Murder, She Wrote: a Little Yuletide Murder
Jessica Fletcher unwraps the deadly puzzle of who killed “Santa Claus” to ruin Cabot Cove’s Christmas cheer in this holiday mystery in the long-running series.
Jessica Fletcher is planning to spend a cozy holiday in Cabot Cove. But when Rory Brent—the man who played St. Nick at the small town’s yearly Christmas Eve celebration—is found shot to death on his farm, there will be no peace on earth until his killer is found. Snooping into Cabot Cove’s past for a motive, Jessica is determined to deliver the killer before Christmas. The trouble is, the next sound she hears this silent night may be a scream—her own...
Jessica Fletcher is planning to spend a cozy holiday in Cabot Cove. But when Rory Brent—the man who played St. Nick at the small town’s yearly Christmas Eve celebration—is found shot to death on his farm, there will be no peace on earth until his killer is found. Snooping into Cabot Cove’s past for a motive, Jessica is determined to deliver the killer before Christmas. The trouble is, the next sound she hears this silent night may be a scream—her own...
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Community Reviews
At this juncture, I've maybe read 10 or 11 of these books, and this one might be my least favourite.
It is always lovely to go back to Cabot Cove, see familiar characters that we all like or even love. But, I'll say that, without me being a fan of the TV show, I would have stopped reading this one for a number of reasons ; the main ones being :
- Everything about the plot is repeated again and again. You have pages upon pages dedicated to the same information being shared between different characters over and over again. And, if you didn't catch it the first time, it will be repeated down the line at least 5 more times. Heck, you even have them being written down on a list by Jessica. I would have preferred the writer to loose this redundancy and focus those pages on Jessica snooping a bit more. I even think that some sentences were copy-pasted at some point, if I recall correctly. I mean, the exact same sentences.
- The mystery is pretty predictable. The big twist about a young character is very obvious, even though the writer makes you wait for the bomb to be dropped. Which, on itself, is an interesting choice of writing, but not when the twist can be seen from miles away.
-The characters are pretty much one dimensional. Sometimes, their description is offensive ( to women and men I must add). The fact that it was necessary for "Jessica" to describe AGAIN Mary's arm as buffy when she touches her, or that said woman took all the entry way with her body when she answers to her door. We get it she's a huge woman, you established that already 20 times before. Even her husband is a caricature of an old farmer man. If you would have told me that his name was Scrooge Mcfarmland I would have believed you.
- At the end, the way some characters act doesn't make sense :
***Mild Spoiler***
I'm sorry but " Of course we would love to spend Christmas eve with you, even though you are involved in the incarceration of..." is bunkers.
*** End of spoiler***
- Also, Jessica being Santa Claus at the end is also ridiculous. Not because she's a woman, but because it felt like an attempt from the writer to be "progressive", as if it was his idea of what feminism stands for. Plus, there is literally the female version of Santa Clause, Mrs.Claus. She could have been that. It was weird.
But, it is comfort reading, almost a guilty pleasure. I enjoy the fact we're back in Maine. I loved the scenery. You really feel like you're in a living town, with people buzzing around. Maybe, the TV show helps you to see that, but it is a feat on its own.
And, finally, I might have an unpopular opinion here, but the fact that the mystery is not directly related to the hollidays feels fresh somehow ( beside the "Santa Claus has been shot dead" trope ). It would have felt very gimmick-y at this point. Chrismas is used here as a temporality tool rather than being at the core of the mystery, and I enjoyed that.
Finally, I liked some of the characters here, Jessica is always enjoyable. Thus, why 2.5 stars ( rounded down)
At best, it was "Meh"
It is always lovely to go back to Cabot Cove, see familiar characters that we all like or even love. But, I'll say that, without me being a fan of the TV show, I would have stopped reading this one for a number of reasons ; the main ones being :
- Everything about the plot is repeated again and again. You have pages upon pages dedicated to the same information being shared between different characters over and over again. And, if you didn't catch it the first time, it will be repeated down the line at least 5 more times. Heck, you even have them being written down on a list by Jessica. I would have preferred the writer to loose this redundancy and focus those pages on Jessica snooping a bit more. I even think that some sentences were copy-pasted at some point, if I recall correctly. I mean, the exact same sentences.
- The mystery is pretty predictable. The big twist about a young character is very obvious, even though the writer makes you wait for the bomb to be dropped. Which, on itself, is an interesting choice of writing, but not when the twist can be seen from miles away.
-The characters are pretty much one dimensional. Sometimes, their description is offensive ( to women and men I must add). The fact that it was necessary for "Jessica" to describe AGAIN Mary's arm as buffy when she touches her, or that said woman took all the entry way with her body when she answers to her door. We get it she's a huge woman, you established that already 20 times before. Even her husband is a caricature of an old farmer man. If you would have told me that his name was Scrooge Mcfarmland I would have believed you.
- At the end, the way some characters act doesn't make sense :
***Mild Spoiler***
I'm sorry but " Of course we would love to spend Christmas eve with you, even though you are involved in the incarceration of..." is bunkers.
*** End of spoiler***
- Also, Jessica being Santa Claus at the end is also ridiculous. Not because she's a woman, but because it felt like an attempt from the writer to be "progressive", as if it was his idea of what feminism stands for. Plus, there is literally the female version of Santa Clause, Mrs.Claus. She could have been that. It was weird.
But, it is comfort reading, almost a guilty pleasure. I enjoy the fact we're back in Maine. I loved the scenery. You really feel like you're in a living town, with people buzzing around. Maybe, the TV show helps you to see that, but it is a feat on its own.
And, finally, I might have an unpopular opinion here, but the fact that the mystery is not directly related to the hollidays feels fresh somehow ( beside the "Santa Claus has been shot dead" trope ). It would have felt very gimmick-y at this point. Chrismas is used here as a temporality tool rather than being at the core of the mystery, and I enjoyed that.
Finally, I liked some of the characters here, Jessica is always enjoyable. Thus, why 2.5 stars ( rounded down)
At best, it was "Meh"
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