Two murdered business associates. One family under the scrutiny of a conservative town. A bride-to-be in need of some comfort and joy. Meghan is ready to celebrate the holiday season in style with the man of her dreams by her side. All that changes when she receives a text message. It’s from her mum who discloses that her father is very sick. She needs to get back to Texas… fast.She has mixed … Texas… fast.
She has mixed feelings about going home as she’s not been for several years. Her trip to Texas is greeted by:
– Two murders
– Characters from her past she’d rather forget
– Family members disappointed in her recent choices
As the very fabric of her family’s existence is torn apart by accusations surrounding the murders of close friends, Meghan longs for the peace and tranquility of her adopted hometown of Sandy Bay. She is an emotional wreck and is confronted with betrayals, accusations, disappointments, homesickness, sad revelations, jealous friends, and a murder investigation. Make that two murder investigations!
Some people wish Christmas could be every day. Meghan just wants this Christmas nightmare to end. Will she help to find the killer and restore the essence of this most wonderful time of the year?
Book 17 in the Bestselling Sandy Bay Cozy Mystery series! If you want to enjoy a light-hearted read, with an amateur female sleuth, mouth-watering culinary desserts and a gripping murder mystery with a touch of romance, then you’ll love Meghan Truman and all the quirky characters in Sandy Bay.
No cliffhanger, swearing or graphic scenes!
Start reading Queen Tarts and a Christmas Nightmare and see how events unfold in this cozy mystery.
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After getting engaged to Jack, Meghan is called home because her father is ill. But it is a ruse by her parents to get her home to Texas for Christmas. At the party her parents are throwing, one of her father’s partners drops dead. What follows is a wild tale of death, betrayal and bad business decisions. The baddy is kind of a surprise. In the beginning I loathed Meghan’s parents. As the story progresses, I like them a little better. Who I loved the most was her little sisters. They were charming and sweet and adored their big sister. Loved that dynamic.
Meghan has just returned to her bakery after celebrating her engagement with Jack’s parents. She gets an emergency call to return to the family home for her father’s illness. So she leaves her fiancé and her bakery in good hands to rush back to Texas.
While there, two murders take place, a former boyfriend wants to marry her, and her family is unhappy that she’s not willing to change to accommodate their wishes and expectations.
Meghan’s family is very rich, and very self centered. They are so over the top, I had to laugh out loud at their antics. But Meghan is distressed over them. And anxious because something is very, very wrong. But she doesn’t know what is going on in the background.
This is is a fun read, typical of a cozy mystery. It can be read by almost any reader.
I listened to the audio version and the narrator was very good. She had multiple voices and used them for each character. My only other comment is that I think her “Texas” accept may be more like an east coast southern accent, but not being an expert on accents, I can’t be sure.
I received a copy of the audio book from the author. This is my honest review.
Love this writer’s stories, they keep me coming back.
Fun, funny yet Mysteries with twists and turns you do NOT see coming.
I enjoy any thing near the holidays.
This is a must READ.
I absolutely recommended this 🙂
Christmas for Meghan.
After meeting Meghan’s family, I can totally understand why she hasn’t been back home!! Can they get any more snobby and dysfunctional? Meghan has to deal with her family, old “friends”, and two murders. Her family isn’t happy with any of her life decisions and lets her know at every turn. Then her dad is tossed in jail for murder. Can Meghan get him out, find out who the real murderer is and spend Christmas with Jack? Plenty of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end. I love Sandy Bay but this was a little change with a different list of main characters.
I received an ARC. This is my honest review.
While I prefer to have the series stay in Sandy Bay, I did like the latest book in the series. I have to wonder where Meghan came from because she’s so incredibly different from the majority of her family members. In fact, while I enjoyed the mystery surrounding Meghan, I despised almost her entire family. It reminded me of people I went to school with and didn’t care for so it kind of brought back bad memories. I will in no means stop reading this series because I adore Meghan and Jack and I’ll just say a prayer that we won’t see too much more of her family.
Queen Tarts and a Christmas Nightmare is Book 17 in the Sandy Bay Cozy Mystery series. (This should be subtitled Queen Tarts and a Totally Dysfunctional Family)!!!
Meghan and Jack’s plans for Christmas are thwarted when she is called home to Texas by her mother’s lies. Of course, it wouldn’t be Meghan if there was not a murder to solve. She gets not one, but two dead bodies and has to prove her father’s innocence.
This story is well written and engaged my interest from start to finish with a humour, dysfunctional family, an ex-boyfriend who would rather not be an ex, murder, mystery, and a whodunnit that is sure to surprise.
I cannot wait for the next book in this series.
I read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book with no obligation.
What a family! Meaghan ends up in Texas with her socialite family for Christmas instead of in Sandy Bay with her fiancé, Jack. After the family tricks her to get her to Texas, two of her father’s business partners are murdered. Plus, an old boyfriend tries to reignite a relationship. In true Meaghan style she investigates the mysterious deaths while dealing with her difficult family. Love this series and the characters Amber Crewes has created
Another great adventure for Meghan Truman. This time she leaves Sandy Bay to join her family in Texas, originally under false pretenses. She hurries home thinking her father was ill, only to find out he was fit as a fiddle. You get a chance to meet Meghans’ sisters, all whose names begin with M. Meghan gets drawn into not one but two murders in trying to prove her father is innocent in the murder of his business partners. The murderer did not turn out to be who I thought it was. I enjoyed the book and look forward to the next one.
I received an ARC of the book and I am voluntarily leaving this review.
Another Sandy Bay cozy mystery with Meghan and Jack. I really like this series, although Meghan gets sucked into having to leave her bakery and Jack to return to Texas and her snobby dysfunctional family who seemed to never approve of what she does because her mother says her father is ill. The family just wanted her to come home to Texas for Christmas although constantly disapproving of everything she does. When the family throws a huge social ball, there is a murder of one of Meghan’s father’s business partners. And then there were two! A second business partner is found also murdered and Meghan’s father is accused. Now, instead of going back to Jack and her home and bakery in Sandy Bay, where she longs to be, she must stay, investigate and clear her father’s name.
This episode has you riding a merry-go-round with lots of twists and turns and red-herrings. Just when you think you figured it out….you didn’t. Amber is deft at keeping you guessing until the end. This is a fast and fun cozy murder mystery that you can’t put down once you start. I received an ARC from the author but the opinions expressed here are strictly my own.
This book was a quick read with good characters. Well edited. Lots of twists and turns mystery. I enjoyed this book and will read more of this series as I am truly addicted. I loved reading about the adventures of Meghan and Jack and found that I was unable to put the book down, it kept me on the edge of my seat. I am now looking out for the next book in the series and waiting to read it.