Review: Stalking Around the Christmas Tree by Jacqueline Frost

Stalking Around the Christmas Tree (Christmas Tree Farm Mystery #4)
by Jacqueline Frost
narrated by Allyson Ryan

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: m/f

Blurb:
Tis the season to solve a murder—and innkeeper Holly White knows she’ll have to make her list and check it twice if she wants to catch the killer in the 4th Christmas Tree Farm mystery from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost.

For inn keeper Holly White, Christmas time in Mistletoe, Maine, is the ultimate holiday gift. Business at the Reindeer Games Inn is booming, her wedding to Sheriff Evan Gray is nearly here, and the annual parade is about to begin. The town is lucky to have another gift this year, with the state’s ballet company staying for several performances of The Nutcracker. But disaster strikes when Tiffany, the lead ballerina, shows up dead on a float during the parade, the Rat King’s mask nearby. Holly will have to spruce up her sleuthing skills if she wants to catch the killer before Christmas—and her wedding day.

Immediately, Holly discovers that Tiffany had more than a few secrets. She finds out that the star of the show had a super fan that no one knows anything about. And the show’s understudy slips some other intriguing information Holly’s way: not only was Tiffany secretly seeing someone romantically, but there seems to be more than one rat in this company. When Holly discovers a secret passage leading to Tiffany’s dressing room, with footprints leading out; she wonders if this is evidence of a secret lover—or a stalking killer.

With an impending snowstorm and the ballet company on the way out of town, Holly must act quickly if she wants to find the person responsible for this terrible murder. Will she be able to save Christmas—or will her investigation turn cold like the weather?

My Review

I really like this series and was looking forward to listening to this book as well. Holly and Evan are going to be married on Christmas eve, but things don’t all go smoothly as another murder occurs and Evan’s sister Libby is acting strange. Despite being busy with wedding planning and Christmas the couple gets busy with solving these mysteries as well.

I had fun returning to the town of Mistletoe and following Holly. This series has such a wonderful cozy atmosphere and the Christmas theme is a fun one. This book did have a lot going on with the murder mystery, what’s going on with Libby and then there are the Christmas festivities as well as the wedding planning. Most of the time I thought the various plot lines blended well together, but in some moments it could feel like a bit much.

The mystery wasn’t my favorite, but I did like seeing how it progressed. The ballet theme didn’t appeal to me as much and I thought the reveal of the murderer was kinda anticlimactic somehow. There were some nice twists and turns along the way. I did like how Holly gets involved and uncovers some clues and how the police does some good work too. The Libby plot line had more of a suspenseful feel almost and while it was good to see that play forward on the previously established plot points surrounding her I didn’t like that plot as much.

My favorite part of this book was the Christmas vibe and reading about Holly, her friends and family. The small town is a fun one to read about and I like seeing how many close friends and family members Holly has around her. There are again some Reindeer games as well as Christmas and wedding preparations. There are also some interesting developments among Holly’s friends and it just so fun and cozy reading this book. The narrator is awesome as usual. The book ends on a high note and almost felt like the last book in the series, but I already pre-ordered book 5 so I know there will be more.

To summarize: It was great returning to the small town of Mistletoe and reading about Holly and her friends and family again. The cozy vibe and Christmas theme are so fun. There is a lot going on in this book with a murder mystery, something going on with Libby as well as the Christmas and wedding related preparations. Most of the time the plot lines twined together well, but at times it felt like a bit much. The mystery wasn’t my favorite, but I liked the fact there were some interesting twists and turns along the way as well as how Holly contributed. I didn’t like the plot line surrounding Libby as much, but it did build on previously established plot points for her character. I liked reading about this town and the characters. All in all I had a great time returning to Mistletoe and I liked listening to this book, the narrator is awesome to.

Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– Audible
– B&N
– Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.