Publication Date – September 26, 2023

Summary

It’s Christmas time on beautiful and chilly Mackinac Island. Carol Tunisian is helping to prepare the Christmas Ball in support of the Senior Center when she stumbles across a body. Having helped her friend, Allie, solve some murders in the past, she’s pretty sure that she can handle this one with the help of a few of her friends. The question is whether she can solve it before anyone else is murdered.

This is a short Christmas story for fans of the Allie McMurphy Candy-Coated mystery series.

My Thoughts

I had 3 concerns before starting.

1. I had never read any of the Allie McMurphy Candy-Coated series. 

2. I don’t generally like short mysteries because there isn’t enough time to develop characters or plot.

3. I have unreasonably high standards for Christmas mysteries. They are all I read between November 1 and January 6, and I want them to be as packed full of holiday spirit as a book about a murder can possibly be. 

Here’s what I found –

1. I don’t know why I hadn’t read any of this series before. (How did a series on a small island where fudge is a major industry escape me!?) It didn’t make a difference to this story. I immediately caught on to who everyone was and what was happening. And I have now added this series to my wishlist.

2. This was a great short story! The characters were well-developed and very likable. As a mystery, I admit it wasn’t really one that I could solve alongside Carol and her friends. Normally that makes me mad, but it didn’t here. I felt like I was going along for an adventure with Carol. There was humor and just enough suspense and, ultimately, she helped solve the murder. I was perfectly content with this mystery.

3. There were definitely adequate holiday related activities to meet my high Christmas book standards (even though I read it when it was 90 degrees outside). There was so much snow! Police arriving on snowmobiles kind of snow. Carol’s home was decorated for Christmas. There were fires in the fireplace. There were Christmas cookies which Carol served to guests and took in tins to soften up those she planned to question. I would have loved more details about Carol’s Santas from Around the World collection and the Christmas Ball, but, after all, it was a short story. I’d give it a 4/5 for the Christmas theme. 

The Characters

Carol’s a woman in her 70s with no children and a retired husband who is away on a fishing trip. She is brave, intelligent, resourceful, quick thinking, proactive, and a wee bit devious – though she would probably prefer the word sneaky. Her leadership qualities and organizational skills impressed me. This is a woman who is dedicated to her friends, her community, and helping those in need. Her detective skills could use a bit of work, but given it’s the first one she’s tried to solve as head amateur detective rather than as assistant to head amateur detective, I’d say she did an excellent job. She had a very authentic voice and I adored her by the end of the first chapter.

The other characters were equally fun. Rather than presenting us with a generic room of senior citizens, we met a quintessential grandmotherly type, a hippie, a Polish Santa and more. I appreciated that even the characters with smaller roles had distinctive characteristics.

What Else I Liked

• A couple of recipes are dotted throughout the story – easy chocolate cheesecake bars and easy maple fudge. I plan to try both. 

• Her “little book club” liked to help solve mysteries. I’d join that book club.

Rating 4/5

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I received a free eArc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

About The Author

Nancy Coco is the author of over 35 books in both the mystery and romance genres. She also writes under the names Nancy Parra and Nell Hampton.

Find out more about the author and her books at nancyjcoco.com. The website also has some delicious looking recipes!