Author: Ginger Bolton
Genre: Mystery
Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496725608
Kensington Publishing
256 Pages
$15.95; $9.99 Amazon
October 26, 2021
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It's Christmastime again in Fallingbrook, Wisconsin. Emily has decked the halls of her donut shop and decorated her donuts with festive designs from green and red frosting to snowflake sprinkles. For the annual Ice and Lights Festival, she's commissioned a sculpture with three ice-carved donut shapes to form a holey snowman, Frosty the Donut. She has one Christmas wish this year -- to spend some time under the mistletoe with a certain detective.
But the holidays just aren't the same without an unexpected disaster or two. A tour bus on its way to the festival has crashed and a snowstorm has left all the shaken passengers stranded and shivering. Emily and her friends open their homes to shelter the traveling families, while the bus driver is admitted to the hospital for his injuries. But the following morning, Emily discovers his body -- buried beneath Frosty the Donut.
The bus passengers show little sympathy for the man who dashed through the snow so badly, some claiming he was under the influence while behind the wheel. Emily also discovers that the driver had a history with folks in Fallingbrook. With multiple motives for murder piling up, it will take a Christmas miracle for Emily to solve this crime...
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Emily Westhill, along with her late husband's father, owns and runs Deputy Donut, a donut shop that has become a meeting place for many of the town's locals. It's Christmastime, and she's expecting to spend time with her friends, and so has taken some time off to go cross-country skiing with her friend Brent, whom she'd like to move out of the friend zone. When a call comes in that there's been a bus accident not far away, both Brent and Emily go to see if they can be of help.
It's apparent that the passengers are shaken and some are hurt, and there are children on board. The tour bus was making a stop in Fallingbrook to see the local Ice and Lights Festival, and almost made it before the crash. But Emily learns that the driver is from a neighboring town, and that he's had problems before, and learns nothing good about him from others. When she discovers his body early the next morning, it leaves questions all around: could the killer have been one of the passengers? Or worse yet, one of the locals? With the tour guide who was also the victim's girlfriend, staying with Emily, she'll need to watch her back as well as those around her if she wants to discover the truth...
This is the sixth book in the series and I have read all of them. I must say that I think this is one of the best ones. I like the fact that this series progresses, it doesn't leave all the characters in stagnation mode, and things move forward just as they should. It makes each book a fun read, and interesting to boot.
When the victim is discovered to be of a less than stellar person, questions abound and no one seems to have a real answer as to what he was doing in the snow and who hated him enough to kill him. Not even his girlfriend seems to know the truth, thinking he was a wonderful person. But Emily is finding that not to be the case, and her probing -- unofficially -- into the murder gives her clues, which she shares with Brent.
I won't give any more about the book away, but I will say that all the regular characters are here, and all enjoying the holidays as best they can, with houseguests they didn't expect but still want them to have a good time while they're staying in Fallingbrook. When the killer is revealed it is a surprise, just as it should be, and it all comes together nicely in a wrapped package that leaves the ending more than satisfying and the reader wanting the next in the series to be written soon. There are also some yummy recipes in the back. Highly recommended.
More on Ginger Bolton's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/ginger-bolton/
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