As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles

April 30, 2018
In Agatha Award–winner Budewitz’s inviting fifth Food Lovers’ Village mystery (after 2017’s Treble at the Jam Fest), Merrily Thornton returns home to Jewel Bay, Mont., after a nearly two-decade absence, which included a short stint in prison for pleading guilty to embezzlement from Sally Grimes’s children’s shop, where she worked part-time in high school. With the exception of her mother, most of the townsfolk welcome Merrily back; she’s even hired to help with the books at her school chum Greg Taylor’s building supply store. But when the store’s bank deposit comes up short and a stash of cash is found in Merrily’s desk drawer, it appears she hasn’t learned her lesson. When she’s found murdered, it looks as if someone decided to teach her one. Erin Murphy, the manager of Murphy’s Glacier Mercantile, takes time to investigate, even though her greatly anticipated Christmas Eve wedding to Adam Zimmerman is just three weeks away. Clean-as-a-whistle dialogue, endearing characters, and a solid plot make this cozy a winner.

May 1, 2018
A Montana shop owner copes handily with all the challenges of the holiday season.Jewel Bay has escaped the irrelevance that plagues many rural towns in America's heartland by creating a rustic shoppers' paradise in its picturesque center. And the spirit of cooperation among the crafters and artisans who run the local shops is never stronger than during the Christmas season, when shopkeepers help each other decorate their doors and self-appointed elves string lights and decorate the streets in between. So it's not surprising that Erin Murphy (Treble at the Jam Fest, 2017, etc.), owner of the venerable Murphy's Glacier Mercantile, has chosen Christmas Eve for her upcoming wedding to longtime beau Adam Zimmerman. But the season's shine dims when Merrily, the black sheep of the Thornton clan, returns hoping to make a fresh start. Her parents, Walt and Taya, have other ideas and tell their daughter to get lost. Erin tries to befriend the dejected Merrily and feels rebuffed when she fails to turn up at Erin's annual cookie exchange. But Merrily isn't snubbing Erin. She's dead, as her childhood friend Greg Taylor learns when he finds her corpse at an old schoolhouse on her parents' property. Busy as she is, Erin can't help nosing around to figure out what Grinch would spoil the spirit of the season by strangling a repentant sinner with a string of holiday lights.Budewitz's finely drawn characters, sharp ear for dialogue, and well-paced puzzle make Jewel Bay a destination for every cozy fan.

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May 15, 2018
Christmas is fast approaching and in Jewel Bay, Montana, Erin Murphy is busy with the holiday rush at Murphy's Mercantile, the specialty-foods market she manages, as well as planning her upcoming wedding. When Merrily Thornton, who was jailed for embezzlement as a teen, returns to town after 20 years away, town residents have mixed reactions?some believing she deserves a second chance, and some, including her rigid parents, wishing she would go away. Erin hopes to befriend Merrily, but unfortunately Merrily is soon found dead on her parents' property with a string of Christmas lights around her neck, and it seems she had set up an elaborate embezzlement scheme at her current place of employment. Erin and Merrily's boss find it hard to believe that Merrily is the thief, prompting Erin to investigate and, eventually, to uncover long-buried secrets that lead to the crime's solution. Cozy readers will relish the small-town, Christmastime frame accompanying details of frenzied wedding planning and running a family food business. And, of course, the recipes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)