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Eleanor Byrne
Holidays are Murder
A festive B&B. A grinchy guest. A missing manuscript—and another murder.
Ellie Byrne was hoping for a quiet holiday season, filled with sugar cookies, Christmas movies, and zero dead bodies. But when a famous author drops dead during a winter storm—and his final manuscript mysteriously vanishes—her cozy bed-and-breakfast in Salem Falls becomes the center of a snow-covered scandal.
Soon, Ellie and her opinionated pets are up to their eyeballs in secrets, suspects, and surprise guests with hidden agendas. As the guest list grows and the lies pile higher than the holiday wreaths, it’s up to Ellie to untangle the clues before the killer strikes again.
Can she solve the mystery and salvage the season, or will Christmas at the B&B become a permanent cold case?
If you love cozy mysteries with middle-aged heroines, talking animals, and holiday hijinks, you’ll adore this heartwarming—and hilarious—paranormal whodunit.
Grab your cocoa and start reading now!
Ellie Byrne was hoping for a quiet holiday season, filled with sugar cookies, Christmas movies, and zero dead bodies. But when a famous author drops dead during a winter storm—and his final manuscript mysteriously vanishes—her cozy bed-and-breakfast in Salem Falls becomes the center of a snow-covered scandal.
Soon, Ellie and her opinionated pets are up to their eyeballs in secrets, suspects, and surprise guests with hidden agendas. As the guest list grows and the lies pile higher than the holiday wreaths, it’s up to Ellie to untangle the clues before the killer strikes again.
Can she solve the mystery and salvage the season, or will Christmas at the B&B become a permanent cold case?
If you love cozy mysteries with middle-aged heroines, talking animals, and holiday hijinks, you’ll adore this heartwarming—and hilarious—paranormal whodunit.
Grab your cocoa and start reading now!
254 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 25, 2025
48 people are currently reading
24 people want to read
About the author
Nellie H. Steele
126 books508 followersNellie H. Steele lives in the South Hills of Pittsburgh with her family and her many fur-babies. When she isn't writing, she enjoys teaching Statistics at a local university or watching her dogs and cats play in the yard.
Nellie is the author of the Cate Kensie Mystery Series, a cozy mystery series following the adventures of Dr. Catherine Kensie, a history professor turned Scottish Countess, and her beloved dog, Riley, as they navigate their new lives in their quirky Scottish highlands castle, solving mysteries along the way! She is the creator of the Shadow Slayers series, a suspenseful series with a supernatural twist! Follow the Shadow Slayers through time as they fight to banish darkness from the world. Nellie also writes an adventure series, Maggie Edwards Adventures. Follow Maggie Edwards as she travels the world solving mysteries and finding unique treasures!
Check out all Nellie offers at www.anovelideapublishing.com/novels, sign up for our newsletter to get the latest news about book releases or like us on facebook (facebook.com/anovelideapublishing) to keep up with us!
Nellie is the author of the Cate Kensie Mystery Series, a cozy mystery series following the adventures of Dr. Catherine Kensie, a history professor turned Scottish Countess, and her beloved dog, Riley, as they navigate their new lives in their quirky Scottish highlands castle, solving mysteries along the way! She is the creator of the Shadow Slayers series, a suspenseful series with a supernatural twist! Follow the Shadow Slayers through time as they fight to banish darkness from the world. Nellie also writes an adventure series, Maggie Edwards Adventures. Follow Maggie Edwards as she travels the world solving mysteries and finding unique treasures!
Check out all Nellie offers at www.anovelideapublishing.com/novels, sign up for our newsletter to get the latest news about book releases or like us on facebook (facebook.com/anovelideapublishing) to keep up with us!
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 31, 2025
Quite a Mystery!
Snarky cat, slow witted dog and a bunch of friends and possible enemies make a fun romp through a small town B&B!
Snarky cat, slow witted dog and a bunch of friends and possible enemies make a fun romp through a small town B&B!
November 6, 2025
📚 Book Review by R.M. Campbell 📚
Holidays are Murder
By
Nellie H. Steele
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Holidays are Murder is book 4 in the Middle Age is Murder Cozy Mystery Series and proves to be just as intriguing, mysterious, and entertaining as the previous books. Ellie, the FMC, is decorating her B&B for the Christmas Holiday, with the help of her sassy, feline cat Cleo, her adorable, ever wanting to help dog, Lola, along with her best friend, Mia. Ellie is expecting guests for the holidays, and one of the guests is a famous author, James Montgomery, who just happens to be in town for a book signing. Ellie soon finds out that the author has a reputation of being arrogant, rude, demanding and more. Ellie soon affirms this reputation when the ill-tempered author arrives, unexpectedly early, at her B&B. It doesn’t take long before Mr. Montgomery is found dead, and the suspect list begins to climb. Ellie and Mia, jump into action in an effort to solve the murder, using Mia’s finance Rick (the sheriff) and Nate (the deputy) as unwitting sources of information along the way.
This story is highly entertaining and has all the elements of a fabulous cozy murder mystery, making it a joy to read. The characters were extremely well-written, and the interactions between characters were compelling, from the comic interludes with the pets to the dangerous escapades of tracking down the killer; the action, intrigue, and suspense never stopped. The clean romantic scenes were also a welcoming element to the story. I blew through this book, trying to anticipate what was coming next as the twists and unpredictable turns kept me turning pages. I enjoyed the story and the characters within the pages. The ability of Ellie being able to communicate with her pets was delightful and added a fun and comical touch to the story. I highly recommend Holidays are Murder and the entire series. I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book.
Holidays are Murder
By
Nellie H. Steele
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Holidays are Murder is book 4 in the Middle Age is Murder Cozy Mystery Series and proves to be just as intriguing, mysterious, and entertaining as the previous books. Ellie, the FMC, is decorating her B&B for the Christmas Holiday, with the help of her sassy, feline cat Cleo, her adorable, ever wanting to help dog, Lola, along with her best friend, Mia. Ellie is expecting guests for the holidays, and one of the guests is a famous author, James Montgomery, who just happens to be in town for a book signing. Ellie soon finds out that the author has a reputation of being arrogant, rude, demanding and more. Ellie soon affirms this reputation when the ill-tempered author arrives, unexpectedly early, at her B&B. It doesn’t take long before Mr. Montgomery is found dead, and the suspect list begins to climb. Ellie and Mia, jump into action in an effort to solve the murder, using Mia’s finance Rick (the sheriff) and Nate (the deputy) as unwitting sources of information along the way.
This story is highly entertaining and has all the elements of a fabulous cozy murder mystery, making it a joy to read. The characters were extremely well-written, and the interactions between characters were compelling, from the comic interludes with the pets to the dangerous escapades of tracking down the killer; the action, intrigue, and suspense never stopped. The clean romantic scenes were also a welcoming element to the story. I blew through this book, trying to anticipate what was coming next as the twists and unpredictable turns kept me turning pages. I enjoyed the story and the characters within the pages. The ability of Ellie being able to communicate with her pets was delightful and added a fun and comical touch to the story. I highly recommend Holidays are Murder and the entire series. I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader's Copy of this book.
December 28, 2025
Holidays are Murder
It's the fourth and a fun read. If there is a number five I will gladly read it and I think she may have left us a clue to a possibility of a fifth. All of Nellie's book series are good!
It's the fourth and a fun read. If there is a number five I will gladly read it and I think she may have left us a clue to a possibility of a fifth. All of Nellie's book series are good!
November 5, 2025
Just finished "Holidays are Murder" book 4 in the Middle Age is Murder Cozy Mysteries. Another page-turner in this series! Loved it!!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews