Slay Bells and Satchels

Haley Randolph #4.5

by Dorothy Howell

The Holt’s Department Store’s Summer Santa Sale becomes a Christmas nightmare when Haley finds a murdered elf in the store’s giant toy bag. But is it her help with hot private detective Jack Bishop’s latest case that puts Haley on Santa’s “naughty” list?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Christmas, Fashion, Fiction

126 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 30, 2011

About the author

Dorothy Howell writes for two publishing houses, in two genres, under two names. She writes mysteries as Dorothy Howell historical romance novels under the pseudonym Judith Stacy.

Reviews

[Leila Pitchford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read two chapters

The main character may get better but in the first two chapters the reader is introduced to a 24 year old shallow, vapid and insipid woman. I stopped reading.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like these little novellas - very easy to pick up and read!

[Lisbeth Mizula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read! It took me a chapter to settle into Haley Randolph's extremely youthful attitude but then I was hooked and stayed onboard for a breezy spin through Haley's world. No deep, tedious literary metaphors to suffer through in every sentence (I love literary too but sometimes you just want to watch the balloon on the end of your string and eat cotton candy).

Now I want to start from the beginning in this series. I've already picked up the first, Handbags and Homicide. D. Howell is the closest I've come to finding a cozy mystery like Laura Levine's hilarious Jaine Austen mystery series. All light fun with murders that only kill off people so mean you can't help a quick smile when you hear the terrible news.

[mandyfujita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haley Randolph is at a dead end job at Holt's Department Store. Even if her boyfriend is one of the owners of the store chain, she still needs to clock in and do her work. The store is having a big Christmas sale in July and to motivate employees to sell more items, there is a children's charity contest that each store is competing for to win the grand prize. The store that Haley is in had lost most of their professional elves because of a dead elf that Haley found in the stockroom. Now everyone is blaming Haley for the store being in last place.

Haley is obsessed with designer handbags. She asks around and helps the police catch the killer. Fast read. Haley is funny with her obsession of handbags. I guess everyone is good at something.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from the author via a Goodreads Giveaway.

I don't have too much to say about this novel. Overall, not a terrible way to spend an afternoon (it won't take but a couple hours to read), but it wasn't really my cup of tea. I had a really hard time feeling anything for Haley, our protagonist - she struck me as shallow and inappropriate - although, really, none of the characters seemed to have a lot of force behind their personalities. Perhaps it's just one of those series you have to follow from the beginning...

[karen lynn sonsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slay bells & satchels

Slay bells & satchels

I wish I'd read the other reviews BEFORE buying this NOVELLA! I didn't realize it wasn't a full-length novel... I may not have paid the near-full price! I felt this story, especially the "mystery", was WEAK. Not up to typical Haley-standards! Sadly, I would not recommend this book. Try a full-length novel instead.

[Melodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK addition to the series, probably more a 2.5 star read. A Christmas novella that was originally available only as an e-book. Cute and worth a read if you like the series, but probably not worth the price.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun Haley story. She has the best luck of anyone, things always work out for her.

[Vedriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually I like Dorothy Howell's book, and this one was fine, but not as entertaining as the ones before.

[Regan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute quick addition to a fun series.

[Melissainau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haley Randolph is a guilty pleasure