. And if I’m already reading them, why not share my thoughts with y’all? Two years ago, we did Golden Age murder…
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A cozy mystery lover’s gift list, Part 2: For the joy of the solve
Welcome to the second part of my gift list for the cozy mystery lover. A quick recap: I realized most gift lists “for readers” felt both under-useful and under-explained. So I decided to make my own list of my favorite reading / cozy mystery-related items – and quickly realized I had too many ideas to…
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Advent of Mystery 2023: Some wrapping up
Merry Christmas, my reading friends! Thank you for following along on this seasonal murder mystery ride. I hope you’ve had as much fun as I have – it’s great to be able to read and share thoughts on books with so many lovely people. I’ve got a couple of thoughts on how to wrap this…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 12: The Christmas Appeal
It’s Christmas Eve and we’ve got a real treat for today. Long-time readers will know I am an avid fan of Janice Hallett and have been since she first wrote The Appeal. So when I heard about The Christmas Appeal, a holiday spin-off of that novel, I knew I had to read it. The Christmas…
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Advent of Mystery, Day 11: The Last Devil to Die
I will admit outright that I am stretching to the limit the definition of a Christmas story. Technically, Richard Osman’s latest in the Thursday Murder Club series takes place immediately after Christmas, spanning dead week and beyond. But I love The Last Devil to Die, and I think it perfectly encapsulates what I want from…