Stalking Around the Christmas Tree by Jaqueline Frost, is book 4 in her Christmas Farm Mystery series, but is easily read as a standalone. This was my first book by this author and I found it easy to follow even though I had not read any of the previous books in the series.
The story takes place in a small town called Mistletoe during the Christmas season. The main character, Holly White, is in the midst of planning her upcoming wedding to Sheriff Evan Gray during the busy Christmas season on her family’s tree farm, Reindeer Games, when the lead ballerina in the annual production of The Nutcracker shows up dead on a parade float. Holly is quickly involved in trying to solve the mystery of the murdered ballerina.
The small town setting that is fairly typical of cosy mysteries was full of lovable, quirky characters and shops. I think my favourite character was Cookie who became an ordained minister so that she could perform a marriage ceremony for her goat, Theodore. loved the holiday theme of this book, and all the small town events that took place during the holiday season.
I really enjoyed this book and plan to go back and check out the previous three books in the series. If you’re looking for a Christmas themed mystery, definitely give this one a try, it was a fun story.
Thanks to NetGalley, Jacqueline Frost, and Crooked Lane Books for providing an ARC for review.
Stalking Around the Christmas Tree releases on October 17 2023.
Life, Tea, and Everything 