Review: ‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost

Posted June 5, 2019 by Lola in Mystery, Review / 6 Comments

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'Twas the Knife Before Christmas‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas
(A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery #2)
by Jacqueline Frost

Narrated by Allyson Ryan

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
A Christmas delight, ‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas will charm the stockings off fans of Joanne Fluke and Leslie Meier.

It’s out of the cupcake tin, into the fire for Holly White’s best friend, Caroline. Can Holly clear Caroline’s name in time to go caroling?

When a body turns up in the dumpster behind Caroline’s Cupcakes, Holly White is horrified to learn her best friend, Caroline, is the main suspect. Everyone in town, including Mistletoe, Maine’s sheriff, saw Caroline fighting with the victim on the night of his death. Worse, Caroline’s fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, a custom-designed marble rolling pin.

Now, just 10 days before Christmas, Holly’s up to her jingle bells in holiday shenanigans and in desperate need of a miracle. Juggling extra shifts at her family’s Christmas tree farm and making enough gingerbread jewelry to satisfy the crowd is already more than she can handle – and now she has to find time to clear her best friend of murder. Add in her budding relationship with the sheriff and run-ins with an ex-fiance looking to make amends, and Holly’s ready to fly south until springtime.

But her Sherpa-lined mittens come off when Caroline is taken into custody. Can Holly wrap up the case in time for Christmas…even after she gains the true killer’s attention? Find out in ‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas, Jacqueline Frost’s second pine-scented Christmas Tree Farm mystery.

My Review

After listening to the first book earlier this year I decided to listen to book 2 as well. This is a great sequel. A year has passed and it’s time again for Christmas but another murder shakes up the town again this year. And Holly White gets involved again when her best friend Caroline turns out to be the main suspect.

It was a bit jarring with how book 2 is a whole year later than book 1, but that makes sense for it to be set at Christmas time again. I had expected Holly and Evan to be a couple now, but they’re actually having some troubles and not as close as I had expected. It didn’t take long to get a hang of what had happened (or didn’t) in a year and I quickly settled in to enjoy another mystery set during Christmas time.

It was a good mystery that kept me guessing. There were plenty of suspects and suspicious characters. I had predicted one thing quite early on, which was quite interesting twist, but that didn’t help me figure out the identity of the killer. By the end I wasn’t sure who had done it and the character I suspected for a little bit, turned out to be more unlikely as the story progressed. Then when other suspects got cleared I was left scratching my head to see how it would all tie together. But it did. The murderer made sense and I noticed some hints looking back that I hadn’t realized were hints.

Just like the first book in this series this mystery also has the murderer resorting to threats. I thought the pattern was a bit too similar to the previous book as I figured not all murderers would handle her snooping the same way. But on the other hand the threats give a chilling touch to the mystery and show how Holly is in danger.

It made sense how Holly got involved in this mystery with her best friend being the main suspect. I liked seeing how Holly and Caroline are good friends now and I liked seeing how Caroline’s cupcake shop was doing now. And construction is underway for an inn on the reindeer games property which was exciting and I hope that it will play a role in book 3 if there will be another one.

Evan, the love interest, did got on my nerves a few times. I don’t know how often he says let me handle this. And while his behavior makes sense with how he’s concerned for Holly’s safety he was a tad too overprotective at times. I don’t feel the romance at times and then at other times they are quite good together. Then there is the secret he’s keeping, which actually was quite the fun twist when it got revealed and it also made sense why he kept is secret.

I liked reading about the familiar characters again, Holly’s parents, Cookie, Caroline, Evan and Gray. And some interesting new characters as well. It’s fun to see how everyone is doing.

I like the timing with how these mysteries are set around Christmas. The author does a great job depicting the town and the holiday vibe. You really get that Christmas feel. I also liked that the reindeer games are back and there are some games they also had in book 1, but not all of them are the same. It was a fun touch to see how the same games were different this year. And the familiar games almost feel like tradition now as you recognize them from previous books.

The narrator did a great job again with this book. As she also did book 1 I easily settled in to listen to this one. I liked how she did the Boston accent, although Evan seemed to slip in and out of his accent at times. But that might’ve been on purpose. And I still like how she did Cookie’s voice as well. And how she managed to add tension and emotions to some scenes with how she narrated them.

To summarize: I had fun listening to the second book in this Christmas themed cozy mystery series. It was a great mystery where who the murderer was surprised me, but it did make sense, which was great. The mystery does follow a similar pattern to that in book 1 with the murderer resorting to threats quite quickly, but it does add some tension and danger to the mystery. It was slightly jarring to have a time skip of a year between book 1 and 2, but that was only an issue at the start. I liked seeing how the characters were doing and how the reindeer games are on again and we get to see a few games they also did in book 1 which was quite fun as it feels like a tradition that way. The town and characters are fun to read about and I liked the Christmas vibe the whole book has. The narrator did a great job with this book and I enjoyed listening to it.

4 Stars

Links:
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Amazon
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You can also read my review on Goodreads, Bookbub and Amazon.

Do you like reading Christmas themed books?

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6 responses to “Review: ‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost

  1. I think it’s fun that its mysteries set against Christmas time. I get caught up in romances for the holidays, but its nice to break that reading up with mystery genre. I read one last year in the Dewberry Farm series that was set at Christmas, but not all of them are.
    Neat how you figured out part of it, but still kept you guessing. Too bad about the hero being a little bothersome at times. Sounds like its pretty good all around.
    Sophia Rose recently posted…Review: Slightly Sinful by Mary BaloghMy Profile

    • I’ve read a few mysteries set around Christmas, but usually it’s just one book in the series. I like how this whole series is set around Christmas. Romances set at Christmas time are great too.

      It was fun to figure part of it, but not everything. The hero was a good guy, but a bit too overprotective at times which was a bit annoying. Overall this was a good one 🙂

  2. I’m glad that overall you liked this… I read a book where the love interest was someone I was really rooting for then suddenly in the next book they got on my nerves and I wasn’t rooting at all any more. This kind of annoys me in books. But I’m glad the whole secret worked. ❤️
    Dani @ Perspective of a Writer recently posted…42 Summer Reads For All AgesMy Profile

    • It’s sad when that happens when the love interest suddenly gets on your nerves. I mainly still liked the love interest here, but his behavior really got on my nerves at times. And at least the secret thing made sense once you know what it is.

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