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A review by impybelle
Christmas Sweets by Laura Levine, Leslie Meier, Joanne Fluke
3.0
I gather each of these was previously published elsewhere but the only one I remember reading before was Leslie Meier's "The Christmas Thief."
I'm not sure if it's simply because I'm no longer as enamored of the Hannah books as I used to be, or if this one really is just kind of flat, but the Joanne Fluke offering "The 12 Desserts of Christmas" didn't do as much for me as I was expecting it to. It's a Hannah mystery that didn't really need to be one, as she could've easily just popped up maybe twice and had Julie solve her own mystery. As I'm sick and grumpy, I wondered who in their right mind would drive out to a boarding school (one I swear I never heard of before or since, given that this was published before Ross) pretty much every day in the lead up to Christmas? I get that cookies and sweets are usually better the day of and all, but given that this is a big order, allowances could've been made. And the boys should have absolutely been punished for what they did instead of getting off on a technicality so that they didn't have to truly lose the bet. Oof.
I still remember thinking Elizabeth Stone was being set up to maybe take over for her mother in the sleuthing department, at least in a spinoff capacity, when she went to work for the Cavendish Hotels... and I'm still disappointed that this never came to pass. Elizabeth here is kind and goodhearted without being much of a pushover, and still has enough sense to realize that the rich aren't better, they just have more money. I enjoyed re-reading The Christmas Thief and I still think it holds up pretty well. Which is good because I think it's the longest of the trio.
Nightmare on Elf Street by Laura Levine is a fun story that sends Jaine into elf hell in the desperate hope of getting another gig at the end of her stint in hell. Naturally a body crops up and Jaine needs to prove that she wasn't the guilty party...even though thanks to Prozac, she looks pretty bad. I do love Prozac and that's probably what's giving this collection an extra star.
I'm not sure if it's simply because I'm no longer as enamored of the Hannah books as I used to be, or if this one really is just kind of flat, but the Joanne Fluke offering "The 12 Desserts of Christmas" didn't do as much for me as I was expecting it to. It's a Hannah mystery that didn't really need to be one, as she could've easily just popped up maybe twice and had Julie solve her own mystery. As I'm sick and grumpy, I wondered who in their right mind would drive out to a boarding school (one I swear I never heard of before or since, given that this was published before Ross) pretty much every day in the lead up to Christmas? I get that cookies and sweets are usually better the day of and all, but given that this is a big order, allowances could've been made. And the boys should have absolutely been punished for what they did instead of getting off on a technicality so that they didn't have to truly lose the bet. Oof.
I still remember thinking Elizabeth Stone was being set up to maybe take over for her mother in the sleuthing department, at least in a spinoff capacity, when she went to work for the Cavendish Hotels... and I'm still disappointed that this never came to pass. Elizabeth here is kind and goodhearted without being much of a pushover, and still has enough sense to realize that the rich aren't better, they just have more money. I enjoyed re-reading The Christmas Thief and I still think it holds up pretty well. Which is good because I think it's the longest of the trio.
Nightmare on Elf Street by Laura Levine is a fun story that sends Jaine into elf hell in the desperate hope of getting another gig at the end of her stint in hell. Naturally a body crops up and Jaine needs to prove that she wasn't the guilty party...even though thanks to Prozac, she looks pretty bad. I do love Prozac and that's probably what's giving this collection an extra star.