Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen by Vicki Delany
Review by Lauren
Source: personal copy; all opinions are my own
Official Summary: As the owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, Merry Wilkinson knows how to
decorate homes for the holidays. That’s why she thinks her float in the
semi-annual Santa Claus parade is a shoe-in for best in show. But when
the tractor pulling Merry’s float is sabotaged, she has to face facts:
there’s a Scrooge in Christmas Town.
Merry isn’t ready to point
fingers, especially with a journalist in town writing a puff piece about
Rudolph’s Christmas spirit. But when she stumbles upon the reporter’s
body on a late night dog walk—and police suspect he was poisoned by a
gingerbread cookie crafted by her best friend, Vicky—Merry will have to
put down the jingle bells and figure out who’s really been grinching
about town, before Vicky ends up on Santa’s naughty list…
Review: Yes, Christmas is over and most of you have probably put away your decorations and are ready to move on. However, I have the first book in a new cozy mystery series that I think you should give a chance! I saw this at my local bookstore and I had to grab a copy because I was in a cozy mystery mood, it was holiday themed, and it was the first book. Don’t miss out on starting a new series as they publish!
This book is about Merry Wilkinson who is from Rudolph, New York. In order to keep the town running and functioning, Rudolph is trying to let everyone know that this is America’s Christmas town. Merry runs Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, where she sells beautiful and often local-made decorations for the holidays. While this is a Christmas town all year round, they know that the weeks around the actual holiday will give them most of their money and sales to stay afloat. This is why it’s even more devastating when a visiting journalist is found dead in the local park.
Merry’s friend, Vicky, is first on the suspect list as she made the special cookie that the journalist had eaten earlier in the evening. Merry knows Vicky would never poison anyone, so from then on, she’s desperate to figure out who killed the journalist as well as who is stirring up even more trouble in the small town. Is it all connected? Can Merry and the rest of Rudolph save Christmas town before too much bad press push them under?
This was a really quick, enjoyable read! This is one series that I really hope to continue with. I can’t wait to find out what the second book will be about, as well as when it comes out! The mystery in this one was really interesting. I honestly had no idea who was behind the sabotage of Rudolph, so it was nice to see the reveal finally take place.
Glad you took a chance on this and it paid off, it sounds like a fun read!
I like to read Christmas books all year. Because it feels like during the holidays I do very little reading. This one sounds fun. Thanks for sharing!
Even post christmas, it's nice to have a book like that. It's been a while since I haven't read a cozy book
After miserably finding only one of my 'Christmas' reads gave anything other than the vaguest mention of Christmas I'm on the look out for reads for this years challenge and this sounds like it may well be just the thing. Thank you.
I really liked this one too!!! I can't wait for the next book as well!
People seem to love this one! The title always makes me giggle.
haha, brilliant title!! I have yet to give a cozy mystery a try, and I really wouldn't know where to even start within the genre. But I'd definitely like to give one a go sometime!
This sounds super fun haha I'm glad the culprit was hidden from you for most of the novel because that's the part I normally struggle with in mystery novels (I'm really good at guessing the real culprit which can be good sometimes but can also lead to disappointment)
What a great title for a mystery! The book sounds sweet and cozy 🙂
I love the title! I love how cozy mysteries have such fun titles. I love cozies… so, I will have to look for this based on your review!
Love when I can't quite figure it all out right away 😀 And Christmas is good year round 😀
It might surprise you to know that our Christmas lights are still up and we turn them on every evening 😛 We just love the soft glow that seeps into our living room <3
On another note, I love cozy mystery reads and my mother-in-law does too! I will have to mention this one to her 🙂 Great review, Lauren!
Sounds adorable! I loved the cover with the dog *_*
I'll keep it in my wishlist for december 🙂