Author: Stephanie Blackmoore
Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496717535
Kensington Publishing
314 Pages
$7.99; $5.99 Amazon
September 24, 2019
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Olivia's dreaming of a white Christmas -- as in a white wedding gown and all the trimmings. But that's not the only event that's keeping everyone busy. Olivia's family are in real estate development, and they're sponsoring Paws and Poinsettias -- a benefit for the Port Quincy animal shelter. Meanwhile, Mallory's mom wants to use her daughter's connection to snag a job staging homes for the company...and the current stager is not filled with holiday cheer at the news that she might be replaced.
When the endangered employee downs some antifreeze-spiked punch at a party, Mallory has a murder to solve -- among other mysteries including a missing cat, a toy-drive heist, and a baby found in a manger thirty years earlier...
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Mallory Shepard inherited a mansion from her ex-fiancé's grandmother, and turned it into a B&B. She left her law practice and decided to become an event planner. Now she's exited to plan the wedding of her friend Olivia, who is getting married in the spring...or was, anyway. Olivia wants her to move the wedding up to December 23rd, and while Mallory is busy with other commitments, she wants to help her friend, so agrees.
But things aren't going the way she planned. Olivia's family are in real estate, and they've decided to build in Port Quincy, where Mallory lives. Not many people are happy about it, but the Marches don't care. They run roughshod over everyone, and now Mallory has to deal with them, too. As if that isn't bad enough, her mother Carole and stepfather Doug have decided to move back, too, and are staying with Mallory at her B&B.
What's even worse is the fact that Carole wants a staging job with the Marches -- one that is currently held by Lacey Adams. So it's a surprise when Mallory goes to check on her decorations for Paws and Poinsettias that she and Lacey designed, and discover her mother has redone everything to her own design instead. When Lacey calls Carole out on it, she feels terrible, and when Lacey is later found poisoned by a drink that Carole handed her, she's the main suspect in the murder.
Now Mallory is planning a wedding and trying to keep her mother out of jail, which isn't easy since her mother keeps doing things that might put her in there. With problems on the home front, and her boyfriend Garrett considering a move to a different job, she's heartsick, but hoping the wedding will keep her mind off it. It might work since she's also trying to solve the origin of Olivia's birth, but someone doesn't want her to, and it might be deadly if she tries...
This is the fifth book in the series and I've read every one. What I think about Mallory isn't that she's weak; it's just that she's used to her sister and mother being the way they are and she's given up trying to do anything about it. I have said in previous posts that I didn't like Rachel because she's selfish and self-centered and doesn't help much around the B&B other than baking. Well, now I see where she gets it from. Carole is worse than Rachel. She totally destroys Mallory's work, saying she 'didn't think she'd care.' Excuse me? You just go in and ruin what your daughter has worked hard to do and think it's alright? What kind of mother is this? Also, she says when Mallory and Garrett get married (and he hasn't proposed yet) that they can move out of the B&B and leave the apartment for Rachel. Say what? The B&B belongs to Mallory. It's her home. Why should she move? Rachel should move instead. She doesn't own the place. Nothing like figuring out who the favorite child is. Certainly not the one who works her fingers to the bone, but the one who's centered on her looks. How shallow is this woman that she can't see Mallory's worth? Tell Rachel to move her butt out. That irritated me no end and made me dislike Carole even more. (Also, I don't care for her tropical designs, but oh, well).
Anyway, with what I've said above, I just wanted Carole to go back to Florida but I suppose that won't happen. So, while Carole won't keep her mouth shut Mallory is on the hunt to find a killer. But she never thought it would trace all the way back to Olivia's birth. It's an interesting story line, and I did enjoy reading about it. I liked the way it all came together, and I will read the next in the series. I did have to take away one star because of the other two Shepard women, who distract from the mystery.
More on Stephanie Blackmoore's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/stephanie-blackmoore/
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