In Rudolph, New York, it’s Christmastime all year long. But this December, while the snow-lined streets seem merry and bright, a murder is about to ruin everyone’s holiday cheer in the first Year-Round Christmas mystery. As the owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, Merry Wilkinson knows how to decorate homes for the holidays. That’s why she thinks her float in the semi-annual Santa Claus parade is a … Claus parade is a shoe-in for best in show. But when the tractor pulling Merry’s float is sabotaged, she has to face facts: there’s a Scrooge in Christmas Town.
Merry isn’t ready to point fingers, especially with a journalist in town writing a puff piece about Rudolph’s Christmas spirit. But when she stumbles upon the reporter’s body on a late night dog walk—and police suspect he was poisoned by a gingerbread cookie crafted by her best friend, Vicky—Merry will have to put down the jingle bells and figure out who’s really been grinching about town, before Vicky ends up on Santa’s naughty list…
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3 1/2 stars (rounded up to a 4) to Vicki Delany’s Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen, her debut novel in the “A Year-Round Christmas Mystery” series. Some people love Christmas so much that they need an entire book series dedicated to it; and if you’re one of those people, you’ll enjoy this one even if you’re reading it at Halloween!
Story
Rudolph, New York, a small town on the southern shores of Lake Ontario near the Canadian border, was named for someone who turned out to be not-so-name-worthy in the end. The town mayor, Noel Wilkinson, suggests telling everyone it was named after the famous reindeer and thus, Christmastown is born — except, there are a few of these towns across the country and the neighboring towns aren’t always thrilled when their town is suddenly considered second rate. When a semi-famous writer stops in Rudolph to publish a piece in a widely-read magazine about all the wonders of the Christmas village, he quickly sets the town a buzz… but when he turns up dead after eating at a local restaurant, Rudolph gets a bad reputation. Was it a neighboring town hoping to steal the glory? Was it a current resident with a unknown grudge? Or was it a personal vendetta from some outsider that just happened to occur in Rudolph?
Merry Wilkinson and her family and friends of Christmas-loving lore are on the case so they can protect their income and their town from utter disaster. Along the way, we meet her opera-loving mother, Santa Clause double dad, best friend who is accused of the murder, two eligible bachelors for Merry to choose from, a former frenemy police officer, the newly transported Chicago detective, a quirky mayor, a bitter neighboring store owner, a rival-politician and the fun-loving staff of Merry’s high-end Christmas decor shop. With a few side-stories about each of the main character’s personal lives, a new series all about the wonderful world of Christmas is born. In the end, Merry solves the case and makes friends with the police so she’s ready to solve another one in the future.
Strengths
For a debut novel, it gives a really well-rounded summary of the town and characters. For readers new to the cozy mystery genre, it will be the perfect intro. Characters and setting are clear and vivid. Multiple suspects for the whodunit. Several backstories dropped with different angles to continue on in the future. And if you’re a fan of holidays, this one will make you smile. I was slightly worred that the Christmas theme could be annoying (I love Christmas but an entire book series?); however, Delany offers a good balance of story and setting so you can tune out or in as much of the descriptions as you want.
Suggestions
There are a few holes in the story or pieces of the plot that should have been more tightly addressed. Merry doesn’t quite seem like someone who would give up her life in NYC and come back home just because of a situation with her boyfriend and job. I would have expected her to try to find other jobs in NYC but this whole area is covered a bit too quickly. When she does come back home, it seems like everyone just forgets she left Rudolph and everything picks back up again. I understand small town atmosphere, but I think a little more focus could have been added here.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of mystery fiction books and authors to choose from, and once you settle into the cozy sub-genre, you still have a lot that could spark your interest. This one has a very clear theme that will either hook the audience or it will not. If you are a fan of holidays or Christmas or anything that comes with it, then you’ve got a good series to get started with. The author has just published the second in the series and I will be reading it later this week. Definitely worth continuining on…
Welcome to Rudolph, otherwise known as Christmas Town. where people lived and breathed Christmas all year long.
This book opens up with the Santa Claus parade, the biggest event in Rudolph. During the parade, Merry’s float had been sabotaged. And followed by strange happenings like poisoned gingerbread, a hot dog cart explosion and even a clumsy attempt to get Santa out of town.
Was someone out to deliberately ruin Christmas in Rudolph?
There was a little investigating going on from Merry but I love the idea of the town. And that kept me reading. Can you imagine Christmas all year round? That would be awesome!
Reading the blurb, I really liked the sound of this book. But it took too long to get into the plot. There was lots of description of the town, floats and people, but it felt like filler to me. I didn’t feel much suspense throughout the book. It was more like I was just waiting to find out who was doing everything.
While walking her dog at night, Merry Wilkinson finds a reporter’s body. Then Merry’s best friend becomes the chief suspect. Unwilling to accept that her friend is a murderer, Merry decides to use her considerable investigation skills to discover who the killer is.
While Merry is strong and resourceful, she gets much help from the locals, who are all charming.
There’s plenty of Christmas spirit throughout this story, the small town setting is delightful, and the mystery is enhanced with several unexpected twists.
A fun, Christmas-themed cozy.
Fun book, will get more in the series. Fun characters
Love mysteries
December is the height of tourist season for Rudolph, New York, a town that has built its economy around celebrating Christmas. This year, a reporter is coming to cover the annual Christmas parade, but when Merry Wilkinson finds him dead in a park that night, it looks like someone is out to kill the Christmas spirit in town.
This is a delightful first in a new series. You can feel the Christmas spirit in the shops, the carols, the characters. All of it is well executed, and I wish it were a real place so I could go visit. Unfortunately, that spirit did overwhelm the mystery a few times, especially near the beginning, but the plot did build to a logical climax.
Fun Christmas murder mystery
Loved this one! It’s a keeper!
A quick read with lots of twists!
I liked the small town setting and the characters.
Good read. Must get more of Vicki Delany’s books.
Ok
Great read before winter holiday bedlam. Or at least it’s a different holiday bedlam!
Fun Holiday read.