Review by New York Times Review
On the twelfth day of Christinas, my writers gave to me: twelve stalkers stalking, eleven burglars burgling, ten sleuths a-sleuthing, nine creeps ?-creeping, eight looters looting, seven broken toys, six screaming kids, five overcooked birds, four stolen presents, three drunken uncles, two dead Santas and a madman swinging from a pear tree. I can't say that I found much originality in the book bag this year. As usual, the settings tend to be quaint; the characters cute; the crimes discreet; and the puzzle elements of less importance than the holiday menus. Worth a read among the traditional cozies: Barbara Early's MURDER ON THE TOY TOWN EXPRESS (Crooked Lane, $26.99), set ín a toy shop called Well Played and drolly featuring a murder based on pediophobia, the fear of dolls; Wendy Tyson's seeds of revenge (Henery Press, cloth, $31.95; paper, $15.95), a "greenhouse mystery" that finds chickens and goats and babies frolicking among the exotic love potions concocted at Merry's Flowers & Shrubs; and Maggie McConnon's BEL, BOOK AND SCANDAL (St. Martin's, paper, $7.99), a culinary mystery with nice characters but no recipes. From beyond the grave, P. D. James comes to the rescue with SLEEP NO MORE (Knopf, $21), a sophisticated collection of "six murderous tales," all stylishly told and worthy of being read aloud by the fire. "The Murder of Santa Claus" best conveys the holiday spirit. This atmospheric tale is told by a grown man named Charles Mickledore recalling the Christmas of 1939, when he was "a sensitive and solitary only child" of 16, condemned to spend the holiday with his rich old uncle at his gloomy manor house in the country. Uncle Victor has made an effort to brighten the place up, and after midnight he even puts on a Santa suit to deliver gifts to his sleeping guests. But during the night someone kills this generous soul and only Charles, as sly and secretive as he is "sensitive and solitary," knows whodunit. James's cunning tale is very much in the classic spirit of Christmas mysteries like Agatha Christie's "Hercule Poirot's Christmas," Ngaio Marsh's "Tied Up in Tinsel" and Martha Grimes's wonderful "Jerusalem Inn." Anne Perry also writes charming holiday mysteries every year, a Christmas return (Baliantine, $20), the 15th entry in this Victorian series, features Mariah Ellison, an elderly termagant who has resigned herself to spending yet another Christmas alone when the unexpected gift of an ornamental cannonball shocks her into revisiting an unsolved 20-year-old crime. Like Perry and James, Rhys Bowen sets her seasonal mystery in the past - specifically in 1906 New York, when it seems to snow with more abandon, the ghost of CHRISTMAS PAST (Minotaur, $24.99) finds the "semi-retired private detective" Molly Murphy Sullivan and her dashing husband at a grand mansion in the picturesque Hudson Valley village of Scarborough, where there are fresh snowfalls and sleigh rides and brainy suffragists to stir up trouble. When they move out of the past and into the present, mystery writers get positively giddy. HOW THE FINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! (Thomas Dunne / Minotaur, $25.99) is typical fare. Donna Andrews, author of "Duck the Halls" and "Six Geese ?-Slaying," among other avian-themed mysteries, inflicts "an epidemic of Gouldian finch smuggling" on Caerphilly, Va., just as the town is getting dolled up for a production of "A Christmas Carol." The professional actor hired to play Scrooge comes with a drinking problem and a reputation for being difficult, but we forgive this ham his sins because he dotes on a pretty little finch he names Fiona. Getting through Emily Brightwell's 36th series mystery, MRS. JEFFRIES AND THE THREE WISE WOMEN (Berkley Prime Crime, $25), is more of a slog. Not because the characters are burdened with names like Luty Belle Crookshank and made to "chuckle" their dialogue. Not even because the British sleuth famed for having "solved more murders than anyone in the history of the Metropolitan Police" is an amiable fool whose celebrated cases were all solved by his household staff. I'm not even going to pick at the lightweight plot about the shooting death of a boorish man who insulted every other guest at a Guy Fawkes Night dinner party, which seems only fair. Far more deserving of recrimination is the illiterate dialogue inflicted on characters like Wiggins, the footman, forced to declare: "Cor blimey, I knew this was goin' to 'appen. Why do people keep killin' each other durin' the 'olidays?" The amusing but basically sober short stories collected in THE USUAL SANTAS (Soho Crime, $19.95) show up just in time to save us from sugar overload. True wit and something like genuine Christmas spirit have gone into the title story by Mick Herron, and Helene Tursten's delicious "An Elderly Lady Seeks Peace at Christmastime" is tastier than all those confections with kittens and puppies and sleigh bells. And, lest we lose perspective, Peter Lovesey's introduction reminds us that "crime statistics spike at this time of year.... And even when the run-up to the holiday ends and the streets become more peaceful, domestic violence increases behind locked doors." With this in mind, I say: "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night." MARILYN STASIO has covered crime fiction for the Book Review since 1988. Her column appears twice a month.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [December 24, 2018]
Review by Booklist Review
It's almost Christmas in Caerphilly, Virginia, and Meg Langslow's husband, Michael, is directing a charity benefit production of A Christmas Carol, starring Malcolm Haver, a has-been actor who is under contract to play Scrooge. Haver, a disagreeable drunk, keeps everyone in Caerphilly on a mission to keep liquor away from him, but when Haver's secret liquor supplier, John Willimer, is found murdered, Haver is one of the suspects, leaving everyone wondering if the show will go on. Complicating matters, Meg must deal with a group of exotic animals, a plethora of puppies, and dozens of cats, all of whom need homes. Then there are also Haver's persistent super fan, a dangerous animal smuggling operation, and Meg's need to determine how Weaseltide is celebrated. The always-busy, efficient Meg solves the murders while keeping order among family and friends; all the usual, wonderfully drawn, quirky characters are present in this satisfying, humorous entry in the long-running series.--O'Brien, Sue Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Agatha-winner Andrews's pleasing 22nd Meg Langslow mystery (after Gone Gull) finds Meg serving as the assistant director of her husband Michael's staging of Dickens's A Christmas Carol for the Caerphilly, Va., winter festival. Michael has brought in Malcolm Haver, an aging, once-popular actor, to play Scrooge, but Malcolm's drinking threatens the production. When Malcolm sneaks off, Meg follows him in her car to an isolated farmhouse, where she spots him buying liquor from a bootlegger. She also discovers a nearby barn filled with animals, including golden retriever puppies, dozens of cats, and a chimp. Later, the bootlegger turns up dead with two bullet holes in his forehead-and Malcolm disappears. Rescuing the animals-which becomes a community effort-and ensuring that the show goes on matter more than finding Malcolm or solving the bootlegger's murder. Andrews manages her large cast with dexterity and drops clues to the culprits' identity, but the ending will catch most readers by surprise. Agent: Ellen Geiger, Frances Goldin Literary Agency. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Visiting Caerphilly, VA, especially at Christmastime, doesn't get old in this 22nd series entry (after Gone Gull). Meg's husband is directing a full-scale production of A Christmas Carol and has his hands full with a famous aging actor playing Scrooge. Meg and most of the town have been enlisted to keep the actor sober enough to get through the play, but one night, when tailing him, Meg stumbles upon a barn full of exotic animals and designer dogs. Then a raid on the property leads to an even more disturbing discovery-a human corpse. VERDICT With her trademark wit and resourcefulness, Meg continues to thwart crime in an entertaining fashion. [See Prepub Alert, 4/17/17.] © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The Yuletide festivities in Caerphilly, Virginia, are threatened by an inebriated actor, a slight case of murder, and 23 Gouldian finches.It looks like so much work for professor Michael Waterston to both direct and star in the community/college production of A Christmas Carol that's grown out of his well-received one-man show that the board hires Malcolm Haver to play Scrooge instead, figuring that the increased box-office take Haver's name guarantees will more than offset the visitor's salary. That turns out to be a decision only the Grinch could endorse. Haver's only sort of a name, only sort of an improvement on Michael even when he's sober, and only sort of sober even on his best days. So Michael's wife and assistant director, Meg Langslow, adds wrangling the star to her extensive resume (Gone Gull, 2017). Even though Meg gets help from her mother; Mayor Randall Shiffley; and the usual suspects, it's a tall order, partly because once Randall gets Haver cut off from legitimate sources of alcohol, the sozzled thespian finds an obliging bootlegger, and partly because Meg has other problems on her mind: an unidentified corpse found in a local stream; a persistent fan of Haver's who's pressing the Rev. Robyn Smith to mount a celebration of Weaseltide, whatever that is; a collection of finches Meg's endlessly resourceful grandfather has added to his menagerie; and eventually a murdered bootlegger. Will this last development keep the headliner sober long enough to tread the boards come Christmas Eve? A mildly curdled take on the most wonderful time of the year that won't offend the most devout celebrants. Spoiler alert: the finch doesn't steal Christmas, and the tale ends with a celebration of Weaseltide and the triumphant premiere of A Christmas Carol. Whew. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
