Murder, She Wrote: a Little Yuletide Murder

Who killed Santa Claus? That's what Cabot Cove is asking when the residents discover that Rory Brent, the town's go-to man for Saint Nick portrayals, is killed shortly before the town's annual Christmas festival. Famous mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher, at home for Christmas for once, decides to investigate (of course).

With this Murder She Wrote book I was less annoyed with the narrative voice; it did not jar quite as much as it did when I read Murder at the Powderhorn Ranch. (It was still annoying at times when Jessica talked about her super-organized routines or name-dropped everyone in town, but at least that was a character-based annoyance and not an "argh I don't believe the sound of this narrator" annoyance). The story was also show more unexpectedly gritty, at least by the standards of this relatively cozy setting, which piqued my interest. It is probably fairly easy to solve, and indeed I was a beat or two ahead of Jessica, but overall this is a good read that met my expectations, and sometimes that's all you need. show less

Murder, She Wrote: A Little Yuletide Murder by Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain is a 1998 Signet publication.

I can’t remember when I started reading the Murder, She Wrote book series, but I know I haven’t even come close to reading them all- which has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

This older title, written by Donald Bain, is quite good. The setting is in Cabot Cove- and while I realize having Jessica travel often is required, since we can’t have that many murders in her hometown, I love the stories set in Cabot Cove the best.
The killer of the town's beloved "Santa" in cold blood threatens Cabot Cove's annual Christmas festival. If they don't discover the killer, the spirit of Christmas will be hard to recover.

Jessica show more feels it is her duty to help solve the mystery, for the town’s sake. There is an obvious suspect… a town grinch, if you will, and it looks like the evidence against him is overwhelming… but Jessica is sure he’s innocent…

As usual, it is always nice to revisit old book friends and characters. The mystery kept me guessing until the end. I’m glad I reached back for this one!

Some content was a little outside the cozy range, though, and some old vernacular could bother some modern readers, but overall, a solid Christmas mystery.

4 stars show less

Cabot Cove is preparing for its annual Christmas celebration when a beloved citizen, Rory Brent, is found murdered on his farm. Fellow farmer, Jake Walther, is the prime suspect and is arrested for the crime, but Jessica has her doubts about Jake being the killer. This was a good enough read but not as good as the other Murder, She Wrote books I've read so far. It was lacking in potential suspects for the crime, and Jessica didn't seem to do as much investigating as she usually does. I was hoping for a bit more Christmas, too. Still, it was nice visiting with familiar faces, and it was a quick and easy, enjoyable enough read.

Enjoyable, although predictable. Nice safe read. By safe, I mean its an easy read that probably won't stress you out or require a lot of brain power, which is nice sometimes. Its not an amazing book, but definitely not bad (although this is all while saying I haven't seen the TV show) its what you'd expect for a book like this, a murder mystery based off a tv show.

Jessica Fletcher is home in Cabot Cove for Christmas when Rory Brent who plays Santa Claus in the town festival is murdered. Jessica doesn't really investigate though in the end she gets the killer to confess. Most of the book is spent describing the boring details of Jessica's day including a three page summary of the nonevents that have occurred in the book. There really isn't much Christmas related in the book except for Jessica endlessly writing Christmas card which she never seems to finish.

Light and mindless reading for summer-- I am enjoying reading them all.