Slashing Through the Snow by Jacqueline Frost
Published: October 12, 2021
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Author: Website
Info: Goodreads
Reindeer Games Christmas Tree Farm is going into the B&B business, and Holly White is looking forward to her new role as innkeeper. Even better, Mistletoe, Maine's sheriff, Evan Gray, has deputized his little sister Libby to help Holly wrap presents for Mistletoe's toy drive. But a cold wind ruffles the cheery holiday decorations when a new guest checks in: Karen, a vicious B&B critic, who could make or break the new inn. And the short December days turn even darker when Evan and Libby find Karen's dead body in the gift-wrapped toy donation box.
The suspect list is longer than Santa's naughty list, and local resident Cookie is on it, since her fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, a metal nutcracker that she gave to Holly. So is Libby, who recently moved to town from Boston in less-than-savory circumstances. But cranky Karen was an oh-holy-nightmare to lots of the townsfolk, such as Evan's reporter friend Ray; Christopher, the inn's former contractor; and confectioner Bonnie, whose Gum Drop Shop was a direct target of Karen's scathing prose.
To figure out the killer's identity and clear Cookie's name, Holly and her friends brainstorm at The Hearth, the farm's café, while her mother keeps them fueled with Christmas goodies fresh from the oven. But if they can't put the culprit on ice, Holly may never see another Christmas. (goodreads.com)
GOD I love these books. I look forward to them so much all year. Book three in the series, SLASHING THROUGH THE SNOW, does not disappoint.
Holly can’t just leave well enough alone when it’s her second mom in the authority’s sights for the most recent murder, and she pays the price for it. I love how good-intentioned Holly is despite how it bites her in the ass in the end. Yeah, she’s a busybody, but she’s not completely intrusive about it if that makes any sense. It’s only to her detriment, and she doesn’t come across as someone butting into everybody’s business. She is starting to get herself a reputation, though, and people are starting to know that where Holly is, a murder isn’t far behind.
I love the layers in the mystery being told here. I’m definitely not an astute enough reader to really pick these things apart as I read. That doesn’t mean I don’t try, and I absolutely had no idea who it was until the big reveal. Total shocker. Did not see it coming. And I love it.
Other than me not really understanding how people can eat so much crap food and not be a town of diabetics, I have no complaints about this book. This is one of those rare reviews where it’s nothing but a gush, and I have nothing much constructive to say about it. It’s a wonderful Christmastime cozy mystery that encapsulates everything about the season all into one book, with a murder. It’s a little campy without being sickly sweet, it’s a solid mystery that will keep you guessing until the end, and the characters are wonderful.
5
