A heartwarming cozy mystery series about losing everything, taking a chance, and starting again. After suffering a personal tragedy Abby Sullivan buys a huge old seaside mansion she has never even seen, packs up her life in San Francisco, and moves to Holiday Bay Maine, where she is adopted, quite against her will, by a huge Maine Coon Cat named Rufus, a drifter with her own tragic past named … past named Georgia, and a giant dog with an inferiority complex named Ramos. What Abby thought she needed was alone time to heal. What she ended up with was, an inn she never knew she wanted, a cat she couldn’t seem to convince to leave, and a new family she’d never be able to live without.
In book 7 in the series, a whole new group of guests check into the Inn each with their own reason for being there and their own story to tell. Once of the guests, a single woman named Mylie, finds a long forgotten letter to Santa in the mouth of the life sized nutcracker Lacy purchased for Abby after a visit to an antique store. The list does not ask Santa for toys or games but for time with her parents. The note also lists the activities the child wishes they could do together over Christmas such as building a snowman and taking a sleigh ride. Mylie, who is in Holiday Bay to find her one true love, decides to accomplish all the items on the list herself while she is waiting for Mr. Right to come along.
Meanwhile Abby wonders what ever happened to the child who left the list and why the list was still in the nutcracker all these years later. Her research pulls her into an unsolved mystery which she finds herself determined to solve before the arrival of the holiday.
While Mylie is busy meeting Mr. Right and accomplishing the tasks on the list, and Abby is busy trying to figure out what became of the child who wrote the list, Georgia is cooking up a storm as she searches for the perfect cookie to enter in a local contest.
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Abby and Georgia are working on decorating the Inn for Christmas while Georgia is searching for the perfect cookie recipe. The community gears up for the holidays and the much anticipated pageant.
This year guests are required to stay longer than a weekend, giving us time to get to know more about them. One is there to write about holiday traditions, another to find a soulmate. When a giant nutcracker is added to the decorations (a gift) a note is found which adds to the planned activities. It also leads Abby, who seems to be procrastinating on her writing, off on a search for answers about why Santa never received this particular message.
Mixing memories, traditions, old and new, and dreams for the future, this heart warming read ponders the question if some questions should not be answered and addresses how dreams can come true in unexpected ways.
In this next book of the series the holiday season is fast approaching and Abby has an array of guests arriving. While being shown around the Inn, Mylie, a new guest, finds a note hidden in the mouth of a life sizes nutcracker that Abby recently received as a gift. The note is actually a letter to Santa from a young girl hoping that instead of gifts her parents will spend that Christmas with her doing things together as a family. Abby feels sorry for the young girl and wants to find out whether the girls wish came true or not. Meanwhile Mylie thinks it will be fun to accomplish the list of activities the girl listed that she would like to do with her family. I’m an unexpected turn of events Abby finds the young girl, now an old woman, and learns of what actually happened that Christmas. The now old woman looks to Abby to help her solve a mystery from her childhood. Abby decides she has to at least try but worries that the holiday season and all that comes with it may get in the way. Follow along as she looks to solve this mystery, keep her guests happy and filled with holiday spirit, and doesn’t get bogged down in her own personal sadness brought about by the holiday.
Abby receives the gift of a giant nutcracker from her friend Lacy. A note is soon discovered written by a child who wants to spend Christmas with her parents. Abby is intrigued and tries to find the owner of the note which leads Abby into more of a story than she expected.
I love the characters in this series and enjoyed revisiting them along with new ones. The mystery, I semi guessed but it had an unexpected twist. I love that it is very easy to feel involved with the characters and their actions, you get the feeling of being there.
I will continue on with this series.
A bit boring and predictable
Love this new series by Kathy. Love all her books.
I loved it! This is a must read series!
Note in the Nutcracker is book seven in the Inn at Holiday Bay series. This story had me hooked from the start. It’s one of those that just keeps you interested throughout the entire story. I highly recommend it.
Note in the Nutcracker earns 5/5 Santa Letters…Endearing & Engaging Fun!
The Inn at Holiday Bay series is a marvelous addition to the Kathi Daley world, and with seven books, readers have experienced a transformation of the grand Inn and plenty of mysteries and murder. Abby Sullivan may be an innkeeper, but she is also a writer who is struggling to pen the thriller due soon to her editor. A well-received distraction comes from BFF Georgia Carter’s culinary test runs for her entries in the Christmas cookie contest to air on local cable. It’s also the holidays, and the new guests are arriving each have their own story. One guest, Mylie Sanders, was told her “soulmate” would be found in Holiday Bay, so the other guest, dubbed bachelor one, two, and three, may just fit the psychic’s prediction. But, it’s the mystery of the life-size, antique nutcracker that grabs everyone’s interest when a “Dear Santa” letter is found in its mouth. The letter is a list of activities the child wished to do with her parents, and as a kind of homage to the unknown child, completing the list is incorporated into the inn’s daily holiday fun. However, the history of the nutcracker as well as the who and why behind the letter sparks Abby’s interest, and subsequently, a murder for which the wrong man may have been convicted. And Colt’s out-of-town with his niece and nephew, so his participation is long-distance.
Kathi Daley is a master of holiday cozies, and at Christmas, she always provides ample tree trimming, cookie decorating, family gatherings, and of course, a decades-old case of murder! The mystery is quite intriguing and everyone gets involved with the mystery behind the letter and uncovering the truth of a sad sixty-year-old murder. And Christmas is in full swing as Daley gives readers a marvelous view into a long list of Christmas activities. Daley’s writing style and first-person narrative is filled with descriptive language and dialogue making this an entertaining page turner. Abby’s personal tragedy is not far from her memory, but her strength and new found friendships have made her life rewarding and maybe a hint of a new romance. No bonus recipes, though! With a cookie contest and Georgia known for her creative meals, I would have enjoyed a recipe or two from Georgia’s kitchen…just saying.
I have read all of this series. Books are very entertaining, filled with wonderful characters. Can’t wait for next book!!!
Part of a series that can be read as a stand alone but once read, I think you will want to read them all to really get to know more about the established characters and their stories. Full of suspense/mystery, romance, and humor with interactions between friends, family, and community, this story is very interesting and a definite page turner. Abby, the main character, always seems to always have some intriguing adventures and scenarios going on – there definitely is never a dull moment at the Inn at Holiday Bay. Highly recommend.
The Inn at Holiday Bay is all decked out for the Christmas festivities to be held at the Inn. Abagail Sullivan, the owner of the Inn, is trying to finish her next book in her thriller genre. Georgia, the Inn manager, is busy making cookies looking for the perfect cookie to bake when she takes part in a Christmas cookie contest that was to be aired on Coastal Maine Living. Annabelle, Jeremy’s niece, is partaking in the Community Children’s Pagent. Rooms are booked and one visitor is hoping to meet her soul mate. When a delivery van delivers a giant Nutcracker, that is a special gift from Lonnie and Lacy, the mystery begins.
Note in the Nutcracker will not just fill you with the holiday spirit but will also have you trying to determine who is the guilty party.
Note in the Nutcracker is the seventh book in the fabulous The Inn at Holiday Bay cozy mystery series by Kathi Daley. The elements of a cozy mystery are present including suspense, romance, humor, love, friends and family, and a sense of community. Mrs. Daley is great at adding sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas in her Christmas themed stories.
This story takes place in the charming tourist town of Holiday Bay, Maine. The main character is Abby Sullivan, a mystery writer from San Francisco who, after suffering a devastating personal tragedy two years ago, sold her condo, packed up all her belongings, bought a huge old house she had never seen in a town she had never been to, and moved to Holiday Bay. In this story, a note from a girl named Pamela is found in an antique nutcracker Abby receives as a gift. Abby and friends work to find Pamela and the answers to the many questions they encounter in multiple mysterious circumstances.
I enjoy the character development and the expansion of Abby’s friend set. There are several heart-warming/heart-wrenching stories within the mystery. As always, this author’s writing flows smoothly, and her setting and relatable characters make for an extremely enjoyable and quick read. I really look forward to reading the next book in this series.
Note In The Nutcracker ( The Inn At The Holiday Bay #7 )
By: Kathi Daley
Note In The Nutcracker is book seven in The Inn At The Holiday Bay Series. I have really enjoyed this series. Love the story and the characters, both were well written. A nutcracker was found for the Inn. When a guest finds something in the Nutcracker things start to happen and that brings on an interesting story. A cold case, looking for romance, sledding, skating, and a cozy mystery. There are some twist and turns that will have you turning the pages.
Note in the Nutcracker is the seventh book in Kathi Daley’s heartwarming series, The Inn at Holiday Bay. The setting is charming, and the well-developed characters are three-dimensional, compassionate, and caring. The storyline is well-plotted, with lots going on to keep the reader engaged. The writing style flows smoothly, and the book is a clean and easy read. I highly recommend this series to readers who enjoy well-crafted cozy mysteries.
Abby Sullivan’s life was dramatically changed when she lost her husband and their infant son in a tragic accident two years ago, but since moving to Holiday Bay, Maine and opening the Inn at Holiday Bay, she’s begun healing and has made a new life for herself, and found a home and a family. Georgia Carter and her dog, Ramos, live with Abby, Rufus, the Maine Coon, and Molly, a terrier mix, in a cottage located on the property. Jeremy Slater, who was recently hired to help Georgia with the day-to-day operations of the inn, has proven to be a valuable asset. He and his young niece, Annabelle, live in the inn’s basement apartment. Abby and Georgia, the inn’s talented cook and baker and manager, are looking forward to the arrival of their Christmas and New Year’s guests. Georgia has earned the honor of participating in a Christmas cookie contest that will be aired during the Christmas Eve edition of the popular show Coastal Maine Living and has been creating new cookie recipes and tweaking old ones to come up with the perfect one. Abby receives a surprise gift, a life-size nutcracker she admired in an antique shop, from her friends, Lonnie and Lacy Parker. Mylie Sanders, one of the holiday guests, who, on the advice of a psychic, is staying at the inn to find her soulmate, discovers a note in the nutcracker’s mouth. The note is a letter to Santa that was written by a young girl named Pamela over sixty years ago who wishes for time with her parents, doing things together over Christmas. Mylie wants to complete the list of activities and invites everyone to join her. Meanwhile, Lacy and Abby are intrigued by the note and decide to look into the nutcracker’s history with the hope of locating Pamela and end up finding a tragic story and a request for help that seems to be impossible.