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thepeachmartini's review against another edition
4.0
Twas the Knife Before Christmas
Date Read 16 Dec 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was cute, festive, funny, and gave me some feels. What more do you want? This one wasn’t 5 stars just because I feel like you would have learned your lesson from the first book to keep your nose out of other people’s business…but then I guess you wouldn’t have a 4-book series, would you?
True to form, the mystery is simple and pretty straight-forward. Vast improvement on the use of the word tummy - there were some stomachs and middles thrown in for good measure this time.
Date Read 16 Dec 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was cute, festive, funny, and gave me some feels. What more do you want? This one wasn’t 5 stars just because I feel like you would have learned your lesson from the first book to keep your nose out of other people’s business…but then I guess you wouldn’t have a 4-book series, would you?
True to form, the mystery is simple and pretty straight-forward. Vast improvement on the use of the word tummy - there were some stomachs and middles thrown in for good measure this time.
cari_mac's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars - a Hallmark or Lifetime movie in book form. Exactly what you expect, which is somehow still enjoyable except this one was a little too over the top with the spirit of Christmas and all that
bikes_books_yarn's review against another edition
2.0
Struggled with this one.
The main character is unrealistically sweet to people who are threatening her. The woman who was throwing ornaments at her car? Seriously. Imagine someone is throwing ornaments at your car - are you going to invite them into your Christmas party? Are you going to make friends with them?
Conversely she is a nosy snoop asking people she doesn't know about cheating on their husbands? What happened to the nice Holly who didn't want to press charges over multiple assaults from the wine shop lady?
I also struggled with the Nail gun scene. Having roofed a house I know you have to compress a safety on the nail gun to get a nail to fire. In order to shoot a nail gun you would have to hold the safety down in with one hand and pull the trigger to shoot it. And they are not light. And they are attached to air compressors. They aren't designed as a weapon. So the idea that he was shooting nails at her just took me right out of it. I feel like it would me more likely the shooter would get a nail in his own hand then to accurately hit a target multiple times.
I know cozy mysteries have a little wiggle room in the "likely to happen" category, but I feel like you can let some things slide (Holly is solving another murder on Christmas!) and some things are harder to let go. Like nail guns being shot like a Smith and Wesson.
And if you think about all the things she went through in this couple weeks this book took place - it's amazing she didn't lose it.
♦She was at the town party where a corpse was discovered.
♦She investigates another murder.
♦She has loved ones actively pushing her to NOT investigate a murder.
♦She is trying to iron out her love life. To a cop who jails her best friend.
♦She is actively involved in the upgrade of two of her parents businesses which, for some reason - they decided to do during the X-mas holiday. (WTF?!?!?)
♦She is being stalked by a Santa.
♦Locked and terrorized in a recycling barn.
♦She is thrown out of a store for being rude and nosy.
♦She has a woman throwing ornaments at her car to the point she races off in a car to get away from her.
♦Same woman throws cupcakes at her and her friends business
♦She is shot at on a slay ride that has a runaway horse and ends up in a lake in the winter.
♦She goes to a gym TWICE to interview a suspect and is brutalized by a trainer and doesn't question that he is having her do unsafe activities her first time in a gym.
♦OH - and meanwhile she is a waitress, and helping her parents with their business and running her own jewelry making business.
And what about Scooter? Creepy stalker vibes. But lets be friends with him. I am sure that's fine.
Is Holly on cocaine? I mean. I am exhausted and in need of therapy from thinking of one of those things happening.
Definitely struggled with this one.
The main character is unrealistically sweet to people who are threatening her. The woman who was throwing ornaments at her car? Seriously. Imagine someone is throwing ornaments at your car - are you going to invite them into your Christmas party? Are you going to make friends with them?
Conversely she is a nosy snoop asking people she doesn't know about cheating on their husbands? What happened to the nice Holly who didn't want to press charges over multiple assaults from the wine shop lady?
I also struggled with the Nail gun scene. Having roofed a house I know you have to compress a safety on the nail gun to get a nail to fire. In order to shoot a nail gun you would have to hold the safety down in with one hand and pull the trigger to shoot it. And they are not light. And they are attached to air compressors. They aren't designed as a weapon. So the idea that he was shooting nails at her just took me right out of it. I feel like it would me more likely the shooter would get a nail in his own hand then to accurately hit a target multiple times.
I know cozy mysteries have a little wiggle room in the "likely to happen" category, but I feel like you can let some things slide (Holly is solving another murder on Christmas!) and some things are harder to let go. Like nail guns being shot like a Smith and Wesson.
And if you think about all the things she went through in this couple weeks this book took place - it's amazing she didn't lose it.
♦She was at the town party where a corpse was discovered.
♦She investigates another murder.
♦She has loved ones actively pushing her to NOT investigate a murder.
♦She is trying to iron out her love life. To a cop who jails her best friend.
♦She is actively involved in the upgrade of two of her parents businesses which, for some reason - they decided to do during the X-mas holiday. (WTF?!?!?)
♦She is being stalked by a Santa.
♦Locked and terrorized in a recycling barn.
♦She is thrown out of a store for being rude and nosy.
♦She has a woman throwing ornaments at her car to the point she races off in a car to get away from her.
♦Same woman throws cupcakes at her and her friends business
♦She is shot at on a slay ride that has a runaway horse and ends up in a lake in the winter.
♦She goes to a gym TWICE to interview a suspect and is brutalized by a trainer and doesn't question that he is having her do unsafe activities her first time in a gym.
♦OH - and meanwhile she is a waitress, and helping her parents with their business and running her own jewelry making business.
And what about Scooter? Creepy stalker vibes. But lets be friends with him. I am sure that's fine.
Is Holly on cocaine? I mean. I am exhausted and in need of therapy from thinking of one of those things happening.
Definitely struggled with this one.
melanietalksbooks's review against another edition
4.0
The mystery was good but the mc was frustrating. At times it felt like she had pathological impulse control issues. I wouldn’t recommend it if you find the pretty girl goes to look for a noise with a flashlight while half dressed who is constantly rescued by big strong men cliche annoying. The princess being saved cliche wasn’t the most annoying and unrealistic part, it was the fact that a 27 year old doesn’t check her email constantly. I’m 27, and the only people like that my age probably live in remote areas or cults. She didn’t even know how to set up an email alert on her phone! Omg! She had her ringtone on like a monster! I got genuinely upset about this I actually screamed “out your phone on vibrate you dumb cow!” I couldn’t in good conscience give this book more than 3 stars, because someone with a clapping ringtone is probably capable of chemical warfare and I oblige by the Geneva Protocol. Otherwise it was fine to pass the time or a nice laugh.
debyik's review against another edition
4.0
Another great cozy mystery, this second book in the trilogy does not disappoint. There are a couple of things that are a little odd like what happened to the blooming romance of Holly and Ethan at the end of the first book? But, that didn't take away from the rest of the book. I enjoyed the new characters introduced, new friendships, and of course, you can't help but love Cookie and her goat Theodore!
ktcp92's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Cozy mystery, a fun read. It’s biggest flaws are that it’s very similar to the first book and the protagonist is annoyingly reckless at times.
chelseaisreading's review
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0