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Things
are not so festive in Celebration Bay since Grace Thornsby
took over the Christmas shop. It now sells cheap imports that
do not necessarily evoke the spirit of Christmas. Grace has
been mean and rude to her customers, staff and neighboring
business owners. So when she adds an illegal Santa to her
shop, event coordinator Liv Montgomery will have to tell Grace
what is what without blowing her top. Liv gives Grace until
the next day to clean up her act.
The big
Christmas parade is the next day leading up to the Celebration
of Lights that evening. The day flew by with all the last
minutes touches and triple checking of the events. Crunch
time and Santa and the children light the tree. The white
lights of the surrounding shops are lit - except for the Trim
a Tree shop! Liv goes to the shop to find out why Grace didn't
turn on her lights. When she finally gets into the shop Liv
finds Penny Newland inside. They see a pair of shoes under
the overturned Christmas tree. Turns out they are on the dead
body of the illegal Santa. Liv needs to solve this murder
in order to make sure that Christmas comes off without a hitch.
She better be careful - or she could end up permanently on
Santa's Naughty List!
Things
to ponder: Why would a mean-spirited person want to run Trim
a Tree shop? Why was Penny in the Trim a Tree shop when she
should have been singing with the choir? Where is Grace? Why
was "Santa" Hank Ousterhaut almost late for the
parade?
This
book put me in a holiday frame of mind - even though I read
it in August. It is well plotted and a real page turner. I
can't wait to visit Celebration Bay again and again to find
out what is happening with this delightful cast of characters,
especially that adorable Westie named Whiskey - he reminds
me of my own little Yorkie, Rufus. If you can't wait until
Shelley is finished planning and plotting her next Celebration
Bay mystery, you might want to pick up the first book in the
series Foul Play at the Fair. I know I am. So, if you like
your mystery with a touch of Christmas spirit then you should
be reading Silent Knife.
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