We Wish You a Murderous Christmas by Vicki Delany

Overview:

It’s Christmastime three hundred sixty-five days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shop owner Merry Wilkinson is enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen. With Jack's health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn. 
But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods. 
When Gord is found stabbed to death, there’s an entire town of potential suspects—and it’s up to Merry to find whoever brought homicide home for the holidays...
 

My Review:

 
This is the second entry in the Year-Round Christmas Mystery series and the sequel to Rest Ye Murdered Gentleman.  If you read my review on the first book, you’ll know that while I enjoyed the theme, the characters were just too over-the-top for my taste.  There was some character development in this one but they still came off as caricatures as opposed to real people. 
 
In this book, Jack (owner of the Yuletide Inn) has a heart attack and lands in the hospital.  His son Gord (from his first marriage), who has been living in California, graciously agrees to come to Rudolph to run the Inn while Grace (Jack’s wife) is taking care of Jack.  He immediately begins changing things and even tries to sell the Inn without the consent of Grace.  It’s not long before he’s murdered and there’s no shortage of suspects as half the town hates him and thinks he’s going to ruin the Christmas spirit.  Number one on the list is Noel, Merry’s father.  Pretty obvious, since he threatened Gord in front of witnesses and is soon arrested so Merry takes it upon herself to “help” the police with their investigation.

Though the suspect list is long, it is pretty obvious who the guilty party is and I am curious to see how the fallout from that will evolve.
Like I said in the beginning, the characters are still over-the-top but we learn that Aline (Merry’s mother) has some spunk and isn’t totally a former opera diva still trying to live her glory days.  Jackie (Merry’s part time help) is still annoying as all get out and poor Mattie keeps getting shoved in his crate. 

I really want to like this series.  I do.  It has an interesting and fun premise but I am having such a hard time with the characters.  The third one titled Hark the Herald Angels Slay comes out November 28, 2017 but I won’t pick it up right away.  I’ll wait until I hit a slow patch when there’s nothing else out that I want.  I do hope that things improve because there were some things that happened in this book that intrigued me enough to want to keep reading which is a good sign. 

Have you read this series?  If so, what did you think?  Am I being too harsh?

Where the Dead Lie by C.S. Harris

 

 

Overview:

 

In the latest mystery from the national bestselling author of When Falcons Fall, the gruesome murder of a young boy takes Sebastian St. Cyr from the gritty streets of London to the glittering pleasure haunts of the aristocracy...

London, 1813. Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is no stranger to the dark side of the city, but he’s never seen anything like this: the brutalized body of a fifteen-year-old boy dumped into a makeshift grave on the grounds of an abandoned factory.

One of London’s many homeless children, Benji Thatcher was abducted and tortured before his murder—and his younger sister is still missing. Few in authority care about a street urchin’s fate, but Sebastian refuses to let this killer go unpunished.

Uncovering a disturbing pattern of missing children, Sebastian is drawn into a shadowy, sadistic world. As he follows a grim trail that leads from the writings of the debauched Marquis de Sade to the city’s most notorious brothels, he comes to a horrifying realization: someone from society’s upper echelon is preying upon the city’s most vulnerable. And though dark, powerful forces are moving against him, Sebastian will risk his reputation and his life to keep more innocents from harm...

My Review:

This is already the 12^th book in the Sebastian St. Cyr series and it just keeps getting better with each new edition.

The main plot of the story this time involves the brutal abduction and torture of Benji Thatcher.  When it is learned his little sister Sybil is missing, Sebastian begins an investigation that reveals multiple children have come up missing – all of them street urchins that no one cares about.  Being a new father, Sebastian’s heart breaks at the thought of the children being gone and probably dead with not a single person to care besides himself and his wife Hero.

At the heart of the mystery are the pornographic writings of the Marquis de Sade which are being secretly read and recreated by the most elite of society.  The Marquis lived from 1740 – 1814 and was notorious for his erotic works, most of which were quite violent in content.  Right after his death, his son had all unpublished manuscripts burned and the family was forbidden to talk about him until the late 1940s.

In addition to the main story, there are several subplots interwoven like only Harris can do without the whole story becoming a muddled mess.  One is the on-going conflict between Sebastian and his father-in-law Charles, Lord Jarvis who is the power behind the throne.  I have no doubt that eventually it will come down to one eliminating the other and it will be interesting to see which side Hero comes down on.  Her character is developing nicely but not as fast as I would like and though I understand her softening since getting married and having a baby, I don’t want to see her lose her strength and fight that have been a hallmark since she was introduced.

The other storyline that is progressing throughout all the books is Sebastian’s search for his mother.  I find this to be very interesting and wish Harris would make it more of a focal point instead of just dribbling a few sentences in each book.  It is moving way too slowly and is starting to get annoying.  It almost feels like the author hasn’t quite decided where to go with it yet so is just sprinkling in little bits at a time so readers don’t forget about it.

In the end, it is an excellent book in a fantastic series and I can’t wait for the next one.  It is called “Why Kill the Innocent” and is scheduled for release on April 3, 2018.  I noticed Barnes and Noble is already taking pre-orders so if you love this series as much as I do, I highly recommend you put your order in now!

Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson

 

Overview:

As a midwife in turn-of-the-century New York, Sarah Brandt has seen pain and joy. Now she will work for something more--a search for justice--in a case of murder involving one of New York's richest families.

My Review:

This is the first book in the Gaslight Mystery series and though it was published in 1999 and I have had it on my shelf for years, I am just now getting around to reading it.  Not because I didn't think it would be good but because I prefer my historical mysteries set in Georgian or Victorian England.  Now I could kick myself for wasting so much time in getting started with this series.

Set in turn-of-the-century New York, we are introduced to Sarah Brandt who is a midwife.  While visiting a patient following the delivery, Sarah learns that a young boarder has been murdered.  Sarah had seen her the night before while delivering her patient's baby and thought the girl looked familiar.  It turns out to be the younger sister of one of her old friends.

Sarah had been raised in high society but chose to defy the conventions of the day by not only marrying a doctor, but also by becoming a midwife.  He died (murdered as we find out later) and Sarah is left to make her own way in the world.  When she is approached by the Detective in charge Frank Malloy to examine the body, Sarah discovers she indeed knows the girl and is determined to help find her killer.  

I loved the juxtaposition of Sarah and Frank.  He is immediately prejudiced against her when he learns she is high-born but also has a grudging respect for her when he learns how she defied society to follow her heart.  He also knows that she will be invaluable in helping him gain access to places he would otherwise be banned from.  He resents this but his sense of justice prevails and he cautiously accepts her help.

The characters are realistic and I found myself drawn to all of them and that doesn't happen very often.  I enjoyed the bitterness of Frank, especially as I learned more about him throughout the book, as well as the determination of Sarah.   

The setting was rich in detail and I was easily caught up in that world.  As a historian by trade and education, I know that though mostly accurate, there were some discrepancies but it didn't distract me from the book.  A lot of times, authors will add in modern elements such as a turn of phrase just so the reader can get a better understanding of what a character is thinking and while some readers don't like that, I really don't mind.  It wasn't so egregious that I felt it took me out of the setting and I'm willing to overlook some of that if it helps progress the story.

The plot is well thought out and though it isn't difficult to figure out the murderer, there is an unexpected twist that you really don't see coming - something that is lacking in a lot of mysteries these days.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am on the hunt for the next one in the series.