Two and a half weeks ago magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack arrived home to find Ira Pollack, her half-brother-in-law, had blinged out her home with enough Christmas lights to rival Rockefeller Center. Now he’s crammed her small yard with enormous cavorting inflatable characters. She and photojournalist boyfriend (and possible spy) Zack Barnes pack up the unwanted lawn decorations to return … return to Ira. They arrive to find his yard the scene of an over-the-top Christmas extravaganza. His neighbors are not happy with the animatronics, laser light show, and blaring music creating traffic jams on their normally quiet street. One of them expresses his displeasure with his fists before running off.
In the excitement, the deflated lawn ornaments are never returned to Ira. The next morning Anastasia once again heads to his house before work to drop them off. When she arrives, she discovers Ira’s attacker dead in Santa’s sleigh. Ira becomes the prime suspect in the man’s murder and begs Anastasia to help clear his name. But Anastasia has promised her sons she’ll keep her nose out of police business. What’s a reluctant amateur sleuth to do?
Christmas craft projects included.
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Anastasia has her hands full with work, family (some crazier than others), boyfriend, and pets. Throw a murder into the mix, and mayhem and madness ensues. I was captivated from beginning to end. I love how the story unfolds, and I was glued to the pages, and the edge of my seat. This book is a page turner with twists and turns that I did not see coming. I hope there are many more to come in this series. Lois Winston is an exceptional storyteller, and I highly recommend Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide!
Homemade Ho-Ho Homicide earns 5/5 Santa Sleighs…Clever, Engaging Fun!
Merry Crises! Lois Winston has brought back Anastasia’s delightful first-person narrative of family, friends, dysfunction, and murder, and made it again very entertaining! Everyone loves the Christmas season, but enough is enough when your own house is the victim of an overzealous “Secret Elf.” Anastasia decides to take the offending decorations back to the “Elf,” but discovers another over-the-top display with a blinding lights and loud music, gawkers choking the streets, and Anastasia’s late husband’s half-brother, Ira Pollack, in the middle of some emotional neighbors! KaaaPOW! Ira gets surprised with a fist in the face. Kids call 9-1-1, but the man is nowhere to be found when cops arrive. It happened so quickly, witnesses aren’t able to provide an identification beyond “average.” No problem…the next day Anastasia again tries to return the unwanted decorations, but instead finds an additional figure…a dead body resting in Santa’s sleigh covered in snow. That’s the man! Oh, no! Ira could very well be the best person of interest.
I greatly enjoyed Lois’s writing style filled with descriptive language (the displays had my head spinning) and dialogue perfect for each character. The murder mystery is well-written and paced with misdirections, peril, dead ends, more danger, kidnappings, and a mother-in-law that would cause anyone to hide in the closet! Accenting an already entertaining read, Anastasia’s clever quips, fun stories, and well-deserved digs kept me smiling. Anastasia, her boys, and Zac are enjoyable, but the chilly weather has invaded their “Peace on Earth” with conflicts and talks of “I know a guy who knows a guy!” to deal with the antics of the mother-in-law, her friend, Ira, and his kids. Wow! Can you spell M-O-B? What a great journey!
Just in time for the holidays…Anastasia’s Repurposed Greeting Card Crafts. Lois provides easy-to-follow directions for 3-D Ball Garlands, 3-D Ornaments, Triangular Flag Garlands, Triptych Wall-hanging Photo Frame, Greeting Card Wreath, and DIY Decorative Gift Bags.
Anastasia Pollack, left a widow when her husband died saddling her with heavy debt to the Mafia, has a reputation for finding dead bodies. Sure enough, one pops up on a moving sleigh in her half-brother-in-law’s gaudy Christmas lawn extravaganza and she’s right there. The author’s wry sense of humor shows up in Anastasia’s interactions with her five-times-married mother, her commie mother-in-law, a Shakespeare-spouting parrot, her teen-age sons, and her love interest—who may or may not be a spy. This Crafting Mystery series continues to be highly entertaining. Bonus for crafters: directions for making garlands and ornaments.
Anastasia Pollack has her hands full with her sons and her mother-in-law. When her husband died she inherited her mother-in-law, Lucille, who now lives with her. Lucille and her friends are quirky which just adds to the book. It’s the Christmas holiday season and Anastasia’s ex brother in law has surprised her by covering her front yard with quite a few blow up decorations. She pulls the plug on them all and get as many in her car as she can to return them. When she sees Ira’s house, lights, music, blow up decorations, she understands why his neighbors are not happy. The next day a dead body shows amid the blow ups. Now Ira is a suspect and Anastasia does some investigating. Quirky but lovable cast of characters and a good mystery make this a book I recommend!
Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide by Lois Winston is a fast-paced ride, complete with murder, kidnapping, holiday hijinks, and Christmas celebrations. I put it another way; I loved it.
Is Ira a murder, or is Ira the target?
Anastasia
Anastasia Pollack has her hands full. She the crafts editor at a woman’s magazine, and she is a mother of two teenage boys. Although that isn’t all, she also has to deal with her mom, her mother-in-law, half-brother-in-law, and his kids. Then there are her pets, a french bulldog (ownership is questionable), and a parrot. Did I mention that she also is our sleuth? Well, she is.
Anastasia is such a likable character; I was immediately pulling for her. The only thing that I thought she might want to try to let go of the past and her deceased husband. It’s hard, and it’s only been about a year that seems like a hundred, but for her sanity, let go of the Dead Louse of a Spouse.
Mystery
It all happens so fast. Ira moves in, sets up a holiday extravaganza in his front yard, Ira is assaulted, and a man is found dead in his yard. Don’t worry, Anastasia is on the case, well unwillingly, but she is on it. Anastasia, with the help of her friends and family, finds the killer and get justice. Sorry, that is all you get. You’ll have to read the book to find out her the killer is.
Five Stars
I thoroughly loved Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide by Lois Winston, so it gets five stars. The story had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I haven’t read the other books, but if they are half as good as this one, then you should read them too.
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 Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide by Lois Winston.
Anyways, until next time,
Karen the Baroness
If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.
Sleuth Anastasia Pollack’s half brother-in-law Ira filled her yard with decorations, and she quickly returns them. Ira’s lawn looks like a Christmas animatronics extravaganza and is a sore spot with neighbors. The next day, a man is dead in Ira’s mechanized Santa-sleigh. Ira wants Anastasia to investigate, only her sons already made her promise to leave police matters to the police.
Balancing work, home, family, pets, and boyfriend leaves little time for Anastasia to sleuth but she does it intuitively, picking apart Ira’s life until all that’s left is one angry killer.
A breezy, entertaining read!