Death of a Christmas Caterer

A fifth visit to Bar Harbor in the Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails mystery series is in the books. (I love puns. I’m not even sorry. I hope you groaned when you read that because I am cackling at the mere thought. I just can’t help myself.)

What I liked about “Death of a Christmas Caterer”:
The mystery itself was actually pretty good – I will admit that I had a working theory about whodunnit pretty early on, but then there were a couple of red herrings thrown in. I gave them some consideration, but then reverted back to my original suspect. In the end, I was right but not about the how/why.
The Christmas theme was well executed – It can be tough to pull off a holiday-themed cozy mystery without it being either over-the-top-cheesy or falling short of the festive spirit. There was enough holly-jolly in this one to keep it Christmas-y, so that was a plus.

What I didn’t care for:
Character issues – While I appreciate that this series doesn’t take itself seriously at *all*, the characters push the limits of believable as human beings. On the one hand, it was evident in book one that this was the case, and here I am on book five, so it obviously hasn’t deterred me from continuing on with the series. On the other, I don’t ever find myself wishing these characters were real people I could actually hang out with.
The love triangle – I’m not sure if anyone would actually consider this a spoiler but just in case… (view spoiler)
The forced “bedroom scenes” – There were at least two of them that come immediately to my mind and I really didn’t see the point. This is a pet peeve of mine in books, in TV, in movies. If it serves the plot, fine, but I don’t need it purely for its own sake. That just makes it trashy and — meh — not my thing.

On a side note, there was a scene at the office Christmas party that has generated a lot of buzz in the reviews I browsed on this book, especially in the current social and political climate. I’m probably far from the norm in that, while I find the behavior a boorish turnoff, I am not offended by how Hayley handled it. Have I been in icky situations like that myself when I was single? Sure. And I handled it much like Hayley did. Not because I feel dismissed and victimized by men or society, but because I can judge the situation for myself and decide how to deal with it. Is it rude and gross? Absolutely. Do I personally feel the need to make a spectacle of it? Not necessarily — it depends on the circumstances and sometimes people just act dumb and can be properly chastised by the person whose space they intruded upon. To be honest, sometimes I think there is a power that comes from being able to deal with it oneself between the two people involved. I am strong enough to handle it how I see fit without others telling me my reaction is part of the problem. How I choose to respond to what happens to me is my choice, just like it was Hayley’s choice. I don’t see the need to fuss over it if it’s not how you might handle it yourself. There’s nothing wrong with an individual’s personal response being different from your own. But enough of that.

Ultimately, I wavered between two stars and three. I didn’t decide until after I’d composed most of this review, actually, but the pros slightly outweighed the cons, so I’ll be generous with a three. Had the mystery failed to keep me guessing or the holiday theme fallen flat though, it would absolutely have been a two, as those two qualities together managed to redeem the rest. I will continue to read this series because they’re easy and the mysteries tend to be at least somewhat clever and with unique situations. I can’t say it’s my favorite series but the entertainment value is there.