Twas the Knife Before Christmas

September 10, 2018
It’s December in the pseudonymous Frost’s sugary sequel to 2017’s Twelve Slays of Christmas, and Holly White, who’s busy working at her family’s Christmas tree farm in Mistletoe, Maine, takes a break one evening at the town’s new cupcake shop run by her friends Delores “Cookie” Cutter and Caroline West. Over cupcakes, Caroline mentions that the night before, at a benefit dinner, she yelled at her date, local entrepreneur Derek Waggoner, after he got “handsy.” Later, the ladies attend the town’s Christmas tree lighting celebration, which includes a “Guess How Many Mints” game. When the sheet covering the huge bowl standing next to the tree is whisked away, there stands revealed “a truckload of red and white swirled peppermints”—and a very dead Derek, who turns out to have been stabbed with Caroline’s butcher knife. In between consuming Christmas treats, Holly sets out to prove her friend’s innocence, despite the objections of her casual love interest, Sheriff Evan Gray. Never mind the slight mystery. Cozy fans with a sweet tooth will be in heaven. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency.

September 15, 2018
The Christmas tree lighting ceremony in a Maine town revved up for St. Nick goes most unseasonably wrong when a body is found in a giant bowl of peppermints.Holly White originally returned to Mistletoe, Maine, after her wedding was canceled only to see her father accused of murder (Twelve Slays of Christmas, 2017). She helped clear her father and developed a fragile relationship with Sheriff Evan Grey. Holly's best friend, Caroline West, becomes Evan's chief suspect in the peppermint-bowl murder since she had a public fight with Derek Waggoner, the victim, when he became handsy on a date. Naturally, Holly, whose family's Christmas tree farm, Reindeer Games, is expanding to include a Victorian inn Holly plans to run, goes into sleuthing mode. Waggoner was not the most popular guy in town; his ex-girlfriend and a number of business partners were not all happy with him. Evan is clearly onto something when he tells Holly to butt out, for her questions lead to a number of threats that escalate as she continues her hunt for clues. Holly goes into overdrive once Caroline is arrested, the murder weapon having turned out to be a custom-made knife with only her fingerprints. Together with her friends and family, Holly continues to search for the real killer even though she may not survive to enjoy Christmas.Full of Christmas cheer, punning names of places and characters, and several Santas who play a major role.

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