Noticed a "cozy mystery" with a Christmas theme on a colleague's desk today and it jogged my memory that FIND CHRISTMAS BOOKS is still on my TO-DO List, along with find CHRISTMAS CARDS. Yes, I am terribly slow at sending out my cards and some years don't even make it to the post office in time. One year we sent out Groundhog letters instead! But this year.....I resolved to do better...and I still have time....
But regardless what happens with the Christmas Cards, we ALWAYS get out the box of Christmas books and usually get around to re-reading a few old favorites. We especially like reading A CHRISTMAS CAROL aloud and have even gathered with other Dickens aficionados to make an event of it. I wonder how his CRICKET IN THE HEARTH would stand up to the same treatment. Might be worth the experiment....
But back to the cozy mysteries with yuletide themes. Some of my favorite authors do series with repeating characters: M.C. Beaton has both the Agatha Raisin stories and her Scottish detective Hamish Macbeth. Here are some of their seasonal novels: For those who like Agatha's feistiness try KISSING CHRISTMAS GOODBYE (2007) or BUSY BODY (2010). And although it is older, HIGHLAND CHRISTMAS (1999) with Hamish made for a nice cozy evening a few holiday seasons ago.
Another cozy mystery writer with a couple set during the holidays is Joanne Fluke. I liked CANDY CANE MURDER (2007) and Hannah Swensen, the cookie baking sleuth in PLUM PUDDING MURDER (2009)--a lot--as much for the cookie and other dessert recipes as the nice mysteries with likable townspeople. I have become almost as fond of the folks in Lake Eden, Minnesota as the colorful cast of characters who populate that little town down the road called Lake Wobegon. Who wouldn't like cookies, mystery and Christmas all in the same book!
And that reminds me of yet one more item for the TO-DO List: bake Christmas cookies! Happy Holidays to you and yours.....
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