Title: 'Twas the Knife Before Christmas (A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery #2)
Author: Jacqueline Frost
Format: ebook
Source: NetGalley
From Goodreads: A Christmas delight, ’Twas the Knife Before Christmas will charm the stockings off readers of Joanne Fluke and Leslie Meier.
It’s out of the cupcake tin, into the fire for Holly White’s best friend, Caroline. Can Holly clear Caroline’s name in time to go caroling?
When a body turns up in the dumpster behind Caroline’s Cupcakes, Holly White is horrified to learn her best friend Caroline is the main suspect. Everyone in town, including Mistletoe, Maine’s sheriff, saw Caroline fighting with the victim on the night of his death. Worse, Caroline’s fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, a custom-designed marble rolling pin.
Now, just ten days before Christmas, Holly’s up to her jingle bells in holiday shenanigans and in desperate need of a miracle. Juggling extra shifts at her family’s Christmas tree farm and making enough gingerbread jewelry to satisfy the crowd is already more than she can handle—and now she has to find time to clear her best friend of murder. Add in her budding relationship with the sheriff, and run-ins with an ex-fiancé looking to make amends, and Holly’s ready to fly south until springtime.
But her Sherpa-lined mittens come off when Caroline is taken into custody. Can Holly wrap up the case in time for Christmas…even after she gains the true killer’s attention? Find out in ‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas, Jacqueline Frost’s second pine-scented Christmas Tree Farm mystery.
My Opinion: I was so excited to go back and visit Holly and her family and friends at the White family's Christmas tree farm in Mistletoe, Maine! A year has passed since the events of the first book of the series, and, as expected, another murder is about to occur, with a close friend of Holly's, Caroline of Caroline's Cupcakes, as the main suspect. Caroline had had a rather public argument with her date at a benefit dinner (he couldn't keep his hands to himself), and lo and behold, he shows up dead in a giant bowl of mints at the annual tree lighting ceremony, stabbed with one of Caroline's knives!! It's up to Holly to make sure that her friend gets a fair shake when all of the evidence points right to her.
I am so in love with the descriptions of this amazing Christmas town and all of the holiday themed events that are held up at the White family's Reindeer Games Christmas Tree Farm! I feel like I'm right there building snowmen, sledding blind folded, and riding sleighs through the tree farm (although I could do without being shot at!). The characters are all very well written, so much so that you feel like they are your friends and family, as well as Holly's. The setting was described in delicious detail, and the story unfolded at the perfect pace, jumping between sleuthing and celebrating the holiday with ease. The only complaint I have is with the romance (or lack thereof) between Holly and Evan, the local sheriff. It just seemed a bit "meh", but I'm hoping it will pick up a bit more in the next book in the series. When Holly and Evan are together, there is definite chemistry, and we do find out why Evan is a bit of an absentee love interest, but I hope they can find a way to spend more time together building on that chemistry.
All in all, I was very happy with the characters, world building, and pacing of this book, and only have a tiny complaint about the romance, which I'm certain will grow in the following books of the series. I'm giving this book an enthusiastic 4.5 stars.
I received a copy of this book free of charge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
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