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is Christmas all year round in Rudolph, New York, but in this
installment of the series, it truly is the Christmas season
and Merry Wilkinson is happily involved in running her business
selling unique Christmas decorations, jewelry, and toys. The
town is planning all sorts of festivities and planning for
lots of tourist traffic. Merry’s father, Noel, is the
town’s official Santa Claus. That is until he is suspected
of murder!!
The Yuletide
Inn is a high-end, classy establishment that may be in trouble
at just the wrong time. Owners Jack and Grace Olsen have always
run the place themselves, but after Jack suffers a heart attack,
his son Gord comes to town to take over while Jack recovers.
The problem is that Gord’s ideas differ wildly from
what is good for the town and he plots and plans to cut corners,
cut costs and sever business relationships with the local
baker and others in the name of the almighty dollar. When
Gord is brutally stabbed with a steak knife from the inn’s
restaurant anyone could be the culprit, but unfortunately,
Noel Wilkinson had publicly threatened Gord shortly before
and has no alibi. The local officials opt to remove Noel as
Santa Claus and as dismal weather threatens Rudolph it looks
like Christmas may be a washout this year.
Merry
is determined to both clear her father’s name and save
the town from losing it’s biggest season of the year
while at the same time getting a cold-blooded killer off the
streets. Sure, the police are trying, but folks won’t
talk to the cops like they will to a hometown girl. Yet will
Merry be able to out smart the murderer without ended up on
the wrong end of the knife herself? Maybe, with a little help
from her friends.
I enjoyed
this book a lot more than the first in the series. My chief
complaint with that book was that Merry’s new puppy,
Mattie, often seemed to be an afterthought to her. This time,
Mattie’s needs are taken into consideration more and
I truly appreciated that, which, overall, made me appreciate
the action going on in the book more. As with the first book,
I was surprised by who the killer was! It was a completely
unexpected twist, as was the surprise ending.
This
is a wonderful holiday read, and I recommend it as a Christmas
read for yourself on a snowy day or as a stocking stuffer
or gift for the mystery lover on your list!
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