Murder Trims the Tree: Christmas Novella

Gertie Johnson: Yooper Mysteries #4.5

by Deb Baker

Yooper Mystery Short, Murder Trims the Tree From National Bestselling Author, Deb Baker When Gertie and her cohorts decide to do their court-ordered community service at the local assisted living home during the Christmas season, they get more than they (plea) bargained for. "A hoot with a heart." Cozy Library "A delight to read. In addition to the engaging mystery, it's a wonderful story of the love of family and friends.” Mysterious Review "One of the most memorable heroines in recent crime fiction." Lansing State Journal

Genres: Mystery, Christmas, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Novella, Holiday, Humor

43 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 25, 2011

About the author

Bestselling and award-winning author Deb Baker writes the hilarious Gertie Johnson mysteries, set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A native Yooper, she brings humor, heart, and a touch of sass to everything she writes.

Her work also includes the Gretchen Birch mystery series, Wisconsin beekeeping mysteries, and the Scottish Highlands mysteries written as Hannah Reed.

Now living in sunny Florida, Deb enjoys gardening, storytelling, and the company of her cat, Bo.

Reviews

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

How would you prefer to spend Christmas, in jail or doing community service? Gertie and her group of investigators, The Trouble Busters, naturally chose to do community service. The Trouble Busters, possibly considered to be The Trouble Makers by the judge, is a group of three "older" women who have been charged with obstructing justice. Living with her 92 year old mother-in-law, Gertie has a secret motive for suggesting they do their time at the assisted living home in Trenary, in the Michigan Upper Peninsula. She is hoping Grandma, her late husband's mother, will like it so much she will elect to move there, especially since an old boy-friend Earl is there, so she has included in her group of forced volunteers her thorn-in-the-side mother-in-law, and Gertie's companion dog Fred, a German Shepherd. An ex-police dog, he is easily the most capable member of the investigators.

What they don't realize until already committed to volunteering there, is that Earl is a joker with a nasty bent. Being served "chocolate" candies that turn out to have a distinct odour that he "made" himself, it doesn't take long to decide this choice was not particularly a good idea. Unfortunately for this zany group, they are stranded there when they are cut off from escape by a huge snowstorm. The staff takes advantage of the new arrivals to take a day off, leaving them almost solely responsible for the residents and under the watch of the intolerable head of the facility, Nurse Shrank, a seriously scary thought.

With a mixed bag of equally zany residents including a former mailman deathly afraid of dogs, and Nurse Shrank, a nightmare waiting to happen, the fun begins. When Gertie discovers a body in the basement she knows this definitely was a bad idea. With the phone lines down and a raging snowstorm isolating them, they are stuck with whatever is going on. Definitely not where anyone wants to spend Christmas! Especially when almost everyone falls into a deep sleep after lunch, including the staff and Fred. Deb Baker has concocted a very unusual and funny holiday mystery with her group of protagonists. This story can be read quickly and the antics of the characters will entertain. How the inmates of the assisted living pull off their stunts as well as cotton on to what is going on that shouldn't be at Applegate, better known as Hellsgate by Gertie, is quirky yet intelligent. I enjoyed this romp of a mystery and the "volunteer" group. I must admit to the fact that this is my first, but not my last, visit to Gertie Johnson's life.

[M-J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast read - okay story, but plot a little silly! characters lacked reality.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining holiday listening 🎶🔰

Another will written murder mystery family and friends relationships adventure thriller short story by Deb Baker (A Gertie Johnson Murder Mystery). Gertie Johnson and fellow investigators must do public service at a senior center. It all goes bad 👎 when all but her are drugged but Gertie solves the mystery. I would recommend this novella to anyone looking for a quick Christmas read. Enjoy the adventure of reading or listening to books 📚. 2022 👒😤😡
I read or listened to my first Del Baker mystery in 2019 and enjoy it very much. With kindle unlimited they are free too a point. Happy Holidays

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing mystery!

Gertie and her gang along with Fred, the retired police dog, went to the nursing home to do their community service. It started to snow with lots of wind. The majority of the staff left leaving the charge nurse and two aides behind. Gertie and her gang got snowed in and could not leave. Strange things began to happen. Be sure to read this book to find out what happened! Happy reading! ☺️

[Carole Jarvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deb Baker has a wicked sense of humor! Gertie and her senior investigative crew are quirky and funny, as are the assisted living residents. The dialogue is fast moving and witty, with a few laugh-out-loud scenes. Gertie and her retired police dog are actually pretty perceptive. I love how the team resolves a potentially dangerous situation - a suspected victim of murder, the killer undoubtedly among them, and no outside communication due to a snow storm. An entertaining read, for sure.

[Linda Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A group of Senior Citizen Sleuths and a humorous mystery

Bartow and her buddies go to an assisted living facility to fulfill their community service from a previous mystery complication. They are attempting to help the residents when Gerttie discovers a body. A funny mystery with a surprise ending.

[Aj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, fun and entertaining

Keeps you guessing up to the end. I enjoyed the mystery and lighthearted tale. including a cute romantic flavor. Merry Christmas😉

[Tammi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute Holiday mystery story. I will have to look at others by this author

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and fun

[chrisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a quick read. I haven't read anything else in the series, and I'm not sure I will based on this introduction to the characters. The novella was fine but nothing really intrigued me.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and full of love. And laughter.

[Mariana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Que caótico

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our favorite investigator team, The Trouble Busters, led by Gertie Johnson has been assigned community service for their previous misdeeds. Gertie figures that most, if not all, of the hours can be done at one time at he Applegate Senior Living Center.

The Director of Nursing, (DON) takes an instant dislike to the ladies and threatens to have them removed. Meanwhile the patients seem to be an odd group and something hits, Kitty (a fellow investigator,) wrong.

The nurse disappears and Gertie decides to do some quiet investigating of her own. Off we go searching the facility and finding some very uncomfortable scenarios. Meanwhile, the patients had me laughing with some of their antics.

Drugged fruit cakes, medicines not locked up properly, missing staff and more become apparent to Gertie and the ladies.

Is the culprit the D.O.N., or the patients, or both?

This was one entertaining tale fit for the holidays or any day.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gertie Johnson and her cohorts have to perform community service because of their obstruction of justice conviction, and they choose a local nursing home for the venue. Gertie takes her 90 something, cantankerous mother-in-law along with the hope that she might like the place well enough to move there and get out of Gertie's hair. The day they appear there, they end up getting snowed in by a December blizzard. In addition to the usual characters, we now have 7 assisted living patients and one very cranky nurse. And, as Gertie soon realizes, something is very wrong in the facility. Together with Kitty and Cora Mae, the Trouble Busters have their hands full trying to figure out and deal with some unbelievable plot twists and other outrageous shenanigans.
Expect to laugh out loud!

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, this series is pretty good. Gertie and gang do community service at a small assisted living home where most of the folks appear to need more than a bit of assistance as they are wheelchair bound. That, however, doesn't keep the residents from mischief as Gertie finds out when her friends are suddenly tired after eating lunch.

Gertie has an ulterior motive in doing their community service at the home. Grandma, like usual, gets on her last nerve and she'd like to find a place for her.

[Edel Waugh Salisbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gertie and her pals are doing community service at the assisted living community . Seems a fairly easy sentence but they get alot more then they bargained for as not everyone is as they seem there. This is a lovely short novel.. perfect for any old time but esp christmas, it is cute and very funny and I hope next year this talented authur will have another christmas novella out as it is just what you need to bring a smile to your face.Go Read and enjoy !!!!

[Skeeter Jorgensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murder Trims the Tree (A Gertie Johnson Christmas Novella) This was a great cozy mystery, I like Gertie Johnson and her troup. Also it is set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which makes it ever better, even has a little yooper

When Gertie and her cohorts decide to do their court-ordered community service at the local assisted living home during the Christmas season, they get more than they (plea) bargained for. talk.

[Mascanlon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a novella which made for good airplane reading.."A hoot with a heart" says the Cozy Library and I agree. The group of 60ish friends in the Upper Peninsula get into more trouble than any group of middle school kids. But in the end they sort out the good guys from bad and manage to annoy Gertie's law enforcement son to boot.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a joy to read! I have read all of the Gertie books and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of them! And, what a surprise as to what goes on in an assisted living home! With surprises, twists and turns every where and never leaving out a sense of humor would recommend this to everyone!

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first I've read of this series and I enjoyed it. It made me laugh and had a nice mystery. I plan to look into the series.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, fun holiday themed mystery.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Gertie and her cohorts. Have read the entire series even though I am what Gertie would call a troll (from the lower peninsula).

[Sue Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Christmas read. Loved the ending!!! This was an easy and quick read. Gertie and her bunch of course got themselves in trouble again.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable addition to the Gertie series - just long enough for that treadmill workout. Loved it!

[Jason Cross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story but it was way too short. Right when the action begins, it comes to an end. Nice easy read anyway.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very short little read, so know that going in. I'd probably give is a 3.5 if I could. It packs a full storyline into 30-some pages so it's quick! Fun characters though.

[Nathasha Alvarez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I prefer writers who write in the present tense. The backstory felt too forced. I didn't feel as if I had been a part of a story. Not feeling like reading another one of her novels.

[Mahree Moyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good book by Baker. I love her humor, the characters are alive and colorful and the storyline that keeps you reading. I recommend all her books for a light and fun read.

[Bennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book series!!!

[Dorothy M Goodness · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun to read

A delightful holiday book. Good for some chuckles. This very senior citizen enjoyed reading a book that poked fun at ourselves.