Murder, She Wrote: A Killer Christmas
Murder, She Wrote #59
By Jessica Fletcher and Terrie Farley Moran
ISBN 9780593640722
terriefarleymoran.com
Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie
Synopsis:
It’s Christmastime in Cabot Cove and murder is afoot in the newest entry in the USA Today bestselling Murder, She Wrote series. The gossip lines are burning throughout Cabot Cove this holiday season. The annual Christmas Festival is getting closer and Cabot Cove is one of the towns being considered to become the premier Christmas Town in the Maine’s official tourist brochure. Mayor Jim Shevlin insists that the annual Christmas pageant play and the parade led by the Founders float are not enough to win a spot in the brochure so everyone is busy reviving old holiday traditions and developing new ones. Everyone, that is, except local realtor Eve Simpson, who has contracted to sell the old Jarvis homestead to Boston tycoon John Bragdon. The sale becomes complicated when Kenny Jarvis, a former student of Jessica’s who has been missing and presumed dead for years, suddenly returns to Cabot Cove to prevent his sister from selling their childhood home. While most of the townspeople are busy planning for the Christmas Festival, Eve organizes a welcoming dinner for John Bragdon, his wife, Rose Marie, and his business entourage so they can meet the town’s leading citizens, including Jessica Fletcher, who notices tension among Bragdon’s staff which only heightens when John’s former intern shows up at the dinner. Then Kenny Jarvis accosts John’s wife telling her she will never live in his house. When Rose Marie turns up dead a few days later, Jessica is convinced that Kenny had nothing to do with the murder, but can she prove his innocence?
Review:
This new Jessica Fletcher mystery exemplifies the community spirit of Cabot Cove, Maine, even as Jessica helps solve a truly puzzling murder. It has been so refreshing to read about a little winter snow and a lot of community-minded people!
Cabot Cove has more heart than most fictional towns I’ve had the pleasure of visiting in print. Their Christmas events include a parade and a play. They used to have more festivities, including carolers and open houses or shops with cookies and cider.
Jessica, her close friend, Dr. Seth Hazlitt, and Dan, the new editor of the Cabot Cove Gazette, attended an urgent Christmas festival committee meeting. Mayor Shevlin shares a unique opportunity for Cabot Cove. They are one of ten exclusive Maine towns chosen to compete with each other for the best Christmas festival. The winning town would be titled Maine’s Christmas Town, be featured in the state’s annual tourism brochure in the new year, and receive a financial stipend. The community will go all out to organize an exceptional Christmas festival. Jessica is involved with several events, including one she suggested – a boat parade at the marina.
Eve Simpson, the local Realtor, has a wealthy client interested in a valuable piece of property with a spectacular ocean view and an older home. John Bragdon, owner of a successful group of businesses in Boston, scheduled a visit to the property. Krista Jarvis was the sole owner of the property, since her brother Kenny was declared legally dead many years after he disappeared.
The views sold the home, and John Bragdon would pay cash, close quickly, and have the house remodeled and ready for move-in by Christmas. Eve planned a special dinner party to welcome John and his wife, Rose Marie, and introduce them to some people they would appreciate knowing.
Days before the dinner for the Bragdons, Kenny Jarvis returned to Cabot Cove. He learned his childhood home was being sold, and told folks he was stopping the sale.
The day after the dinner party, Rose Marie Bragdon was relaxing in their hotel lobby when Kenny went there and threatened her. A couple hours later, immediately after she had afternoon tea with Jessica, Eve, and a current and past employee, Rose Marie died. Labs showed she was drugged. Even though it was impossible for him to get access to her food, Kenny was picked up on suspicion of murder.
The regular characters stay true to the classic television series. Jessica, best-selling mystery author, is a wise and brilliant woman, friendly, and down-to-earth. She has probably helped solve as many murders as the number of novels she’s written. Jessica is delightfully positive and encouraging, always ready to lend a hand.
Jessica is my favorite, and Dan, editor of the Cabot Cove Gazette, has become another favorite. He is a recent arrival to Cabot Cove, having moved there when accepting the position. Dan is a humble man who, instead of writing big, misleading headlines, tells the truth with minimal spin. He would help anywhere needed in the community, and would deflect accolades to others rather than receive them for himself.
This was a challenging mystery as neither Jessica nor the police could find anyone with a motive to kill Rose Marie! The police held Kenny but had not yet charged him with murder. There was one tiny sentence made by the killer that didn’t even allude to a motive that made that person my “pet suspect”. Surprisingly, it was my “pet suspect” with an outlandish excuse who finally confessed to the crime. You won’t want to miss this mystery, or the festival with its well-organized events and boat parade. You will definitely want to find out if Cabot Cove became Maine’s Christmas Town! I highly recommend this novel, and any of the other Jessica Fletcher mysteries in the series, especially during this 40-year anniversary of the first Murder She Wrote episode!
