A review by connorjdaley
The Christmas Night Murder by Lee Harris

mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is Christine Bennett mystery # 5, which naturally I’ve never heard of, so why not pick up a random one for Christmas. 

In all seriousness though, this actually does a great job of filling you in on needed information while not being an info dump. Nor does it feel like you’re lacking for not reading the others. I was pleasantly surprised. 

This series started in the nineties, and in today’s world would probably be marketed under ‘cozy’, which just seems to mean it lacks the “on screen” violence of most modern mystery/thrillers. The deaths are for the most part less gruesome or in this case, completely unknown until the very end, as the person is missing. 

It’s written well, and has a simple style that added to my enjoyability. It being included for free on audible also certainly helped, as I may not have picked it up otherwise being in the middle of a series and all, although I do like the cover a lot. 

Christine “Chris” Bennett almost became a nun, now she’s an amateur sleuth instead. Her husband is an NYPD officer, and tries to help, but she does the connecting of dots all on her own. So when one of her favorite priests goes missing on Christmas, she’s pulled back into a blend of her old and new worlds. 

Personally a 4/5*. Liked it, but was kind of light on the Christmas.