Author: Victoria Gilbert
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781639105205
Crooked Lane Books
272 Pages
$30.99; $18.99 Amazon
November 14, 2023
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Returning to her role as an amateur detective is the last thing library director Amy Muir wants. She's already buried under an avalanche of responsibilities, including sharing the directorship of the local public library, parenting her holiday-obsessed five-year-old twins, and helping her choreographer husband, Richard, present The Nutcracker as part of the town's festivities. With her frosty mother-in-law, Fiona, visiting for the holidays, Amy definitely has enough on her Christmas cookie plate.
But when the chair of the festival committee is found as dead as Dickens's proverbial doornail at the town's ice rink, Amy is determined to uncover the real perpetrator to protect her brother-in-law, Ethan Payne, who was placed at the scene. The clock is ticking down as Sheriff Brad Tucker is equally sure that Ethan is guilty.
It's beginning to look a lot like the murderer hasn't wrapped up his killing spree, and now, it might just be "lights out" on the holiday festivities -- and on Amy's life.
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Amy Muir is enjoying her life as a wife and mother, aside from the fact that it's keeping her so busy she's exhausted -- it's not easy being the mother of five-year-old twins, especially at Christmas, and double especially when they find out their grandmother Fiona, Amy's husband Richard's mother, is coming to spend the holiday with them.
When Amy visits her Aunt Lydia at Winterfest, she notices a steep snow-covered slope near where her aunt has her craft booth set up. It's not until later when the sponsor, Wendy Blackstone, is found murdered that Amy really has her hands full. She thought she was done with murder, but it seems that the spotlight is on her brother-in-law, Ethan Payne, for the deed. Now, she'll have to sift through suspects and clues to find the real killer -- and hope that she can do it before Christmas...
This is the eighth book in the series and I have read them all. I thought because of the time progression (stay with me) that I had missed one, but nope. This one takes place five years after the last book, and now Amy's given birth and her twins are ruling her life. There are several changes also, one in which how Amy treats Kurt (my favorite character) and I approve of that. They've not only come to an understanding, they've become friends. He's also the twins' godfather, and that shows how far Amy's come. Good move.
When Ethan is accused of murder, Amy isn't happy. People know he doesn't have the temperament to commit murder, but there's a problem that no one in the town can get past (and I won't reveal it here since this book is not yet published). This only adds confusion to the investigation and makes Amy's personal investigation harder. Not to mention her brother Scott hasn't yet arrived, so Amy is on her own.
Then Fiona arrives, and while Amy is apprehensive at first, things begin to change between them, and Amy comes to a greater understanding of Fiona as well. I like how this has progressed, and how Amy has become softer since motherhood; she's no longer so judgmental of people, and it works so well in this book.
When the murderer is discovered, it was hidden well until nearly the last, and I found the reasons behind the murder believable and sad, and while murder is wrong, one can sympathize (to a point) but derangement is what it is.
All in all, I found this one of my most favorite books of the series, and I hope that they keep coming for a long time yet. I read all of Ms. Gilbert's books and have yet to be disappointed. She is a talented writer with an ability to create interesting storylines. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Victoria Gilbert's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/victoria-gilbert/
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