The Twelve Deaths of Christmas

As the tagline on the front cover says "'Tis the Season to be Wary." I may never think of the Twelve Days of Christmas the same way after reading this book.

A series of deaths takes place in London in the twelve days leading up to Christmas. We know that the perpetrator is one of the people staying in a rooming house but which one is it? He or she never uses his or her own name and seldom uses the name of any of the other roomers when thinking about the deaths. The guilty party suffers from terrible headaches and does not remember the deaths when the headache is gone. Is it Major Entwistle? He certainly has the training to kill. Perhaps it is the nice Canadian girl whose parents died just before Christmas causing her to fall into a deep show more depression? Could it be Maude Daneson who owns the house? You'll just have to read to find out. show less

Update, Dec. 25, 2019
What’s the sign of an excellent mystery? When you can re-read it, knowing the end, and still thoroughly enjoy the novel. I’ve re-read this with my Great Escape sisters and, of course, picked up clues that I missed the first time. So glad that I got to enjoy this yet again with some of the best women in the world.

Aug. 20, 2019
Marion Babson has penned a Christmas jewel with this short novel. One of the residents of Maude Daneson’s boarding house is a crazed killer — but whom? I cannot reveal anything more without ruining this suspense-filled novel. However, I recommend you read the audiobook in order to enjoy Sarah Nichols’ wonderful performance. Highly, highly recommended.

Description
As the Christmas holidays begin at Maude Daneson's rooming house, unsuspecting lodgers receive a most unwelcome present from the person responsible for a series of senseless and bizarre murders, a killer much more cunning than they had suspected.

The story switches back and forth between the unknown killer and the lodgers. It’s known early on that the killer is someone in the rooming house. I had fun trying to guess who it was although I didn’t get it right. I liked all the Christmas activity in between the murders. This was a light, enjoyable read.

This was an interesting story. Early on, I thought I had it all figured out...by the middle, I (again!) had it all figured out but with a different suspect (lol)...and at the end, I found out who the real killer was (neither of my suspects btw).

The writing style was interesting and definitely added to the mystery. Most of the story was told 3rd person except for the 1st person thoughts/actions of the killer allowing you to see what was driving the murder spree.

I highly recommend if you need a quick, engaging read.

The only Babson book I’ve read and I did enjoy it. The murderer’s identity is hidden and it plays like one of those cool slasher flicks that came out of Canada in the 80s. The ending is something of a wash. There's Christmas, snow and a high body count- what's not to love?