Christmas Cracker: A Morg Mahoney Mystery

by R.L. Cherry

While private investigator Morgana (Morg) Mahoney leaves sunny Southern California to celebrate Christmas in a picturesque English manor house, she finds she cannot escape crime. What begins as a vacation soon becomes a murder mystery laced with threads of local history, race horses, the IRA, family secrets, and, of course, pure greed. In the land of Sherlock Holmes, Morg finds herself using some of the same methods as that first consulting detective to solve the case.

Genres: Mystery, Christmas, Holiday

312 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2012

About the author

Born and raised in California, R.L. Cherry spent most of his life in the Golden State before moving to Nevada. However, the five years he lived on the Isle of Man in the British Isles not only gave him many ideas for his writing, but also a less Americentric perspective. A copy of his Masters’ thesis is in the library of the Centre for Manx Studies on the Isle of Man. He has written short stories, mainly futuristic or sci-fi, for many years and has been published in Devilfish Review and in the now-defunct Writing Raw ezine. For over a decade he wrote a column on classic cars and hot rods for The Union newspaper in Grass Valley, CA. He has published seven novels, three Morg Mahoney mysteries entitled Christmas Cracker, It's Bad Business, and Greek Week a suspense titled Foul Shot and a 6th century Celtic saga, Three Legs of the Cauldron. His latest, a Morg Mahoney mystery, Greek Week, takes place on a cruise ship when she accompanies her best friend who is going to a sorority reunion.

Reviews

[Robin Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heather and Jonathan were quite well financially yet you could never associate their relationship as one of those belonging to the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. This became quite evident when Morgana [Morg to her friends] who work as a P.I. had to come to Heather’s aid, protecting her from Jonathan. Needless to say Heather now consider Morg as one of her best friends, not so much for a friend, but for some protection.

Heather wants to repay Morg for everything she has done for her, and invites Morg to come with her to England to spend Christmas these in a “castle,” but has alterative motive for doing it. Morg reluctantly agrees.

Heather became a P.I. in part due to real love of Sherlock Holmes, and now being in his homeland little did she know that she would soon become involved with solving a series of events, seemingly unconnected to all those involved in the story. Morg must now become a female Holmes, and using all of her Sherlockian reasoning to completely resolve which had happened, making sure to explain how all the events of the past few days had indeed been connect.

I’m a lover of Sherlock Holmes. I’ve seen all the movies with Basil Rathbone, I’ve seen with BBC television series [1954-1955] with Ronald Howard on NetFlix, as well as the entire series with Jeremy Brett, and the first two seasons with Benedict Cumberbatch playing Holmes. Given this I’d surmised what had been going on regard the key event for the same reasons Morg gives at the end of the novel. I became surprised as Morg explained everything which had occurred, which for some reason I’d missed detecting as I read the story. There are numerous twists which come to light at the end of the novel, so much so, that once things had started to be revealed I couldn’t put the damn novel down and go to sleep. [Finally went to bed at around 2:30 AM]

It’s a superb mystery tale which should be a definite read by all lovers of this genre. This is the first time I’ve read anything in this genre and by R.L. Cherry and will probably consider reading some more. To my surprise is a male who has managed to pin down Morg’s characteristics quite successfully. The only negative thing I found in reading this novel is that at times the writing became a little too passive for me, but this has not distracting me from giving this book 5 STARS

Robin Leigh Morgan is a YA Paranormal Romance Author who wrote “I Kissed a Ghost” as a first endeavor, and has two other romance novels in various stages of being written. Robin Leigh is also an avid writer of Flash Fiction.

[Micki Peluso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christmas Cracker
by
R. L. Cherry

Morg Mahoney hates to exercise, but it keeps her fit in her work as a private investigator — exercise and a Colt .38 make for a lethal contender against bad guys. It also introduces her to Heather, who becomes her best friend; that is, after she stops Heather's ex-boyfriend from trying to strangle her. Heather and she are opposites, except for being in their late 20s; with one being a tall blonde beauty and the detective slightly plump a.k.a. voluptuous with curly red hair, a poster girl for the Emerald Isle. But she saves Heather's life and that forms a bond between the radically different women.

It turns out that Heather's hotheaded boyfriend is a big client of her father's bank, so Daddy won't be thrilled if she has him arrested for assault. Heather may be filthy rich, but her life is in the pits. Morg, shortened from Morgana, quickly loses her initial envy. Like in the proverbial Chinese saying," save someone's life and you own them", a strong bond between these two women is formed.

Morg cops a favor from her attorney friend to get Jonathan off Heather's back, but strange incidents continue, some despicable, others dangerous. Legally, he stays under the wire and even Morg’s cop friend, Bob, tells her what she suspects — his money and clout will keep Jonathan clear of trouble – and Bob buys into an opposite version of the situation, taking Jonathan's word as true. It's up to Morg now to keep her newfound friend safe.

Heather browbeats Morg into spending Christmas in England in a Victorian manor house, a throwback to an older England. Follow Morg as she manages to find herself entangled in a web of family secrets, racehorses and the IRA. Not only is she in Sherlock Holme’s country, she borrows some of his methods, exchanging his droll sarcasm for her own sassy wit.

R.L. Cherry writes a lively, entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable book, fast-paced and filled with suspense and humor.

Micki Peluso; writer, journalist and author of . . . And the Whippoorwill Sang

[Douglas Adkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ron L. Cherry has written a book for those of us that joy the seat of your pants mystery to include murder and romance. Each page is one you will be excited to turn in anticipation of what could possibly happen next.

This story begins to take it’s interest when two friends, Heather and Morgana travel to an English Manor owned by Lord William Weston and wife, Mary.

Lord Weston has a son whose name is Andrew who is the boyfriend of Heather, a rich friend to Morgana the PI.

They have traveled to this English manor to celebrate Christmas where Heather was to meet her boyfriend but she failed to inform Morgana that was her reason for including her for this visit.

All along until later, Morgana thought she was there as a friend and what happens later is a kidnapping, ransom demand and Morgana being a PI sets herself in the middle to help solve this mystery.

This book is one of the best both my husband and I have read in a long time.

Thank you Mr. Cherry for an outstanding book.

Douglas E. Adkins and Rosemary “Mamie” Adkins

[Clayton Bye · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://www.thedeepening.com/2013/03/1...

[Kayt18 · Rating 5 out of 5]

i received this free in a goodreads giveaway and am so glad i did. very entertaining read. enjoyable writing that puts you in the mix, you get drawn into the characters. wonderful characters that you want to hang out with or smack in some cases. lovely descriptions of the areas and scenery gives you a true sense of being there. would highly recommend this to anyone that enjoys mysteries.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing

Not Cosy as I expected but the main characters were well fleshed out. I began to care for them. Several unexpected twists. I hope there is a sequel.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Mystery!

I wasn't sure how interesting this story was going be at first, but it slowly drew me in. It had some great twists and turns! I plan to read more by this Author.

[Wanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in England during a Christmas Holiday, this novel is quite like a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Morg-short for Morgana Mahoney is a P.I. living in California who has the opportunity to stay in a Castle for Christmas. Almost immediately the son of her hosts is kidnapped and in the manner of the Great Detective,"the game is afoot." The ransom is paid and the son returns but things still don't quite seem right and added to the fact that bodies begin falling like flies, Morg is still unsettled. It is quite an entertaining story with quite a few twists and turns and several smaller crimes hidden among the kidnapping and murder. Morg displays quite a caustic attitude but yet at times some real human emotion shines through. An entertaining and thought-provoking read.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this mystery. In this one as you read along you find yourself trying to follow the clues just like the main character but you find yourself a step or two behind or sometimes way off. Morg Mahoney is a private investigator with a mouth and attitude that normally gets her in hot water with people she meets. When her friend invites her to leave sunny California to spend Christmas in an English manor she goes expecting to have a Christmas vacation but instead finds a kidnapping and murders. This book has a lot of twist and turns which keep you not only interested but guessing. Warning if you start this make sure you have time to finish it, its a book once you start you want to finish right away its that good. Enjoy!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable mystery with Sherlockian tones. The main character, Morg, finds herself staying at the manor house of her best friend's "boyfriend" when she finds herself involved in kidnapping, blackmail and murder. Not exactly the "Christmas in a Castle" she had envisioned. I loved the relationship that developed between her and her "Watson", Lord Weston. The only thing that kept me from rating this book 5 stars was the ending. I would have liked an epilogue...the case was solved but I want to know if there was eventually a happily ever after for Morg.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas Cracker I had great hopes for this one. Started off with a sassy PI reminiscent of Stephanie Plum, great English setting, literary bon mots thrown in, and a credible plot but Morg Mahoney is just a bit too sharp tongued, and mean spirited. It wasn’t bad but with an attitude adjustment for Morg, it could have been soooooo much better.

[Kristen Lewendon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the main character even though there were a couple times I wanted to reach through the book and smack her. As an avid fan of all things British, this was a very enjoyable read. I kept trying to outguess the heroine and failing miserably. A great who-done-it and I can't wait to read the next in the series.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the book overall, the writing was well pace and interesting outcome. My only problem is with the editing, sometimes you have to go back and reread to decide who is talking and what point is being made. Had just the right amount of history added to move the story along while you were doing just a little learning.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey all - 5 stars! - I loved this book! I loved the interesting characters, the English setting, and the ending!!!!! I especially enjoyed reading it as my Christmas mystery book for 2014. I look forward to more books by this author. Enjoy!

[Kandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable Christmas mystery. My goal was to read nothing but Christmas mysteries from Thanksgiving until New Years. Goal achieved. Some were very short and others were a normal book length. This one was one of the latter. Great characters and it kept you guessing.

[Ariana Rainone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

I love mystery and cherry brings all that with a little humor. Will continue to read more books from cherry.