Saturday, December 24, 2022

Slay Bells Ring (A Dewberry Farm Christmas Novella 6.5)

Author:    Karen MacInerney
Genre:     Mystery

Digital Book
ASIN #:    B08NCFG11P
Gray Whale Press LLC
64 Pages
$2.99 Amazon
November 11, 2020

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It's Christmastime on Dewberry Farm, and homesteader Lucy Resnick is busy bundling mistletoe branches and cedar swags for the Buttercup Christmas Market when a neighbor's houseguest keels right over next to her peach orchard.  Was it a stray bullet from a hunter that took him out?  Or did a guest at the fancy ranch next door decide to scratch somebody off his or her Christmas list?  It's up to Lucy to unwrap the mystery...before the holiday killer strikes again.

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Lucy Resnick, owner of Dewberry Farm, is getting ready to put her wares on display at the Buttercup Christmas Market.  Her best friend Quinn is helping her bundle mistletoe and cedar swags, and they are pleasantly enjoying each others' company when they hear gunshots.  Looking out Lucy's window, they see someone aiming toward them, then another shot takes the person down.  After calling police, they have a couple of theories -- was it one of the treasure hunters that believe an old story?  Or someone from the Lemmon farm across the creek?

When they have their answer, Lucy is determined to investigate.  Along with her boyfriend, veterinarian Tobias, she's looking for clues -- and might just have found the one she needed...

I usually try to read Christmas tales around the holiday, and while I don't normally read short stories (not enough character development, in my opinion), I've read the Dewberry Farm series, so I already know the people.

This story shouldn't take anyone more than an hour or so to read, and it was very interesting.  While things are progressing quickly, we get to see Lucy's new neighbor, and how everything comes together.  It's a decent mini-mystery in the cozy genre, and worth reading.  It can be read as a stand-alone, but I enjoyed it more because I knew the characters.  Recommended.



More on Karen MacInerney's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/karen-macinerney/

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