Candy Cane Murder [With Holiday Recipe Card]

I love all the mysteries that I have read! Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, and Leslie Meier are some of my favorites; these ladies have a way with words and with mysteries!! I plan to read the whole series by all three authors!

This is one of the most wonderful, charming, interesting, and fun books that I have ever read. I was very satisfied when I finished it. This book is three books in one, by three different authors. All three books are fun, very well-written, clever, and entertaining. "Candy Cane Murder" by Joanne Fluke: The first book is by Joanne Fluke. Anybody who reads my reviews knows how crazy I am over the Hannah Swensen series, and this book is no exception. This book starts out with Hannah at the Christmas party, dressed up as an elf. They are having a dinner and invited the children at the children's home. Hannah has a bucket of miniature candy canes for the children, and is looking forward to making candy cane cookies with the leftovers. When leaving the party, Hannah and her sisters find a miniature candy cane. . . Hannah also finds a body. I will not say more about the candy cane because I do not want to ruin the book. There are lots of clever clues and fun adventures. The final solving of the mystery is very interesting and clever. And the recipes really look good. On a scale of 1 to 5, a hundred stars would not be enough for Joanne Fluke's part. "The Dangers of Candy Canes" by Laura Levine: While putting a huge, decorative neon candy cane on a roof, the person falls off because a shingle is loose. Was the roofer negligant in making sure the shingle was in place, or did someone deliberately loosen the shingle? Jaine is determined to find out. She goes on some interesting investigative adventures until she finds out who did it. The mystery solving was interesting. This book was fun and funny. I had never read anything by this author before. By itself, this book would definitely have been 5 stars. Actually, a lot more than that. Five stars would not have been enough. "Candy Canes of Christmas Past" by Leslie Meier: Lucy, the main character, reflects on her first Christmas in Tinkers Cove, Maine as a young wife and mother. She makes friends with Miss Tilley and Sue Finch (and others). A glass candy cane makes Miss Tilley remember the death of her mother, which was many years ago. I will not say how the candy cane makes her remember, because I do not want to ruin the book for those who haven't read it. Lucy solves her first mystery that year: she solves the mystery of Miss Tilley's mother's death, even though it was many years ago. I enjoyed the mystery solving; it was really clever. I love the atmosphere of this book. Lucy is taken back in time when she was a struggling new wife and mother. Her little boy, Toby, is sweet and adorable. Their house needs a lot of costly repairs. Even though those times seem hard and bad, those were actually the "good ole days". I know this because I have been reading the Lucy Stone series, and as the series progresses, and the kids get older, and Lucy and her husband are doing better financially, the atmosphere isn't quite as good and sentimental. But this story is more like one of the original books of the seri

I am not the biggest fan of short stories. I want more content to sink my teeth into. However, this book was the exception. I loved it! Hannah was in her usual keen sleuthing mode. I liked how the second short story referred back to Joanne's story and recipes. I am especially thrilled to be introduced to Leslie Meier. I enjoyed her story and I plan to read more of her books.

This is a collection of three Christmas mystery novellas written by three great cozy writers. Starring their series sleuths, they stand alone well enough to be entertaining for any cozy fan looking for some light reading in December. Up first is the title story. "Candy Cane Murder" by Joanne Fluke finds Hannah Swenson playing Santa's helper, literally, at the Lake Eden Inn. Wayne Bergstrom, owner of a local department store, is doing his annual good deed playing Santa for the underprivileged kids in the area. But when leaving the party a little while later, she follows a trail of candy canes to find Wayne's body in a snow bank. Who would want Wayne dead? For a novella mystery, this one is fairly complex. Any of Hannah's numerous fans will love this story. It's a cozy Christmas offering and includes 8 cookie recipes, 2 drink recipes, and 2 quiche recipes. Next comes "The Dangers of Candy Canes" by Laura Levine. I'm a fan of Laura's books so was thrilled to find another story starring freelance writer Jaine Austen. When one of Jaine's clients, Seymour Fiedler of Fiedler on the Roof Roofers, is sued for wrongful death, he hires Jaine to put down her pen and solve the crime. Seems that Garth Jankin fell off his recently reroofed house while decorating for his neighborhood's annual Christmas decorating contest. Since Garth had numerous enemies, Jaine quickly decides that the tiles were loosened. But who would do something like that? As with the books, this story is very funny. A sub-plot about Jaine volunteering with a group that mentors underprivileged girls almost slows the story down at times. But in the end this is a fun read. Even though she's a staple of the cozy sub-genre, I have never read Leslie Meier before. I changed that with the third story, "Candy Canes of Christmas Past." This story takes us back in time to the first Christmas that series star Lucy Stone spent in Tinker Cove, Maine. Lucy is trying to deal with her husband's project, fixing up their home. So when town librarian Miss Tilly is nice to Lucy, Lucy looks for some way to repay her new friend. And that's how she begins trying to uncover the circumstances surrounding Miss Tilly's mother's death almost 50 years before. This story is as much about Lucy's struggles to fit into a new town and live in an old house as it is about the mystery. In fact, this was the weakest mystery of the book by far. But I liked the characters and plan to read the first in the series soon. This story includes 2 recipes, bringing the total for the book to 14. If you love cozies and want to book to put you in the Christmas mood, this is the book for you. Pick it up and enjoy today.

This anthology is the perfect read for all of us who think the Christmas season is just plain murder. Joanne Fluke and Leslie Meier contribute highly entertaining mini-mysteries, but my favorite part of the collection was--with all due respect to Publishers Weekly--Laura Levine's latest Jaine Austen adventure. "The Dangers of Candy Canes" was hardly "skimpy," but involving, fast-paced, and moving, without being overly sentimental. All of these stories, however, are recommended for anyone wishing to try original twists on the standard murder mystery. It would be interesting to see the authors follow this up with further holiday-themed stories.