REVIEW: We Wish You a Murderous Christmas

 We Wish You a Murderous Christmas
Author: Vicki Delany

Before I even get to my review, I have three observations to make.

One -- as with the last series I read by this author, I was not all that into the first book, but really started enjoying the characters and plots with the second book. I really enjoyed this one! 

Two - This is the first time in long while that I have actually rooted for the killer when the deed was first discovered. The victim in this story was a complete jerk, and I was not sorry to read about him getting offed. The author definitely wrote the character to be as icky as possible, and she pulled it off. Yuck! What an awful person! 

Three - Once again, halfway through the book I made my best guess about the killer's identity. And, I was completely wrong.  The world is a safer place because I did not choose a career in law enforcement....I would be horrible at figuring out who committed the crime!! 

I turned to my library for help once again as I didn't have this book in the series on my bookshelves. I listened to the audio book version [Tantor Media, 2023, 7 hrs 25 minutes], narrated by Amy Deuchler. The narrator is ok. Her voice is a bit grating / too nasally for me and the accent she does for a main-ish character is rough to listen to. But, I got through it. I'm glad that I have physical books from here through the newest book in this series. I would not choose to listen to any more performances by this particular narrator. 

The plot kept my attention from start to finish. At first I was sucked in by the horrible behavior of the character that later became the murder victim. And then I wanted to know the identity of the killer. As stated above, I was again completely wrong in my guess for the killer. Next time I should just cheat and choose a character that I think couldn't possibly have done the deed as my choices for the one I think is the best choice is always wrong. :) 

I liked the characters a bit better in this second book and they stopped wildly throwing out their opinions on the proper way to celebrate the holiday. I think as the characters and setting develop as this series moves along I will like it better and better. I'm finding this is just how I feel about series by this author. I felt the same way as I read through the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mysteries. First book was just ok....but by book 3 I was hooked and read the whole series from start to finish. Which is a good thing, as I also have part of the Tea by the Sea series by this author on my shelves! 

On to the next book in this series!