Review :: Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas by Vicki Delany

I’m a longtime lover of cosy Christmas romance stories, but lately i’ve been finding myself increasingly drawn to festive cosy mysteries too. I spotted Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas on NetGalley and was intrigued by the premise of a murder set against an amateur production of A Christmas Carol. Read on for my review!

What is Vicki Delany’s Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas about?

It’s the beginning of December in Rudolph, New York, America’s Christmas Town, and business is brisk at Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a gift and décor shop owned by Merry Wilkinson. The local amateur dramatic society is intensely preparing a special musical production of A Christmas Carol. But it’s not a happy set, as rivalries between cast and crew threaten the production.

Tensions come to a head when a member of the group is found dead shortly after a shopping excursion to Mrs. Claus’s Treasures. Was someone looking to cut out the competition? Everyone in the cast and crew is a potential suspect, including Aline, Merry’s mother, and Merry’s shop assistant Jackie O’Reilly, who was desperate for a starring role.

It could be curtains for Christmas—and for Merry—unless the killer can be ferreted out of the wings.

My review of Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas by Vicki Delany

I made a rookie mistake in picking this one up – I failed to notice that this is book 6 in a series. Sometimes this isn’t an issue, and the books can be read out of order without really compromising the story telling, but in this case I really felt like I might have enjoyed it more if I knew the characters better from the start.

There were some engaging passages of the book, but overall I just found it dragged a bit too much in some places, and there seemed to be quite a bit of filler.

Let me know in the comments if this is a series you’re familiar with and whether I should check out some of the earlier books!

xo Bron
***

Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas by Vicki Delaney
Out now from Crooked Lane Books

Source: I received a free digital copy for review from Crooked Lane via NetGalley (thank you!)
Category: Cosy Christmas murder mystery

Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas on Goodreads

Want more cosy Christmas mysteries? Check out these posts.