Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas "Stalkings"

It’s a cold winter evening. The Christmas decorations have been hung, the presents are wrapped and you have just slid a pan of cookies into the oven. Now, it’s time to settle down in a comfy chair (by the fireplace if you have one) and open up a great murder mystery! Some of my favorite mysteries are set during the Christmas season and the following is just a few of them:

Aunt Dimity’s Christmas by Nancy Atherton is the story of Lori Shepherd who is anticipating celebrating Christmas with her husband, Bill and twin sons in the beautiful cottage willed to her by Aunt Dimity. Lori makes a disturbing discovery beneath the cottage's snow-covered lilac bushes -- the body of a mysterious stranger, barely alive. Lori must put her plans on hold to team up with the devilishly attractive Roman Catholic priest JuLian Bright and seek out the tramp's identity. Lori unveils the tragic secret that led the stranger to her door, and must confront painful truths about herself and the true meaning of a perfect family Christmas.

Jingle Bell Bark by Laurien Berenson stars dog trainer Melanie Travis, in a cozy canine mystery set during the Christmas holidays. This year, all Melanie wants for Christmas is a dull moment--but she's not going to get it. Between her eight-year-old son, her teaching job, her show dog, and now the mysterious death of her son's bus driver, she's got her hands full.

Iced by Carol Higgins Clark is set in the old silver-mining town-turned-trendy resort of Aspen, Colorado. Many rich and famous folks have arrived in Aspen to celebrate the holidays, as has Regan Reilly who has has arrived with her mystery-writing mom and suave, funeral director father to spend the Christmas holidays on the slopes and visiting friends. Million-dollar paintings start disappearing from elegant condos and chic chalets all over town and suspicion immediately falls on a congenial ex-con caretaker named Eben Bean. Since Regan helped Eben get his caretaking job, she is the only person in town who believes he is innocent, and must prove this to everyone else.

Wreck the Halls by Sarah Graves is one of the “home repair is homicide” murder series. When ex—Wall Streeter Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree buys a charming 1823 fixer-upper in tiny Eastport, Maine, she figures she’s also bought herself a tranquil, stress-free life. When Jake and her best pal, Ellie, arrive at Faye Anne Carmody’s kitchen door, they knock and walk right in. But though Christmas is just two weeks away, what they find is far from festive: a dazed Faye Anne covered with blood, and her no-good husband — the town butcher, Merle — nowhere in sight. Nowhere, that is, until Jake discovers his body — tidily wrapped in his own butcher paper. Jake can’t believe that Faye Anne is a murderer, but can she and Ellie stop the shrewd killer before he chisels another victim’s name onto a tombstone?

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