Stalking Around the Christmas Tree (Christmas Tree Farm Mystery #4) by Jacqueline Frost #bookreview #mystery

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Title: Stalking Around the Christmas Tree

Author:  Jacqueline Frost

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books 

Publication Date: October 17, 2023

Page Count:  282

My rating: 4 stars

About the book:

Tis the season to solve a murder—and innkeeper Holly White knows she’ll have to make her list and check it twice if she wants to catch the killer in the 4th Christmas Tree Farm mystery from bestselling author Jacqueline Frost.

For inn keeper Holly White, Christmas time in Mistletoe, Maine, is the ultimate holiday gift. Business at the Reindeer Games Inn is booming, her wedding to Sheriff Evan Gray is nearly here, and the annual parade is about to begin. The town is lucky to have another gift this year, with the state’s ballet company staying for several performances of The Nutcracker. But disaster strikes when Tiffany, the lead ballerina, shows up dead on a float during the parade, the Rat King’s mask nearby. Holly will have to spruce up her sleuthing skills if she wants to catch the killer before Christmas—and her wedding day.

Immediately, Holly discovers that Tiffany had more than a few secrets. She finds out that the star of the show had a super fan that no one knows anything about. And the show’s understudy slips some other intriguing information Holly’s way: not only was Tiffany secretly seeing someone romantically, but there seems to be more than one rat in this company. When Holly discovers a secret passage leading to Tiffany’s dressing room, with footprints leading out; she wonders if this is evidence of a secret lover—or a stalking killer.

With an impending snowstorm and the ballet company on the way out of town, Holly must act quickly if she wants to find the person responsible for this terrible murder. Will she be able to save Christmas—or will her investigation turn cold like the weather?

Stalking Around the Christmas Tree by Jacqueline Frost is the fourth book of the cozy A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery series. Just like most cozy mystery series each book of the A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery series has it’s own mystery to be solved within so they can be understood as a standalone or read in any order if choosing to do so. However, there is some character development that is carried over from book to book for those that read the series from the beginning.

In the first book of the series Holly White had returned back home to her parents Christmas Tree farm in Mistletoe, Maine after her fiance had broken up with her two weeks before their wedding. After jumping in and helping her parents to take her mind off of her troubles Holly had begun to feel at home again and decided to stay in Mistletoe, Maine getting involved int he family business, Reindeer Games Christmas Tree Farm by opening up a festive bed and breakfast.

Holly is now really settled into her life in Mistletoe and business at the Reindeer Games Inn is booming and Holly’s relationship with Sheriff Evan Gray is also heading to the next level with their upcoming wedding. Now though things are festive all around in Mistletoe with the annual parade taking place but things take a horrible turn when the lead ballerina in The Nutcracker is found murdered upon one of the parade floats. Holly can’t help but try to help solve the murder and bring peace and joy back to Mistletoe once again.

The A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery series is another cozy series that I have been following since the very beginning and enjoy returning to each year. Being one that like to cross over genres I could help but be intrigued in a Christmas cozy series to mix in with my Christmas romance reads. This one is right up my alley with quirky characters and a lovely setting and as always I found another fun mystery in this third edition of the series. Definitely one I’d like to come back to again and again.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Jacqueline Frost is a mystery-loving pet enthusiast who hopes to make readers smile. She lives in rural Ohio with her husband and three spunky children. Jacqueline is a member of the International Thriller Writers (ITW) and Sisters in Crime (SinC).