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What could be
more Christmas-y than family and friends gathered together, lots of food, a local
production of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol...and murder?
As
if things with the Byerly, North Carolina production of the Dickens classic weren’t
hectic enough... With just days until show time, there’s a prankster on the loose in the
auditorium, and the cast is far from ready. So the director calls in her cousin’s
husband, an English professor, to take over—and Laura Fleming and her husband, Richard,
leave their home in Boston and rush to Byerly to help. But one day, during an especially
frustrating rehearsal, the main character leaves for a smoke break—and when one of the
volunteers goes to find him, she finds him dead.
Despite what the deputy
wants everyone to believe, Laura knows it wasn’t an accident—and she and her friend,
Junior, the town’s sheriff, are determined to find the killer. Unfortunately, the list
of people who could have killed Seth Murdstone is endless—because, though he seemed like
just a mild-mannered furniture manufacturer, Seth had plenty to hide. Suddenly, in the
midst of holiday cheer and showers for the baby that’s just months away, Laura finds
herself snooping through houses and questioning moonshiners and jilted lovers and trying
to stay out of the deputy’s way.
Mad as the Dickens is a light,
quick holiday read. It’s not especially involved or intense, but it’ll keep you turning
pages nevertheless, trying to figure out whodunit. The story is a little cliché, though
(complete with jilted lovers, family secrets, and illegitimate children), and the tone is
a bit cutesy at times. Kelner sometimes pushes the “down-home” feel too far for
comfort—with a character named Big Bill and Aunt Ruby Lee, a baby named Bitsy, lots of
fried chicken, and a few too many sentences that start with “Darned if I…” and “Heck if
I…” But if you’re looking for something quick and easy to read while on your trip over
the river and through the woods, and you can overlook the cutesy-ness, Mad as the
Dickens is a cute holiday mystery—and a pretty good way to pass the time.
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