A Winter Wonderland of Books!

by Julie Obermiller

For most of us, the holidays mean cold and snow and the perfect time to snuggle by the fire with a cup of cocoa and a good book. For those of you who will spend the season in sunny climes, there are always good beach reads to put you in the holiday mood. Curl up with a mystery and spend Christmas with a Lakota deputy Sheriff, crossword puzzlers, cross-stitchers, a ghostly aunt, a cleaning woman, a Scottish constable, a pair of zany caterers, some clever canines, a London barrister, an intrepid nun, a ballroom dancer, Cabot Cove's Jessica Fletcher and an eclectic assortment of amateur sleuths and PIs.

Hot off the shelves are the 2005 literary offerings. The holidays mean plenty of food and you'll savor the antics of caterer Libby Simmons and her sister Bernie in “A Catered Christmas: A Mystery with Recipes,” by Iris Crawford (Oct. 2005).

In their third outing, the gals take on a group of cutthroat chefs competing on a local TV program after the murder of the show's host. The slapstick sisters own A Little Taste of Heaven, and they are so well known that they are invited to compete in a cook off on the Hortense Calabash show. Six caterers are given ingredients chosen by the hostess and are supposed to make an entire meal out of them. Mayhem ensues and the reader will find plenty of red herrings, delectable clues and recipes.

Dog lovers will want to add these two canine capers to their list for Santa. “Twas the Bite Before Christmas ” by Lee Charles Kelley (Oct. 2005) sends Maine kennel owner and ex-cop Jack Field and his lady friend, state medical examiner Dr. Jamie Cutter on a quest to find the murderer of a young housemaid at Bright mansion just before Santa's big day. The suspects are a convicted killer, a shady chauffeur and a con-man professor. Trained Doberman pinschers Max and Fritz are on the case of a kidnapped Dalmatian and a vengeful Russian mob boss. Jack, Jamie and the daring dog duo serve up a spicy mix of mystery.

Laurine Berenson's “Jingle Bell Bark ” (Oct 2005) has trainer Melanie Travis investigating the suspicious death of her eight-year-old son's school-bus driver, Mr. Henry Pruitt. Melanie rescues the victim's two golden retrievers and takes them to her Aunt Peg's kennel. Add a pair of greedy daughters, an ebay scheme, and the hilarity begins. A lonesome fiancé, a worrisome ex and an upcoming dog show keep Melanie too busy to make merry as she tries to catch a killer for Christmas.

A double shot of Christmas crossword mysteries comes from author Nero Blanc. In “A Crossworder's Delight” (Oct. 2005) Belle and Roscoe untangle the mystery of a missing poem belonging to the inn Belle is helping to decorate for the holidays. Excited about finding a handmade book of dessert recipes, from mother to daughter, written in crossword form, Belle has a few mysteries to look into. Crossword buffs will find an unusual bonus; chocolate recipes with ingredients that appear as puzzle answers.

Santa Claus is coming to the town of Newcastle , Massachusetts in “Wrapped Up in Crosswords” (Oct, 2005). This year there are three of them and no wise men are they. These Santas look an awful lot like the three escaped prisoners who are reported to be missing from a nearby jail. Crossword editor Belle Graham and her P.I. partner Rosco Polycrates need to follow a trail of crossword clues to make sure these shady Santas get the sack. Nero Blanc is a pseudonym for Cordelia Frances Biddle and Steve Zettler, who are husband and wife and serious crossword enthusiasts.

It's off to merry old London for this trio of Brit mysteries. “No Clue at the Inn ” by Kate Kingsbury (Nov. 2005) finds Cecily Sinclair Baxter set to enjoy a fabulous holiday at the beloved Pennyfoot Hotel, but a missing housemaid sets off a chain of events that lead to a missing Barrister. Cecily realizes that her Christmas may be silent, but deadly.

Inspector Witherspoon delves into a mystery as sticky as plum pudding in “Mrs. Jeffries and the Silent Knight” by Emily Brightwell (Oct. 2005.) Sir George Braxton was found lying face down in a frozen fountain with a bashed in skull. Like many family holidays, the relatives are at odds and troublesome and even the cat is cranky. When the Home Secretary calls in Witherspoon, he joins housekeeper Mrs. Jeffries and her sleuthing staff try to solve the mystery in time to enjoy some Christmas peace.

W. F. Burley has brought Chief Superintendent Wycliffe back for holiday duty in “Wycliffe and the Quiet Virgin” (Aug. 2005). His wife is away in Kenya , and faced with a lonely holiday he accepts an invitation to spend a few days at the cliff-top home of lawyer Ernest Bishop. A remote house, a lukewarm welcome and bleak weather are bad enough, but when the young girl playing the Virgin Mary in the school play goes missing, so does Wycliff's quiet holiday. The case builds into a major criminal investigation, making the holiday anything but merry.

If you'd like to sandwich some short stories in between gift wrapping and cookie baking, try “Kudzu Christmas: Twelve Mysterious Tales” (Sept. 2005), edited by Jim Gilbert  and Gail Waller . The publisher describes it this way; “Long-held family secrets are revealed over Christmas dinner... a crazy uncle has a visitation from sweet-talking angels... a baby disappears from a neighborhood nativity tableau... a woman stakes out a diner for her lover's killer... a world traveler finds a unique gift in an exotic locale... a vampire sleuth returns home for the holidays... For the twelve days of Christmas, River City Publishing gives to you twelve mysterious stories, and all with a distinct, regional twang. Crafted in the workshops of some of today's best Southern writers, these original tales-ranging from the humorous to the thrilling to the downright eerie-are guaranteed to stave off any long winter's nap, no matter how cozy your seat by the fireside.” Sounds like there's something for everyone in this collection.

True cozy fans know and love Dorothy Martin, and her latest appearance is in “Winter of Discontent: A Dorothy Martin Mystery #9” by Jeanne M. Dams (Aug. 2005) Sprightly senior Dorothy's best friend Jane is having an affair with Bill Fanshawe; quite shocking for the 80 something pair. While Dorothy tries to find out the scoop on the romance, it soon becomes apparent that Bill, the local historian, is history. His body is found under the museum, a strange letter clutched in his hand, and Dorothy tries to solve the mystery while husband and retired police officer Alan humors her. Then another man is murdered and everyone begins to think Dorothy may be right. A cozy English Christmas is tucked between these covers, despite the body count, and you'll warm to Mrs. Martin and her intuitive crime-solving.

Another savvy senior is Sister Mary Helen, a no-nonsense nun who has a knack for stumbling over dead bodies. The June 2005 re-release of “ Murder in Ordinary Time ” by Sister Carol Anne O'Marie might just introduce the nun and her cohorts to a new audience. Invited to be on a local TV show to do an interview, Sister Helen watches a plate of Christmas cookies become a murder weapon as Christina Kelly, Channel 5's leading investigative reporter, dies quickly and horribly on air, sitting right next to Sister Mary Helen. The odor of bitter almond tells the nun that cyanide was in the recipe, but who was the baker and who was the real intended victim? Christina's investigative reporting may have caught up with her, or maybe it was meant for the station womanizer, the shifty floor manager; or even Wicked Wendy, who earned her nickname. Surely no-one tried to bump off Sister Mary Helen! Police inspectors Dennis Gallagher and Kate Murphy (near the end of her pregnancy) try to shield the nun from trouble, but it follows her as she tries to unravel several mysteries. Murder in Ordinary Time is a light, humorous and entertaining read on a cold winter's night.

If you still need more, several 2004 releases are still available and quite cozy. Step into another time and place with “Christmas Mystery in Provence ” Mary-Jane Deeb (Nov. 2004). Chrissy de Medici returns to enjoy a quiet family Christmas, even after a narrow escape from death during her last visit to Grand-mere's eighteenth-century villa. Chrissy's newspaper, Le Loup Garou, was being looked after while she recuperated from an adventure and she is back at the helm. A valuable fifteenth-century illuminated prayer book disappears from Grand-mere's room, her uncle is found dead and Chrissy is left to unravel the mysteries. With Grand-mere and medieval manuscript expert, Sister Felicity, Chrissy tries to solve the case.

“Season's Revenge” by Henry Kisor (Nov. 2004) has Lakota Deputy Sheriff Steve Martinez on the case in Upper Peninsula , Michigan . The sleepy woodland town is bustling with activity after the body of respected resident Paul Passoja is found at a forest campsite. Is it really a bear attack? Martinez steps into a mystery as old as the town itself and unearths old hostilities and treachery, but the blood of Martinez ' Native American ancestors keep him on the trail to the truth.

Four shorter stories in “The Last Noel Worldwide Mystery Series” (Nov 2004) will give you stories to snack on during your whirlwind holiday. Stories by authors Steve Brewer , Catherine Dain , Linda Berry and Mat Coward .

With renewed interest in ballroom dancing these days, this mystery showcasing the dazzling International Ballroom Competition in Atlantic City might suit your fancy. “Merry Little Murder-Linda Haggerty Series #5” by Shelley Freydont (Oct. 2004) finds former dancer Lindy Haggerty thrown into the backbiting and catty world of competition. Lindy's dance company is going through inner turmoil of its own as the tension increases and things can't possibly get worse… until a body washes up under the boardwalk.

Another stocking full of stories and authors can be opened in “Mystery for Christmas: An Anthology of Murder and Mistletoe” by Richard Dalby (Oct. 2004), with ghosts, murder, strange disappearances, and journeys through time. A potpourri of mysteries in this collection all take place during the Christmas holidays and range from works by classic nineteenth-century writers such as Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy to contemporary writers like H. R. F. Keating and Muriel Spark. Lock your doors as you journey through time and place with ghosts, murderers, apparitions and all things scary.

“Crewel Yule-Needlecraft Mystery Series” by Monica Ferris (Oct. 2004) was the eighth cozy adventure for Betsy Devonshire, owner of Crewel World, "a sweet little needlework store in Minnesota." Needle crafters will adore this, and even if you can't stitch an inch, it's a delightfully cozy mystery.

The mother and daughter duo of Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark followed up their 2000 “Deck the Halls” and 2001 “He Sees You When You're Sleeping” with their third yuletide mystery, “Christmas Thief” (Nov. 2004). PI Regan Reilly is up to her neck in quirky characters and merry mysteries. In Deck the Halls, they came to the rescue of Regan's kidnapped father. The Christmas Thief centers on the 80 foot Christmas tree in the middle of Rockefeller Center in New York City . Is the tree really loaded with diamonds from a jewel heist? Fans of the duo will enjoy the weighty stories.

“Shakespeare's Christmas-A Lily Bard Mystery” is Charlaine Harris' lighthearted salute to the holidays. (Hardcover reprint 2000. “Returning home for her sister's Christmas wedding, Lily Bard, cleaning woman, karate expert, and amateur sleuth--finds more than just mistletoe: two murders and a four-year-old unsolved kidnapping.”

Count on Stephanie Plum for lots of laughs and a fast paced, quirky mystery. In “Visions of Sugar Plums,” Janet Evonavich (Nov. 2003) decks the halls with more mayhem than usual in the Plum family and even a new stud-muffin for Grandma Mazur. You'll laugh your way through the chaos as Stephanie and crew try to make the yuletide bright in Jersey .

A favorite of mine is “A Highland Christmas-Hamish Macbeth Mysteries Series” (2002) M.C. Beaton's village of Lochdubh in Scotland is ripe with old world religious piety and modern temptations. Banning the secular trappings of the holiday, the Calvinist element want no banquets, puddings, carols gifts or even whiskey to bring glad tidings. Thinks are looking pretty bleak. When someone steals the decorations from a nearby town and a spinster's cat goes missing, things start to get hectic in the laid back Scottish village. Hamish and the citizens of Lochdubh are familiar friends to Beaton readers and this holiday yarn was a special present for fans.

It doesn't get much cozier than “Aunt Dimity's Christmas” by Nancy Atherton (1999) Aunt Dimity, you see, is dead. She communicates from the other side by writing in a special journal, but only to American Lori Shepherd. Shepherd inherited the English cottage from her mother's good friend, Dimity. With husband Bill, twin sons and her father-in-law, life is good. When a derelict collapses in their snowy driveway just before Christmas, Aunt Dimity leads Lori on a merry chase to find the man's identity while he lays comatose in the hospital. Definitely a warm, cozy read.

Santa Claus killed in Cabot Cove, Maine ? Who else but beloved Jessica Fletcher could solve the case? Fans of the long-running TV series will enjoy all the books by “Jessica Fletcher with Donald Bain” and the 1998 holiday “Murder She Wrote: A Little Yuletide Murder” will bring back vivid memories of the neighbors and characters in Jessica's town. There's never any doubt that Jessica will find the naughty Christmas Eve killer, but the book is as cozy as an old friend.

There are more than enough holiday themed mysteries to keep even the most voracious reader turning pages over the cold winter nights. Rummaging through the presents under the tree on Christmas morning, we shake and prod and try to guess the surprise inside of each gaily wrapped package. There's no mistaking the weighty oblongs with gently rounded corners that whisper “I'm a book” and no Christmas would be complete without at least one!

May you find many delights under your tree and in your heart. May those who celebrate other winter holidays find joy in family and tradition as well. May we all keep searching and praying for the one great universal gift- Peace on Earth!

KATRINA AFFECTED ALL LIVING THINGS

AN APPEAL TO ANIMAL LOVERS! The recent hurricane in the Gulf States has been devastating for many family pets and animals. Information and a pet-find registry can be found at Nola.com (from New Orleans ). Please consider donations to the ASPCA or other agencies to help. Obviously, rescuers have to give their attention first to human needs, but many of those who lost everything will be grieving for their beloved pets as well. The Humane Society of U.S. says they are helping set up an emergency facility at the Coliseum in Baton Rouge . Also, they're supposedly helping to transport animals that were with the evacuees at the Astrodome in Houston to a temporary shelter. Contact HSUS at 1-888-259-5431, 1-800-486-2631, 1-202-452-1100. Email HSUS at disaster@hsus.org Petsmart Charities is also supposed to be helping with medical supplies & food supplies. Assistance will be needed for some time, so help now and put these loyal pets on your Christmas list!