The 12 Slays of Christmas by Abby L. Vandiver

The 12 Slays of Christmas Reviews

• 
  Joanne

  The 12 Slays of Christmas is a boxed set with books by a group of talented cozy mystery authors. There are twelve books and each of the books is written with a Christmas theme. As a bonus a nice variety of recipes are included.
  
  Abby L. Vandiver - Baby, it's Cold Outside Brigitt Van Buren is the proud owner of a new to her house that's large enough to hold events for her event planning business she started after retirement. Before a body pops out when the wall in the basement gives way due to a broken pipe. Bridgitt needs to get this mystery solved as she can't get her furnace fixed as the basement is now a crime scene. This is a fun story with strong characters and about hopes and dreams that can come true.
  
  Judith Lucci - The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year Kinzie Zimbro, a widowed medical examiner in rural Virginia is called to evaluate a bear mauled body found during a snow storm which doesn’t fit the clinical picture. Add in 4 golden rings and a true mystery ensues. This touching story that has a hint of the paranormal activity which compliments the story. Ms. Lucci wonderfully handles moving beyond grief after one has lost a loved one. Judith is a “new to me” author. I will be reading more of her books!
  
  Amy Vansant - Stollen Time is a Pineapple Port Novella. Alice Brower is ill so Mariska is selling Alice's fruit stollen for her at the annual bazaar. A report is released stating that Alice was found dead laying over one of her stollens at home. As a result, Charlotte has to retrieve all of the ones that had been sold in case the bread had been tampered with. Charlotte is determined to learn who disliked an elderly lady who was extremely ill, enough to tamper with her bread and kill her. A delightful short story from Pineapple Port, with a surprise ending. There is hope for the future!
  
  Colleen Mooney - Death by Rum Balls Brandy Alexander is an actuary researching fraudulent activity by evaluating patterns in online shopping and phone activity. She is also one of Julia's few friends. (Julia is far from a nice person.) When Julia's brother and new wife are poisoned, Brandy suspects the Julia was the probable target. This story grabs the readers attention quickly and maintains that hold! There is suspense and several twists in the plot. The whodunit is nicely presented. In real life people have to make choices. This story is no different, Brandy has to make a choice. Options!!
  
  Amy Reade - The Worst Noel This book was filled with humor which helps families cope when a loved one develops Alzheimer’s Disease. The characters are well-developed and the plot was tightly woven. Lilly Carlsen, Juniper Junction Jewels, owned by Lilly Carlsen, arrived at work and found the back door and the vault is open. Add to that a missing necklace and the dead body of Eden Bradley, the bain of other store owners existence. It is assumed Lilly is the guilty party. Will her good name be cleared before Christmas? Read this delightful tale to learn the rest of the story.
  
  Nell Goddin - The Case of the Curious Biscuit is a Christmas novella in Ms. Goddin’s Molly Sutton Mysteries series. It's not quite a cozy, but it’s fairly close to one. Molly, an American living in France, visits her extended family in Virginia for Christmas. Molly and her cousin, Alice, revisit memories of their childhood. The extended family is somewhat peculiar and dramatic, especially her “short-fused” Uncle Frank. Molly’s family vacation proceeds as “normal for her family until Uncle Frank Drops dead at during the Christmas dinner. Can Molly sort out the events before the local authorities arrest her Aunt? Molly stumbles on the solution to this mystery and it was fun getting there.
  
  Colleen Helme - Devil in a Black Suit This is a relatively fast paced, entertaining story. Ms. Helme is a new to me author and, honestly, I felt like not enough information was presented for me to know the characters, setting and history. It definitely may be part of, or a glimpse into a series, but wasn’t successful as a stand-alone story. Somewhat enjoyable, but incomplete. Fans of this author may fully enjoy this story as they know the series and can relate.
  
  Kim Hunt Harris - Frankincense, Gold and Murder is a a Trailer Park Princess Christmas Short Novella. This short story is firmly in the small-town quirky characters who get into bizarre situations. Fits the cozy mystery genre and delivers the requisite plot twists and laughs. I particularly appreciated the mix of Christian and secular Christmas traditions. The heroine and several other characters are Christians and reformed alcoholics. I found this story refreshing and uplifting.
  
  Larissa Reinhart - A View to a Chill Ms. Reinhart’s series feature two sleuths, Maize Albright and Cherry Tucker. In this story protagonists work together on a case of a missing girl to lessen the worries of her grandmother. Maize's search sends her to Halo, Georgia, Cherry’s hometown. Cherry is in bed with the flu and either sees (or hallucinates) a murder or an attempted murder across the street. Her high fever may have her seeing things. Mazie, with no backup, channels her old TV character to find the strength, and intelligence, to save them all. Adding to the mystery there was a bank robbery and Luke (Cherry's beau) was taken as hostage. This is a great addition to the anthology! Ms. Reinhart skillfully crossed over the two sleuths perfectly. I hope they join forces again!
  
  Cindy Bell - Christmas Chocolates and Crimes is a great Christmas addition to Ms. Bell’s Chocolate Centered Cozy Mystery Series. Ally Sweet of Blue River, owns Charlotte's Chocolate Heaven. Her Grandmother Charlotte, and a new hire, Nina, are helping makes chocolate candy for the Christmas rush. Charlette lives in Feely Lakes Retirement Community where her neighbors, Martin and Trudy, have extreme and loud decorations causing distress. Finding their decorations destroyed, Charlotte does a wellbeing check and finds Martin dead! Ally and Charlotte put their sleuthing skills to work to find the culprit. In the process they uncover numerous deeply held secrets within the community. Plenty of charming characters, a suspenseful plot, and the Spirit of Christmas resonate throughout. This one will be sure to keep you entertained from beginning to end!
  
  Summer Prescott - Home for the Holidays is a superbly crafted stand-alone story that will have you believing in miracles and restore faith in humanity. The perfect blend of well-developed characters, a tightly woven mystery and the Spirit of Christmas. I always look forward to new books from this talented, prolific author.
  
  Kathryn Dionne - Murder at the Holiday Bazaar Stevie Elliott, a traveling chef, is home with Milo, her sous chef to assist with food for a holiday bazaar. When the pastor of the church dies suddenly, the locals, who doesn't trust any “city” people, immediately blame Milo and the chicken he prepared for killing the pastor. Stevie's dad, the sheriff, controls the situation. He does have second thoughts, after he learns about Milo's past. He was expelled from cooking school after almost poisoning a panel of judges, and his daughter, with a Fugu fish. He now has Milo as his number one suspect. It's up to Stevie to clear her friends name. This story about standing up for justice, your friends and allowing individuals a second chance. Well done, touching story.
  
  Nell Goddin – The Case of the Curious Biscuit – This novella relates to the Molly Sutton Mystery series. Molly is home for Christmas visiting at the request of her cousin, Alice Spalding. Her cantankerous Uncle Frank is ornerier than ever. The flow of this story is jumbled making it difficult to follow. The reader can tell early on who the murder victim would be. The entire family is together for Christmas eve, so suspects abound. At times I felt lost in this story and would like to read one of the books in the series to see if this style is author specific or if the novella just wasn’t well organized.
  
  This collection is really a must-read for lovers of cozy mystery. It provides the opportunity to meet some new authors or read a new adventure of some characters you already know and love. The proceeds from this anthology are all being donated to animal welfare. So your purchase will, also, be supporting a great cause.
  
  I received a copy of this collection from one of the authors. I voluntarily read and wrote an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.
  
• 
  Robin Leslie Coxon

  
  A holiday collection of 10 novellas by 10 talented authors. While I didn’t get to read all ten, I did ready several of the collection. As a fan of Larissa Reinhart, I had to read her novella, A View to a Chill. A combination of two of her series, the Cherry Tucker Mysteries and Maize Albright Mysteries, this was hilarious but filled with many twists and turns. If you ever watched Moonlighting and I Love Lucy on television imagine them combined into one story. Once I began reading the first section in Larissa’s story, I couldn’t put it down until I finished.
  There are nine other sections in this book so if you are looking for a short read for this holiday season this is the book for you.
  
  
• 
  Dez Nemec

  A few of these were good, a few more were bad, and there were a LOT of typos. Overall, it was a 99 cent donation for a dozen stories. I'll live.
• 
  Sandy Bartles

  I have only read two of these stories so far, but I look forward to reading the others!
  
  THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS BISCUIT
  By Nell Goddin
  
  This was an interesting story, but the whole time I was reading it, I felt I was missing something. I have never read any of this author's books before, but it turns out the character of Molly has her own series, of which this is part of. After reading this novella, I am sure I would love to read the rest of the series. In this story, Molly, who lives in France, gets a call from her cousin Alice asking her to come home to the States to visit. Alice has a demanding father who no one likes. One day he keels over at breakfast. It was fun trying to find out who did him in among anyone who had ever met him.
  
  FRANKINCENSE, GOLD & MURDER
  Trailer Park Princess Cozy Mystery Novella
  By Kim Hunt Harris
  
  This is the first novella I have read in this series. I enjoyed the story, but found it to be sad. It had me sobbing by the end. It takes a good author to bring that out in a person.
• 
  Kristine

  This is a great collection of Cozy mysteries that center on the busy holiday season. I enjoyed the books in this collection very much, but my two favorites were from Summer Prescott and Larissa Reinhart.
  
  In Home For the Holidays by Summer Prescott readers are treated to a stand-alone story that pulls at heartstrings, and will have you believing in miracles. The story quickly pulled me in and kept me turning the pages. I look forward to reading more from this talented author.
  
  A View to a Chill by Larissa Reinhart sees Cherry Tucker and Maizie Albright team up to solve a crime. Fans of both series are in for a treat. This was such a fun and entertains book. I hope to see these two characters pair up again!
  
  A collection of stories worth reading!
  
  I received a copy of this collection from one of the authors, my review has been voluntarily submitted.
• 
  Karen

  10 GREAT COZY MYSTERIES TO EXCITE THE INNER SLEUTH. I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED ALL THE STORIES AND LAUGHED OUT LOUD THROUGH SOME. GET YOUR INNER DETECTIVE TO WORK THIS SEASON AND SOLVE THE MYSTERIES BEFORE THE AUTHORS DO. I GIVE THIS COLLECTION TEN SHINING STARS.
• 
  Shirley

  Having read all 12 of the books, I settled on giving this set 4 stars. A few of the books fell short, but overall I loved the collection and found a few new authors to add to my list. The set started off with a couple of books that I felt were a bit weak and had more editing errors than I would have liked, so I hesitated to continue. But, I'm glad I did. The overall formatting of the set was a bit distracting, also, with often no break between chapters, or large blank gaps within a chapter. On my Nook, some books were as short at 30 pages, others a long as 190+.
  
  It was an interesting mix of stories, but all revolved around the Christmas theme.
  
  All in all, I would recommend this boxed set, and I left a short review for each title individually.
• 
  Angie Boyter

  When I pay 99 cents for a fun collection of cozy mysteries I do not expect great literature, but when I abort on the first book because of the poor mechanics of the writing on page 2, do the same on page 1 of the next book, and then actually last all the way through Chapter 1 of the third HOPING that the writing quality will improve, perhaps I can be forgiven for deciding that the rest of the stories are probably no better and not worth my time. All three stories looked promising in terms of plot, which I would think would be the hard part. Perhaps a good second reader before publication could make a difference?
  I cannot understand the glowing reviews except by inferring that the readers who praised the book so highly never were taught by anyone like my 8th-grade English teacher!
• 
  Andrea Stoeckel

  I love Cosy Mysteries, and holiday cozies are often very entertaining, these 12 stories keep up with that tradition (and the cause they support is wonderful)
  
  The whole set is extremely entertaining. Some of my favorites in are:
  
  A View To A Chill by Larissa Reinhart
  Reinhart’s two sleuths,Maize Albright and Cherry Tucker sort of work together on a case of a missing girl for a worried grandmother. Maize's search sends her to Halo,Georgia, Cherry’s hometown. Down with the flu,Cherry is in bed ,and either sees (or hallucinates) a murder or at least an attempted murder across the street. However, her fever may have her seeing things, while Mazie, with no backup, channels her old TV character to find the strength, and cunning, to save them all. Not the most glorious way to spend Christmas Eve....
  
  Home For the Holidays by Summer Prescott
  Emmett Marshall, a homeless, deactivated marine from the Middle East, is living on the streets in his car while trying to find employment. Santa at the mall, his temporary job, finds him caught in an explosion where his not-so-jolly boss is killed as he manages to save the receptionist. He needs to clear his name, so everyone doesn’t think Santa’s a killer....
  
  
  Gold, Frankincense, and Murder by Kim Harris
  It's Christmas time in the local Trailer Park and the residents are getting in the spirit until Salem and Viv discover one’s been murdered. Everyone quickly blames who they consider the troublemaker in the Park. Salem knows he is innocent and begins investigating on her own. Discovering the real culprit won’t matter if she can’t save herself...
  
  These 12 authors need to be applauded for their tenacity in writing 12 new stories for the Holidays. Highly recommended 5 stars
• 
  Texas

  Kim Harris Hunt, Frankincense, Gold and Murder - A well written holiday story with all the love, joy, sadness and pain of the Christmas holidays. This story runs the gamut on emotions, from humor to deep sadness to desperation, keeping the reader glued to the pages. Another good story from Trailertopia and our favorite characters. Ms. Hunt tells a good story.
  
  Judith Lucci, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year- I've enjoyed this author's Crescent City Series and now this story. Well written, heartwarming story with a set of interesting, charming characters. You're expecting a murder, but it's not the death usually found in crime dramas. It's a real Christmas story, the real meaning of Christmas. Said too much already.
  
  Nell Goddin, The Case of the Curious Biscuit - A quickly read entertaining cozy mystery that is well written with an interesting plot and characters. You've got to cheer that if there had to be a murder, the right person was done in. This is my first story by this author.
  
  Kathryn Dionne, Murder at the Holiday Bazaar - This is the second book in the Elliott Epicurean series and my first book by this author. Well written with an interesting plot full of murder suspects. There's enough development of the characters to keep the readers interest. My only question: Did the sheriff do any investigating?
• 
  Leslie

  Christmas Chocolate and Crimes by Author Cindy Bell. Is about Charlotte, a chocolate shop owner that lives in a retirement community. She joins a craft class to make gifts and not clutter. Returning home she hears an argument between Martin her neighbor and Victoria. She has to pass them to get to her apartment. She didn’t want to get involved. The argument was about playing Christmas music all day long. Her granddaughter Ally now manages the chocolate shop but Charlotte seems to check in often. Martin broke quiet hours past 10:00 PM with his Christmas music and Charlotte went to say something. She noticed all his decorations were strewn about. There was no answer but his door was unlocked. As she entered she found him stabbed dead on the floor. Charlotte became the suspect because of a recent incident. Her granddaughter is the sounding board for her to talk things through with and help her with internet researches. When Charlotte figures out who the murderer really was, she was in disbelief.
  
  I was given this story for an honest review
  
• 
  Claire Mc Partlin

  I only read one of these stories, which is the reason I bought the anthology in the first place, and that was Devil in a Black Suit by Colleen Helme. I love her Shelby Nichols series, and this was a short story from that series.
  
  As all short stories too short, and for a change was mostly about Ramos, who works for mob boss Joey Manetto as his right-hand man/hit-man. There was plenty going on to keep me entertained, as usual, with the FBI and the bad guys getting mixed up together in this story, plenty of action.
  
  I've read quite a few of the series so knew everyone mentioned, so it made it an easy read for me. I would highly recommend reading the series from the start though as it explains more and it's an extremely entertaining series about someone who can read minds after getting shot in a robbery. I really enjoy this series and always look forward to the next installment in the life of ditzy Shelby!
• 
  Sandra

  Christmas Chocolates and Crimes by Cindy Bell
  
  Charlotte and Abby own chocolate shop and they are super busy since it is only few days before Christmas. All is perfect until one of Charlotte’s neighbours get killed right after he had a misunderstanding with her. Why would anyone kill an old guy even though he constantly played christmas music and was a bit of a grouch? Since Charlotte found the body she is a perfect suspect, at least according to the sheriff so it’s up to her and Abby to find out what really happened. To make matters worse Luke is out of town so they have no help from the police. Who is the killer? Missing wife, old spurned partner, angry neighbor or somebody totally different? Well written cosy with the bit of slow start but once it got going really good story. A perfect Christmas read.
• 
  Eric J. Gates

  Christmas came with a slew of mystery novels in an anthology called ’The 12 Slays of Christmas’. A huge reading undertaking for the holiday season and whose proceeds will go to benefit a good cause too.
  
  The tales themselves are a mixed bunch of takes on Christmas themes, all involving some dastardly deed or other. Of the twelve different authors contributing the stories, two stood out for me. Amy Vansant’s “Stollen Time” provided a tidily written tale replete with red herrings galore and a cast of memorable characters. All in all a joy to read.
  
  The other story that proved to be the highlight of the collection for me was “The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, by crime thriller author Judith Lucci. The tale cleverly mixes an atmospheric murder mystery at Christmastime with wonderful overtones of ‘The X Files’ which made it so very different and original.
  
• 
  L.S.

  Considering the cause behind this, I appreciate the efforts of these authors to produce a box-set of cozies with the best titles ever. I have to hand it to them - the puns are brilliant!
  I've only read a few so far - and will update my rating if I feel it appropriate as I progress through the stories.
  Book 1 - Baby, it's cold outside - was a good mystery, although not always easy to read because of jumbled sentences, missing or extra words, and typos galore. As the first book in the series, it didn't encourage me to read on, but I'm glad I did.
  Book 2 -The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year was much stronger, an interesting mystery with a heart-warming message.
  Book 3 - Murder at the Holiday Bazaar - was a great cozy, a fun and enjoyable read.
• 
  S.R. Mallery

  ***** A Fun Ride!
  
  From a body popping out of a wall to a pastor suddenly dying; from a poisoned bizarre seller to an iffy chocolatier; from a Shakespeare actress’ brother killed to a missing girl case; from a homeless vet working as a Santa in a mall to an ongoing feud gone bad; from an innocent Christmas visit with dire consequences to a stolen necklace and murder, these delightful cozies make for great reading! If I had to pick a favorite, though, I would say it would be Judith Lucci’s, “The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year,” because of its powerful message of needing to move on from tragedy. A good set, indeed!
• 
  Christine Gevas

  A View to a Chill by Larissa Reinhart was amazing! I loved the bringing together of Cherry and Maizie in this book. Add a couple of Cherry’s relatives, a supposed murder by reindeer and a bank robbery. It was completely hilarious. A funny short adventure! The second I have read is from another of my favorites, Kim Hunt Harris, Frankincense, Gold and Murder. Another great short story by a wonderful author! I love the adventures of Salem and Viv! A Christmas celebration gone wrong, murder, Posada and a wayward donkey. Another laugh out loud short story!! I highly recommend this collection! I was given a copy of this collection for an honest review.
• 
  Sharkie

  So. I finally finished it. I've been reading this book since last year, damn it, and I FINALLY MADE IT.
  
  It was mediocre. There were good stories, there were terrible ones, and there were okay ones. The stories that were really action packed and constantly moving were by far my favourites, so kudos to them, but the others were just... meh.
  
  Also less animal neglect would've been nice. There were stories that made me genuinely mad, with animals being left without their owner paying any attention to them. Please just... Don't. Just don't.
  
  Anyway, yeah. I finally finished the damn things. It felt like forever.
• 
  RO G'ma

  I love reading anthologies because they often introduce me to “new-to-me” authors. The 12 Slays of Christmas is a fun read that contains twelve new (not previously published) Christmas-themed stories from some very talented authors. Murder, mayhem, mischief, and a touch of the paranormal are included in this collection. A couple of the stories aren’t what I expect in a cozy mystery, but overall I enjoyed reading all twelve of these Christmas-themed stories. Recipes are also provided by the authors.
• 
  Sandra

  Murder at the Holiday Bazaar by Kathryn Dionne
  
  This is a great southern style Christmas mystery. Chef Stevie and her sous chef Milo are in the little hometown in Mississippi baking at the holiday bazaar when local priest and family friend dies. At first thought to be natural death but it turns out not to be so. With the help from her father, local sheriff Stevie and Milo set out to discover who the real killer is and to save Milo from false accusation. Filled with southern charm and quirky characters, this Christmas story is a real holiday treat.
• 
  Paula

  This is a great way to get a taste of the Christmas spirit and discover new authors. A wonderful collection of short stories that are sure to make you laugh, cry, and do some amateur sleuthing. Don't miss out on Kim Hunt Harris's Frankincense, Gold, and Murder. It's another great addition to the Trailer Park Princess series. Also, check out The Case of the Curious Biscuit by Nell Goddin and Murder at the Holiday Bazaar by Kathryn Dionne. So grab your cup of cocoa and settle in for some wonderful stories.
• 
  Laura

  This is a great boxed set with some amazing authors. There are twelve books in this set and each of the books are written with a Christmas Theme and includes recipes. Each book was great and had a wonderful story which kept me reading way past my bedtime. They all have well developed characters are all very entertaining. Each of the books were full of surprises and I didn’t want them to end. If you are looking for a great boxed set then you need to get this one. I am looking forward to reading the other books by each of these great authors.
• 
  Hanna Novotny

  Enjoyable to read. Mainly cozy mystery stories. Some made me smile, one made me cry and one made me laugh out loud.
  
  Baby, it is cold outside is hilarious, I loved it. Imagine, you retire, buy yourself a house and as soon as you move in, the water pipe in the cellar breaks. On top of that the board that was attached to the wall, breaks and out comes all the water. And with the water a dead body. So much for retirement. The way this is written, made me laugh out loud.
  
  The most wonderful crime of the year is a sweet story.
  
  Home for the holidays made me cry.
  
• 
  Jeannie

  I really enjoyed this anthology with Holiday settings. My favorites were Larissa Reinhart's "A View To A Chill" Maize Albright and Cherry Tucker, Reinhart's sleuths from two of her series works together on this one. Well written and kept me interested from the beginning. I also enjoyed Summer Prescott's story, Home For the Holidays. Sweet and heartwarming. Really all of the stories are engaging and it is a great holiday read. I voluntarily reviewed a copy I received fro one of the authors.