My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (4 stars)
Publisher: Kensington
It's the time of year when I like to get in some seasonal reads and the more snow & Christmas cheer, the better, so I picked this one up. This is a big deal as I've not read the four books preceding and I usually hold myself to being orderly with series. I enjoyed this and didn't find jumping in this far in to be a hindrance in understanding the setting and characters at all.
The conundrum of how Garth the caterer is beaten to death in his workplace is a classic locked-room mystery. I love those and watching Hayley insert herself into the investigation was as well done as such a thing can be in a cozy. I liked her for the most part (her love life was unnecessarily & tediously, messy). The clues blew around and suspects and red herrings came in flurries with no clear answer to how Garth died in the manner he did when there was no evidence anyone had come in or gone out of his place. The answer lie in a botched coroner's report and as soon as that was revealed, I knew the answer. I'm giving credit to my penchant for ID Channel and having seen a case where this exact thing happened to a man relaxing in his hotel room. The remainder of the story comes to a quick and satisfying close. I was dismayed to read that a botched coroner's report is the problem in prior books. There should be a better way to conceal the mystery than hinging the entire investigation on the coroner's mistakes. Also, how many mistakes can a coroner have and retain their position? Luckily for this hamlet where murders abound, the coroner retires at the end of this one, no longer to be the foil. I kind of just want to go on to the next one to see how the mystery is played with a competent coroner. I also have to say I was less than thrilled with the resolution of Hayley's rude, drunk co-worker who dabbles in sexual harassment at the office holiday festivities. I haven't read the prior books to know if there's an established reason for her excusing him for it but it didn't seem like this was the first occurrence for him so... it didn't play well for me.
All the Christmas trimmings came with this and that was fun. Carols, a Nativity play with a very funny replacement Joseph, a tree lighting with a run-away sleigh with elf atop and family togetherness. There were also recipes, which I didn't expect going into this! There was one food mentioned (holiday spice cake) that was described so yummily but had no recipe and it's just my luck to always have that happenstance when I read food inclined cozies. There's always one (looking at you Soup Lover's Mystery series!)!
Just what I wanted in a seasonal read so definitely recommended.
Summary: Who better than food and cocktails columnist Hayley Powell to book a caterer for the Island Times holiday party? But Hayley's quest for a cook turns into the pursuit of a killer who caters to no one. . .
Office Christmas parties can sometimes mean career suicide--but they rarely lead to murder. Hayley thought Garth Rawlings would be the perfect caterer for this year's bash, but when the gourmet sees her budget, he goes galloping.
Unfortunately his run is short-lived. Garth is found dead on the floor of his kitchen, with his delectable creations burning in the oven. Faced with a spread of suspects, Hayley is determined to discover who would want to take out the Christmas caterer, because--no matter what the season--justice must be served.Office Christmas parties can sometimes mean career suicide--but they rarely lead to murder. Hayley thought Garth Rawlings would be the perfect caterer for this year's bash, but when the gourmet sees her budget, he goes galloping.
Unfortunately his run is short-lived. Garth is found dead on the floor of his kitchen, with his delectable creations burning in the oven. Faced with a spread of suspects, Hayley is determined to discover who would want to take out the Christmas caterer, because--no matter what the season--justice must be served.
