Title: The Twelve Books of Christmas
Series: Bibliophile Mystery
By: Kate Carlisle
ISBN: 9780593637692 (ISBN10: 0593637690)
Website: http://www.katecarlisle.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra
Summary:
San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright and her hunky security-expert husband, Derek Stone, face a locked-room murder mystery during the holidays in Scotland.
In the middle of a wonderful Christmas holiday in Dharma, Brooklyn and Derek receive a frantic phone call from their dear friend Claire in Loch Ness, Scotland. The laird of the castle, Cameron MacKinnon, has just proposed to her! They plan to be married on New Year’s Day, and they want Derek and Brooklyn to be their witnesses. And while they’re visiting, Claire hopes that Brooklyn will be able to solve a little mystery that’s occurred in the castle library—twelve very rare, very important books have gone missing.
Once in Scotland, Brooklyn starts working on the mystery of the missing books but is soon distracted by all of the thumping and bumping noises she’s been hearing in the middle of the night. You’d think the Ghost of Christmas Past had taken up residence. But when one of the guests is poisoned and another is killed by an arrow through the heart, Brooklyn and Derek know this is not the work of any ghost. Now they must race to find a killer and a book thief before another murder occurs and their friends’ bright and happy future turns dark and deadly. (Goodreads)
Review:
First off, I cannot believe I am entering this series at book 17! What am I thinking? Well, let me tell you. It has long been my wish to read this series and I decided to jump right in with the newest book. Maybe not the smartest move as far as character development goes. But definitely glad I finally did. And so you know – I will most assuredly go back and start from the beginning!
The story begins with Brooklyn Wainwright and her hubby Derek Stone heading to Scotland to attend Claire and Cameron’s New Year’s Eve wedding at the Laird’s Castle (FYI – the laird would be Cameron – the groom). And Claire has another request of Brooklynn besides standing up for her at her wedding on New Year’s Day…try and find a dozen missing books from the castle’s library. Along for the wedding are Brooklynn’s mom and dad as well. Makes for a lovely vacation. Though visiting Lock Ness is very exciting, there is of course a murder (actually two!!!). The first death occurs with Willy (a friend of Olivia – the castle librarian). Willy helps with the gardening and fieldwork at the castle and is good friends with Angus. During the New Year’s Eve celebrations – there are words between Willy and Angus. And then the next day, while searching for missing books, Brooklyn stumbles upon a very dead Willy. And so it begins, the sleuthing with Brooklyn and Derek trying to figure out who would want Willy dead?
There are numerous potential suspects and as Brooklyn and Derek shift through the list, they keep locating more of the missing books (yeah!). As well, there are some creepy noises in the castle that spook Brooklyn. As time proceeds, suspects are cleared and just when the reader thought things were settling down (well – except for not figuring out the murderer of Willy) and a wedding just might occur – another murder happens. Will this wedding never happen? Never fear…Brooklyn will figure it out – or at least this reader hoped so – before she became a casualty herself.
In true cozy mystery style – the murder is solved, explanations abound with respect to the strange noises in the castle, a wedding finally happens and all is well in Scotland. I love it when all comes together in these books. Though I must say – took me a long while (actually – not until the very end) to figure out “whodunit” – for either of the murders. Just the way I like my cozies!
If you are a fan of Kate Carlisle, then you will surely enjoy this 17th addition to the Bibliophile Mystery series. With respect to the mystery, there is just the right amount of intrigue and number of suspects. The location could not have been more perfect.
Let us not forget the cover art. A work of beauty, if I do say so myself. With many of my favourite things: books, cats and Christmas decorations. And a lovely reading nook!I fully recommend The Twelve Books of Christmas by Kate Carlisle. Make a hot chocolate (or tea?), sit down in a comfy chair with a lap throw and get reading. The book will captivate you and pull you in so that all you want to do is read (okay – that is what happened with me. You may be different).
