Kristin's Bookshelf

📖 A Christmas Guide to Family and Murder
✍️ Dianne Freeman
📚 Countess of Harleigh Mysteries, Book 9
🎙️ Sarah Zimmerman
🎁 NetGalley & RBmedia
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Give me a cozy mystery with a big cast of dynamic characters and I am usually all in. Unfortunately, I think jumping into this series at Book 9 kept me from loving this one as much as I could have. I would be very interested in starting this one from the beginning.

While “A Christmas Guide to Family and Murder” can technically be read as a standalone, I never felt like I got quite enough character development to really know everyone or become invested in their relationships. I have a feeling longtime readers of the series will get much more out of the family dynamics than I did.

One element I absolutely adored, though, was the children writing their own book inspired by the murder. Their version of “A Christmas Carol,” where Scrooge does NOT survive and the investigators are based on George and Frances, was such a fun addition. 😂 Honestly, the kids were some of my favorite parts of the story.

As for the mystery, it was enjoyable, but the investigation felt somewhat repetitive for a while. There was SO. MUCH. TALK. ABOUT. THE. SHOES. 👞 Once Frances and company finally widened their net and began seriously considering other possibilities, the story picked up considerably for me.

And without giving too much away… I was APPALLED by the person responsible. Not necessarily because of what they did, because hello, murder mystery, but because they didn’t make sure their actions couldn’t hurt completely innocent people. A family. WITH CHILDREN. 😳 That detail bothered me almost more than the murder itself!

🎧 Narration Appreciation: I already knew I loved Sarah Zimmerman from her narration of Nancy Warren’s “Vampire Knitting Club” series, and she was once again a highlight here. I love her voice and the personality she brings to different characters, especially with a cast this large.

Overall, this was a cute Christmas cozy with a Victorian setting, family drama, precocious young sleuths, and a murder to solve. I just wish I’d met Frances, George, and the rest of the family several books earlier.