Decked with Folly

Kate Kingsbury's DECKED WITH FOLLY may have been intended as holiday mystery but deserves mention for year-round enjoyment, introducing the Pennyfoot Hotel, decked in holiday wonder when the season begins with disaster. Petty thievery is one thing, but when an employee is found dead in the duck pond, real trouble begins. A top pick for any mystery library's paperback section.

Cecily Sinclair Baxter loves celebrating Christmas at the Pennyfoot except for one thing - the Christmas Curse that seems to happen each year. She's hoping this Christmas will finally be murder free but her hopes are quickly dashed when the body of a former employee is found in the duck pond. The local constable is convinced one of Cecily's staff is responsible for the murder but agrees to hold off arresting anyone until after Christmas. Cecily must rush to not only prove her staff member is innocent but catch a killer before it is too late. "Decked with Folly" is the latest holiday book in Kate Kingsbury's delightful cozy mystery series set at the Pennyfoot - an annual Christmas gift to her fans. The setting is a familiar one for her fans and the mystery is a bit lightweight - the constable all too conveniently disappears so Cecily can solve the crime herself and it is pretty easy to figure out who the killer - but Kingsbury fans will want to read this book (and the other books in the series) not for the mystery but to revisit favorite characters. All of them are here: Cecily and her beloved husband Baxter, her unconventional friend Madeline and Madeline's husband Kevin, her friend Phoebe (who isn't in the book as much as one would like - even her annual Christmas pageant is poorly treated), her household staff - Mrs. Chubb, Gertie, Pansy, and temperamental chef Michel. The book focuses mostly on Cecily and Gertie, alternating between the two of them - readers may want to shake Gertie and tell her to straighten out her tangled love life for once and for all, but that's the beauty of this series - Kingsbury has created characters that you care about and feel like family. Fans of cozy mysteries will love "Decked with Folly" and spending the holidays at the Pennyfoot - I look forward to visiting there again next Christmas.

It always makes me smile when a new Christmas cozy mystery comes available by Kate Kingsbury. Her British cozies makes me smile. Coming home to the "Pennyfoot Hotel" is a good thing. The maids and staff always make me smile. I am so pleased to be able to peek in at the hotel and the problems that arrive just in time for Christmas. Cecily and Baxter seem to be in the middle of a mysterious murder every time. To tell you the truth, I never do know "Who done it". Ms. Kingsbury always delivers a a wonderful mystery that can't be beat. I adore the Hotel, the maids and staff, and patrons who visit this English hotel. I hope to continue to enjoy these mysteries every year.

It is the Christmas season and the Pennyfoot Spa is having its usual holiday celebration. Manager Cecily Sinclair Baxter prays they get through the Yuletide period without a murder as seems to be the tradition (see SHROUDS OF HOLLY, SLAY BELLS and NO CLUE AT THE INN - not a safe place for the holidays). Alas the homicidal jinx remains intact as a drunken man is found dead in the pond; they discover he is Ian Rossiter who used to work there and once was bigamously married to still-employed head maid Gertie. They also had a fight on the hotel's grounds in which she attacked him with a knife. The local constable Northcott believes Gertie killed her former spouse, but Cecily thinks differently; the cops do not arrest her head maid, but remand her into her employer's custody. The Pennyfoot repairman saves Gertie's life twice, which has Cecily pondering the connection to Ian's death beyond the obvious. When Ian's current wife Gloria arrives looking for him only to learn he is dead, she goes hysterical; Cecily puts her in a guest room. Meanwhile someone watches the activity waiting for the opening to make a move while Cecily wonders what had Ian done to bring such misfortune to him and his family. There are numerous suspects besides the ex wife whose motive is the most obvious as Ian wants to see his twins, but others also have powerful reasons to kill the rogue. Cecily is more of a modern woman than an early twentieth century female as she refuses to let her husband Baxter or any male dictate how she is to behave especially when he pleads with her to stay out of the murder investigation. The story line has the "Upstairs, Downstairs" feel that enhances the whoudnit as there is a wide schism between the classes as World War I had not started leveling the playing field yet. Readers will enjoy the latest Pennyfoot holiday mystery as a terrific historical amateur sleuth. Harriet Klausner

so this one was like meeting with old friends. This is a wonderful holiday mystery.