Shrouds of Holly

Pennyfoot Hotel #15

by Kate Kingsbury

A murder and a missing husband make for a humdrum Christmas for Cecily Sinclair Baxter in this Pennyfoot Hotel mystery.

While preparing the Pennyfoot Hotel for Christmas, Cecily Sinclair Baxter sends her husband and stable manager into the woods for some fresh boughs of holly. When their horse drawn carriage returns unmanned, it bears the holly—and the unwanted gift of a dead body.
 
Now Cecily is determined to solve the mystery and find her missing husband. After all, it’s a season of celebrating with friends and family, and Cecily means to reunite hers—even if a killer leads her in a merry measure...

Genres: Mystery, Christmas, Cozy Mystery, Holiday, Fiction, Cozy, Historical Fiction

296 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2007

About the author

Kate Kingsbury grew up in London, England, and at a very early age began telling stories to her school friends during the London Blitz of WW II while huddling in bomb shelters. Kate moved to the U.S. in the early sixties, and had passed her 50th birthday when she published her first book. Writing as Doreen Roberts, (her real name at the time) she published 26 romance novels for Harlequin/Silhouette. In 1991 her first Pennyfoot Hotel book was published and since then Kate has written 35 mysteries, including the Manor House mysteries, the Bellehaven House mysteries(written as Rebecca Kent) and the Raven's Nest mysteries, (written as Allison Kingsley.) Her new series, The Merry Ghost Inn Mysteries debuted in January, 2017 with Dead and Breakfast, featuring a B & B on the Oregon coast. She has one son, Regan, and lives with her husband, Bill, in the beautiful state of Oregon.

Reviews

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This holiday Pennyfoot Hotel mystery is the most dangerous and almost lethal one to Cecily Sinclair Baxter that I have read. Kate Kingsbury’s Shrouds of Holly (Pennyfoot Hotel #15) provides the reader with indoor and outdoor settings, Christmas at the Pennyfoot Hotel, of course, the disappearance of a major character, danger and injuries to some characters, inclusion of a group of people who are not occupants of the Pennyfoot Hotel, and a ride in a new motorcar. The author keeps the reader and all the characters extremely busy but not just in reference to presenting Christmas at the hotel. Lots of ‘detecting’ for Cecily but for the reader as well. I had a few worries but great fun with this mystery. 5 stars.

[Kasia Ch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always read one Pennyfoot Christmas Mystery each year during the Christmas season. The stories are heart-warming, cosy and easy to read. This particular book’s plot wasn’t too engaging to me but it was a pleasant read anyway.

[Art (aka Whistler Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

As one of my first forays into cozy mysteries, this author remains one of my favorites. With her constantly evolving characters and well-realized environs, including recognition of women's rights and intelligence being far in the future, the "trials of Cecily" are believably delivered. I've binged chunks of this series at least twice and gotten to 15 of 20-something... the price per unit just keeps going up the farther I get into it.
I guess I'll have to proceed in small bursts...

♪┏(°.°)┛

[Ronna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love cozy mysteries and I love Christmas books. This fun Edwardian mystery revolves around the decorating of the Pennyfoot Hotel. A large part of decorating in the Edwardian period in England revolved around lots and lots of holly bows. While Cecily Sinclair gets ready for the hotel celebrations at the inn her husband, Baxter, and stable manager, Samuel, went into the woods to gather the holly. But when time passes and the cart comes home without Baxter or Samuel, but with a dead body, the mystery begins with Cecily and Samuel in pursuit of answers.

The characters in this book keep the period as a large part of this story with their various squabbles, relationships, and house duties. Especially enjoyed a servant's first ride in a motor car, and the Colonel who takes advantage of every opportunity to have a drink and run on and on about his days in the Boar Wars. The Christmas events tell of Edwardian Christmas customs and different foods. A great fun book for the season.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This delightful English cozy, mystery made me feel as though I was in the middle of a Miss Marple mystery. The author is a supposed descendent of Agatha Christie and definitely does her ancestor justice as a writer of cozy mysteries. Will definitely be reading more.

[Marilyn Fontane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shrouds of Holly by Kate Kingsbury is one of her many annual Christmas cozies. As usual there is a lot of Christmas spirit created by the descriptions of an Edwardian Christmas at a sea side resort, the Pennyfoot Hotel run by Cecily Baxter. In this one Cecily's husband and their stable manager go out to pick holly for decorations, but the horse and wagon come back with neither Bax nor Samuel, but an unknown dead man. Actually Baxter was saved by gypsies and returns mid-novel, but the murder is not solved and who is to blame for the several accidents is not known. Because local law enforcement is poor, Cecily tries to solve the case(s) by herself so that the gypsies are not blamed and the killer left alone. However her attempts in this particular novel are a bit too far-fetched. She always goes out of her way to put herself in danger, but not usually this much.
On the other hand, the plot is interesting with enough twists and sub-plots to make it difficult to guess the guilty party beforehand--better than most at that. There is a lot of suspense, not only because of Cecily's stupid investigations, but concerning other characters as well. Christmas celebrations are perhaps not as thoroughly part of the plot, but they do fit in. It is an intriguing story and fits nicely with the season. Madeline (one of Cecily's closest friends and a bit of a witch) is closer to committing to her Dr., and even Gertie (one of the most prominent maids) is finding another interesting potential partner. The lives of the returning characters is interesting and helps to push the reader to continue the series. I have read this one (as well as others) completely out of order, but find them all worth the read.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this one! This is the second book I’ve read in the series (out of order) and I couldn’t put this one down. It was action packed, interesting, and I enjoyed the character development. Can’t wait to read more!

[Jean Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another interesting story set at Christmas time. I was never able to figure out "whodunit" so was surprised at the end.

[Paula Schumm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice little Christmas murder mystery. Recommended.

[Maryann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aha!! This episode was a bit more intriguing than the other recent ones I read. More interesting twists and turns but, of course, Mrs. Baxter solves the murder again.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Will definitely read more Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries!

[Dallas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love this lot.. that I do :)

[Danni · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series and re-read every holiday season. For a full review - check out my blog - Blind Date with a Book at Virginia-Gruver.com

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a nice little Christmas mystery. It involved a mysterious death, injuries and a persistent woman bent on learning what happened.

[Drebbles · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Christmastime and Cecily Sinclair Baxter is busy decorating the Pennyfoot Hotel for the holidays. She enlists the help of her husband Baxter and stable manager Samuel and sends them out to collect some holly. Much to her dismay, Baxter and Samuel don't return, but their horse and carriage does - with a dead body inside. Samuel soon turns up but Baxter is still missing and Samuel can't remember what happened. Cecily is determined to find Baxter, no matter what. Not only that, but she wants to find the killer of the body in the carriage. She's convinced she knows who the killer is but the local constable has his own suspicions and won't listen to her theory. Cecily is determined to bring the killer to justice even if it means putting her own life in danger.

"Shrouds of Holly" is another nice entry in Kate Kingsbury's annual Holiday Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery series. The series is set in the early 1900's and Kingsbury does a good job of capturing that period of time (maid Gertie's longing to ride in a motor car is a perfect example). All the favorite Pennyfoot characters are here: housekeeper Mrs. Chubb; Gertie; "French" chef Michel; Cecily's friends Madeline Pengrath and Phoebe Fortescue (and her husband, Colonel Fortescue); Kenneth Prestwick; Samuel; Pansy; and of course Cecily and Baxter. There is a nice little subplot involving Gertie that made me smile and I'm looking forward to the next book to see what happens. There is a nice sense of humor throughout the book especially involving Michel who loses his French accent when excited, Colonel Fortescue, and Phoebe's annual Christmas Revue that always ends in a hilarious disaster. The mystery is well plotted and well written and the solution not as easy as it first appears. Without giving away the ending, I want to say I chuckled when the identity of the killer was revealed - kudos to Ms. Kingsbury for the solution.

I always enjoy my visits to the Pennyfoot Hotel, I just wish it was more than once a year.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, ok, this is the last Christmasy book I read over the holidays. I promise.

Pretty good! Like all the Pennyfoot mysteries, I keep my expectations fairly mid-low, and read it for the goofiness and over-the-top Holidays of Yore bits.

If I remember right I liked it better than the one I read last year (oh wait - I read two last year hmmm I liked it better than at least one of those...) and about as much as the first one. I am not reading these in order, and they're all pretty similar so they get a bit mixed up for me.

Cons - the "feminism" is wedged in with a crowbar, completely unnatural and put in, I suspect, just to make it more appealing to modernity (doesn't quite work for me); Cecily is more annoying than most of the background characters: sometimes it seems like all she ever does is moon about Baxter and at the same time, despite her supposed feminism, is constantly concealing her true self from him; Michel's fake accent - why??

Pros - the setting is lovely, the mystery is usually at least fairly engaging, there are always funny bits, Madeline is fun, all the books take place at Christmas and there are always several little story strands going on so that you don't get completely bogged down with Cecily's storyline.

[C. John Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The length of time it took to read is not due to the quality of the book but to the fact it took so long for me to get it back out to finish. The basic premise is that of two men go out in a sleigh to collect greenery for decorations. Awhile later the sleigh comes back with a dead body, which is neither of the two who went out. And thus the game is afoot. The fact that one of the missing men is Hugnh Baxter, husband of our intrepid sleuth, lends a sense of urgency to the situation. There is more than one possible suspect as well so we do have to do our homework, so to speak. I admit the resolution surprised me a bit, but on looking back there was at least one clue early on. The rest of our regular cast are here as well, with developments in some of their lives as well. There is also the occasional referenc to events of the past. Thus we realize this a community of people who have a common history, rather than a group gathered together for a one-off tale, and who are strangers to each other. enjoy this series and hopt read other volumes.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cicely Baxter, protagonist of the series, is too adventurous for a woman circa 1910 England. In this book she investigates the disappearance of her husband during a holly-gathering trip and the appearance of a dead body which appears at the front entrance of her hotel in the English countryside. She seems more interested in finding the killer than in searching for her husband presumably injured and lost in the woods for several days. Only in a cozy mystery does finding a supposed murderer take precedence over looking for your lost husband. She gets into a lot of cliffhangers at the expense of her stable master and co-sleuth, Samuel, and her advice to him whenever they get into trouble is "don't worry, you'll think of something." Interesting story line, with likable characters, but Cecily is unlikable at times.

[Jlnpeacock Peacock · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the last time, I think, that I will be tempted to read a book with so many rave reviews. If I had seen the cover before the book was checked out, I probably would have had an idea that it was not something I wanted to read. The setting is in the early 1900's in rural England at a seaside hotel/country club. The book is to be a lively and funny mystery. My humour doesn't extend to the heroine of the story deceiving her husband (in a "I Love Lucy" fashion) and then having everything turn out all right because she had a good reason to lie and to deceive. The book wasn't particularly well-written either.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOTE: The author of this book is Kate Kingsbury, not the beloved Christian author Karen Kingsbury. Please refrain from confusing the two of them.
Kate Kingsbury wrote a grand Yuletide mystery yarn in this one. Complete with British charm, plenty of suspense, some light-hearted moments, and a diverse list of suspects, any lover of British-themed literature should definitely check this one out.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the "country home" setting for books but this one was well into a series that I had not read any of and I really still feel after reading the book a little lost about characters' backgrounds, time period and just how it all came to be.

The story was good and for some characters there were some references to events or people in past books but I think there needed to be more.

I may read more of this series to catch up!

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun adventure with the staff at the Pennyfoot, but I wish there would have been more with the gypsies, it seemed like they were forgotten after they were not needed for the plot. Sometimes it seems as if the author has far too many characters and far too little story for them. I wish the editors had caught that and really flushed out the good characters that were tossed by the wayside.

[Lisa Kleinert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I either missed some sort of a paragraph where they tell you what the time of this book was, or they didn't include it. At any rate, I spent a good half of the book wondering if this was modern times at a themed bed-and-breakfast or if it was in the earlier 1900's. It was the latter.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful Christmas mystery at the Pennyfoot. I really enjoyed this mystery and couldn't guess who it was until the end. I really love these characters and reading about their lives and drama. Cecily is the perfect nosy lady with a big heart that makes her an entertaining detective.

[Nancy Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I continue to enjoy this series, with new secondary character development ongoing, but Cecily continues to irritate me with her irresponsible behavior. Seriously, she is old enough to know better than to engage in illegal activities -- no matter how pure her motive.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first Kate Kingsbury "Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery", which was wonderful! A mystery afoot at the Pennyfoot! Bravo!

[Kathy Moberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

A silly but fun little holiday mystery. I only recommend it to people who have read the entire series.

[Katreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as enjoyable as others in the series, but still, a pleasant read.

[Cws]

M Kin