The Twelve Deaths of Christmas (12 Deaths of Christmas)

Rating:
Summary: Cozy Mystery in the Agatha Christie Tradition
Review: Long before Marian Babson turned her attention completely to cats, she wrote outstanding non-cat mysteries and this is one of her very best.

Set in an English boarding house, the cast is a diverse blend of Brits and non-Brits who find themselves alone at Christmas and sharing the holiday with fellow housemates. The description of the city's bustling excitement, the frenzied holiday preparations, and the loneliness of those without family is portrayed as a series of bizarre murders plague the area. As brutal and grotesque as those of Jack the Ripper, these crimes have the police puzzled and the tenants on guard. In alternating chapters, the reader is taken into the killer's mind and privvy to what makes this person act. The reader learns everything but the identity of the killer which is, of course, revealed at a lavish and old-fashioned Christmas dinner.

Delightfully cozy and filled with yuletide spirit, not to mention 12 malicious murders, this is a holiday treat for mystery fans.



Rating:
Summary: Cozy book for winter
Review: This was one of Marian Babson's better non-cat books. It's a good easy read. I like the details about the house and its guests. I thought the ending was a tad obvious but good overall.