Holidays
Can Be Murder
A
Charlie Parker Mystery
Connie
Shelton
CreateSpace
(Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-4495-1973-3 (1449519733)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4495-1973-5 (9781449519735)
Publication Date: October 2009
List Price: $12.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): It's a New Mexico Christmas. The lights are strung, the
luminarias are set along the sidewalks. Treats are abundant and Charlie
Parker is getting ready for her mother-in-law's holiday visit.
But there is trouble in the neighborhood and when death shows up --
right next door -- Charlie's bright, festive plans suddenly take a turn
for the dark.
Review:
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in New Mexico, but murder
spoils the festivities for Charlie Parker in Holidays Can Be Murder,
the 11th mystery in this series by Connie Shelton.
In the old Albuquerque Country Club neighborhood where Charlie and her
husband Drake live, there is a tradition that residents decorate their
homes and lawns to the max. During the holidays there are actually
buses filled with people that tour the area. As with every Christmas
season, Charlie has a demanding schedule: decorating, baking cookies
for the neighborhood cookie exchange, shopping, and wrapping presents.
And to top it off this year, Drake has invited his mother to spend the
holidays with them. Charlie has only met Catherine once in the fourteen
months she and Drake have been married. When Catherine arrives, Charlie
is delighted to find her to be pleasant and congenial. But isn't the
only mother-in-law making a visit to the neighborhood this year:
Wilbur’s mother, Paula, has dropped in – uninvited.
Judy, Wilbur’s wife, is in the early stage of her pregnancy
and isn’t all that well on the best of days. One evening
after Christmas, Paula stayed home allowing Judy and Wilbur to dine
with friends and play a game or two. When they came home, they found
Paula sprawled out on the living room sofa – dead.
When the police learn that Judy had complained to some that her
mother-in-law was a cruel woman who drank too much and probably was on
drugs, a woman who continually brow beat her son and had done so
throughout his life, and that she wished she were dead, they
immediately see Judy as the prime suspect. Charlie knew this was
Judy’s anxieties talking and is positive she is not a
murderer. Charlie remembers there had been a dark car that she had seen
driving slowly past their houses for a few days, one for which she had
written down the license plate number. Following up on this lead takes
her to California and the home of Paula’s ex-husband. He
leads her to Paula’s drug dealer who reveals that Paula had
left town owing him money. As Charlie comes closer to finding the real
murderer, her own life is put in peril.
Holidays
Can Be Murder is a crisply
written, briskly paced mystery, and befitting the season, filled with
vibrant colorful characters. Though relatively short in length, the
fully developed whodunit plot is quite entertaining. And if this
holiday treat of a mystery weren't enough, two New Mexican Christmas
recipes are included for readers to try at home. Consider Holidays Can Be Murder
as a fun stocking stuffer, or to include in a holiday basket to give
this season.
Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Holidays Can Be Murder and to Connie Shelton for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read Holidays Can Be Murder? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series …
Deadly
Gamble
Intrigue Press (Hardcover), January 1995
ISBN-10: 0-9643161-0-2 (0964316102)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9643161-0-2 (9780964316102)
Vacations
Can Be Murder
Intrigue Press (Hardcover), September 1995
ISBN-10: 0-9643161-1-0 (0964316110)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9643161-1-9 (9780964316119)
Partnerships
Can Kill
Intrigue Press (Hardcover), May 1997
ISBN-10: 0-9643161-4-5 (0964316145)
ISBN-13: 978-0-9643161-4-0 (9780964316140)
Small
Towns Can Be Murder
Intrigue Press (Hardcover), May 1998
ISBN-10: 1-890768-05-7 (1890768057)
ISBN-13: 978-1-890768-05-8 (9781890768058)
Memories
Can Be Murder
Intrigue Press (Hardcover), October 1999
ISBN-10: 1-890768-18-9 (1890768189)
ISBN-13: 978-1-890768-18-8 (9781890768188)
Honeymoons
Can Be Murder
Intrigue Press (Hardcover), January 2001
ISBN-10: 1-890768-30-8 (1890768308)
ISBN-13: 978-1-890768-30-0 (9781890768300)
Reunions
Can Be Murder
Intrigue Press (Hardcover), November 2002
ISBN-10: 1-890768-46-4 (1890768464)
ISBN-13: 978-1-890768-46-1 (9781890768461)
Competition
Can Be Murder
Intrigue Press (Hardcover), April 2004
ISBN-10: 1-890768-59-6 (1890768596)
ISBN-13: 978-1-890768-59-1 (9781890768591)
Balloons
Can Be Murder
Intrigue Press (Hardcover), November 2005
ISBN-10: 1-890768-60-X (189076860X)
ISBN-13: 978-1-890768-60-7 (9781890768607)
Obsessions
Can Be Murder
Intrigue Press (Hardcover), November 2006
ISBN-10: 1-890768-75-8 (1890768758)
ISBN-13: 978-1-890768-75-1 (9781890768751)
Holidays Can Be Murder
CreateSpace (Trade Paperback), October 2009
ISBN-10: 1-4495-1973-3 (1449519733)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4495-1973-5 (9781449519735)
Omnimystery
keywords for Holidays Can Be Murder
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Location(s) referenced: Albuquerque, New Mexico.
