It’s beginning to looka lot like Christmas?Merry Winters is excited for her dream-come-true moment: Being an on-site crafter for a Christmas movie. The tidings of joy are short-lived as she finds herself becoming a referee, dealing with a raging Ebenezer, participating in a bucket brigade, and finding evidence in a “murder.” Is someone trying to stop the production or is it tied to a secret … someone has on Luna Carmichael, the star of the movie and the queen of Christmas?When Marie, Luna’s assistant, stumbles away from a car accident and dies, Merry believes the accident wasn’t quite so accidental. Was Luna or Marie the target? Merry finds more questions than answers, but one thing is certain: Everyone has an ulterior motive for being part of the production-including Marie. After another murder, Merry wonders if the deaths are tied to a baby born long ago and abandoned. And more importantly, will Merry live long enough to find out?
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Dash Away All by Christina Freeburn is another sweet mystery that shows that just because its a Christmas movie doesn’t mean it’s merry and bright.
Will Merry figure out what happened to Marie before the police decide to shut down the movie?
Merry Winters
Merry Winters returns in a new mystery. Instead of being in her town in West Virginia, she is now in Carol Lake, Indiana, working on the set of a Christmas mystery movie. Merry is there as the crafter lady. Well, that is until a lot of strange things start to happen. Will Merry keep her nose out of it and just continue to do what she was paid to do? Probably not. She is excellent at solving the mysteries, no matter what ends up happening. What I like about Merry is that she has done a great job of raising her kids and doing what she wants to do. I love that she is so into her Christmas crafts and with the naming of her guinea pig. The guinea pig is still a great touch as the sleuth’s pet.
The Mystery
The mystery starts with a wayward prank set off, and then the whole reason Marie is on the set in the first place is murdered. Let’s just say that it gets to be very rocky for Merry, and she might not be all that into Christmas movies after all this. Merry ends up investigating this crime because she was the first on the scene of the so-called car accident. I love that she never gives up despite what Merry has been told countless times. It’s a good thing that she didn’t since who knows if the murderer would have gotten away with it. Who do you think the murderer is?
4 Stars
Dash Away All by Christina Freeburn is another fabulous Christmas themed mystery. I love the questions that Merry faces in this one since taking on trying to figure out what happened to Marie, the first victim, and if it had anything to do with the pranks. Ms. Freeburn did an awesome job and I’m giving this story four stars and recommending it to all of the Christmas and cozy mystery reads out there.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Better Watch Out by Christina Freeburn.
Until the next time,
Karen the Baroness
If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.
DASH AWAY ALL by Christina Freeburn
The Third Merry & Bright Mystery
Holiday crafter Merry Winters has a chance of a lifetime. She’s been chosen to come to the set and provide hand crafted items for a Christmas movie starring none other than Luna Carmichael, the queen of Christmas. When Merry arrives in Indiana she discovers that things are not so holly and jolly. A series of pranks have been occurring on set, Marie, Luna’s personal assistant who recommended Merry for the job, seems distant and suspicious, and Luna herself is more Scrooge than Mrs. Claus! When Merry discovers Marie dead, she’s unconvinced it’s an accident, and so is the Sheriff. There’s much more going on than making Christmas movie magic and Merry is smack dab in the middle of it. The question is, will she survive to craft another day?
Christmas movies evoke a sense of tradition, hope, and goodwill toward men. The reality is that Christmas movies are a business, oftentimes filmed in the heat of the summer, and people are not always nice. Merry thinks working on the set will be a dream come true. Instead she finds a harsh reality and murder. While slightly disappointed that Christmas magic doesn’t exist, at least in this book, seeing the tarnish behind the glitter was somehow satisfying.
DASH AWAY ALL looks at parental relationships and their effect on both the parent and the child. Does biology make a difference? Is it better to know the truth of your birth or would you prefer to be content in your ignorance? To what lengths will you go to find the child you gave up…or the parents who left you?
Merry and her partner, Bright, have a very unique relationship. After reading this third installment in the series, I have a theory, but, wary of spoilers, I won’t share it. I hope we learn more about Bright and the veracity of my theory in future books.
DASH AWAY ALL removes the sparkle and glamour of Christmas while shining a light on familial drama and the reality that the truth will always out. It’s an intriguing mystery that I enjoyed reading. I especially loved Ebenezer’s antics. I just hope that when Christmastime actually rolls around everyone will have the Christmas Spirit!
FTC Disclosure – The publisher sent me a digital ARC provided through Edelweiss, in the hopes I would review it.
We need a little Christmas; right this very minute….We do don’t we? Christmas means good cheer. Tidings of comfort and joy. Decorations, family, and music. In Dash Away All, it also means murder! I love Christmas, so, obviously, I love Christmas movies. So does Merry, and when she gets the chance to work as a crafter on set with the queen of Christmas movies, Luna Carmichael, she jumps at it! I don’t blame her! Though I’m not crafty, I’d jump at the chance to be on set with one of the Hallmark Christmas queens! You know who I’m talking about…Candance, Lacey, Danica, etc. It would be so cool! However, I’d hope these ladies are nothing like Luna because her onscreen persona doesn’t match her in real life at all.
Dash Away All is the third book in the Merry & Bright Handcrafted Christmas Mystery series, but it’s the first I’ve read. This didn’t hinder me from enjoying the story since only Merry and a couple of other characters play a role in this book. I had no clue who the murderer was in Dash Away All. Sure, there were some hints, but so many characters had means, motive, and opportunity! I enjoyed reading this cozy mystery, and I think you will too (especially if you’re Christmas crazy!).
When Merry Winters arrives in Indiana in her Christmas-themed RV for her temporary job making crafts for the set of a Christmas movie, she’s shocked to find a fire that damages many of the props. Merry is drawn into the mystery revolving a string of pranks on set, of which the fire appears to only be the most recent. When the movie star’s assistant dies, Merry isn’t convinced it was an accident.
Dash Away All is a complex cozy mystery with a fun setting (a holiday movie) and an interesting cast of characters which includes Merry’s adorable pet guinea pig Ebeneezer who refuses to be ignored. This is a sweet novel about family and found family, with a heartwarming ending. 3.5 Stars
Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own.