Year-Round Christmas Mystery Book 7
Book Blurb:
The slay bells are ringing in this festive seventh installment of national bestselling author Vicki Delany’s Year-Round Christmas mystery series, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Donna Andrews.
Rudolph, New York, shop owner Merry Wilkinson’s best friend Vicky Casey is newly engaged to Chef Mark Grosse and is moving into the historic Cole House–a home surrounded by drama, intrigue, and a possible haunting that is in desperate need of renovation. The wedding is just three weeks away, but all is not bliss for the newly engaged couple as estranged relatives of the late owner fight over her will. Then, late one night, Vicky and Merry come across a dead body in the garden of Cole House–and Mark is the one standing over the corpse.
As Detective Diane Simmonds focuses on Mark as the prime suspect, Vicky asks for Merry’s help to clear her fiancé’s name in time for the wedding. As they dig deeper into the connection between the house, Cole relatives, and town residents, past and present, it becomes clear that plenty of people wanted the victim dead.
With a bakery to run, the busy Easter weekend fast approaching, a house to renovate, and a fiancé to clear of a murder accusation, Vicky’s wedding may end up on the chopping block. It’s up to Merry to put aside the chocolate bunnies and stuffed rabbits and help her best friend save her wedding–and her life.
My Review:
Not my first Christmas cozy with Vicki Delany, I previously listened to Silent Night, Deadly Night (Book 4 of the series). This one has another narrator and the storyline is only slightly annoying. Since hubby loves his Hallmark movies and they become overwhelming at Christmas time, I guess my tolerance for violins and sappy seasonal tales leaves me cold as fresh Christmas snow. Still, I feel that obligation to provide a Christmas novel.
This is the seventh installment and involves Merry Wilkinson’s best friend Vicky Casey. She and her intended Chef Mark Grosse will be moving into the historic Cole House. Scuttlebutt is that it’s haunted and has a tragic history. Well, that it does, and the house has been abandoned a long time.
Vicky and Merry come across a dead body in the garden of Cole House—it’s the fella laying claim to the property—and the problem is that it’s Mark who is standing over the deceased. (Is that one of his knives?)
In a town the size of Rudolph, there will be plenty of people who know the history and I love me a good haunted house story. Vicky is freaking and thinking she’ll postpone their wedding while Merry needs to take care of her own little retail establishment with Easter approaching.
Merry will support Vicky while they are working on solving the problems with the house, Mark being a person of interest in the homicide, and the personal lives of support characters. I always enjoy the inclusion of a dog and this one is fun. I had a difficult time becoming engaged with the main character but on the whole enjoyed this episode more so than the last.
Not really a Christmas story, a Christmas-themed town, and a very convoluted plot, rather slow to pick up steam. Also, I had a difficult time believing the person in the reveal—really?
I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars 
Book Details:
Genre: Amateur Sleuth Mysteries, Cozy Animal Mystery, Cozy Animal Mysteries
Publisher: Tantor Audio
ASIN: B0D9YT76GL
Listening Length: 8 hrs 10 mins
Narrator: Dina Pearlman
Publication Date: September 24, 2024
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: A Slay Ride Together With You Amazon-US
Amazon-UK
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The Author: Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than forty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Year Round Christmas books for Crooked Lane, the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane Books, and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates) for Crooked Lane.
Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.
Vicki is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
©2924 V Williams
Rosepoint Publishing 