Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas (Year-Round Christmas Mystery #6), by Vicki Delany

Publication Sept. 19, 2023

Backstage drama takes center stage.

I've done local theater and although the stress levels can be tough, I've fortunately never experienced anything like what was going on during this production of "A Christmas Carol". Wow, talk about egos. Egos clashing with money and prestige lost or gained. And, that's just part of the story.

After what a somewhat slow start to me, I realized how hooked I was at some point. Maybe when I absolutely had to finish this book before finally going to bed? In any case, although Delany is one of my go-to authors, I somehow seem to have missed this series, so it was a delight to find it. Merry and her family were a delight .... I mean, her dad might as well be Santa Claus and her mom is a former opera star ... and the rest of the surrounding characters were intersting, too, with some quirks of their own. Set in Rudolph, New York, a town that does Christmas year-round, it was easy to fall into the Christmas spirit as I read. 

Well, except for when Merry finds a dead body in her shop, Mrs. Claus's Treasures. Who killed the difficult Paula? Was it connected to the play? It isn't like Paula didn't make more than a few waves, all made worse by the behavior of her not so very Tiny Tim-ish son's behavior. Would shop worker Jackie have killed to get a better part? She does seem to harbor delusions of grandeur and being the entertainment world's next big star. How about the victim's husband? They were definitely not the perfect couple? Will Merry prove too-stupid-to-live as she persists on asking questions, not to mention showing up on doorsteps uninvited to ask them? Would Mattie the dog be enough protection? What would motivate someone to kill? Who ... oh, enough teasers. Get the book. It's a fun, relatively quick read but, beware, it may keep you up past your bedtime. 

Thanks #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for introducing me to Rudolph, the Christmas Town, and its (mostly) friendly residents. Can the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future change those few Scrooge-y hearts for good? I'll be back!