A Merry Little Murder

by Patti Benning

It never rains but it pours. Holidays can be rough, and this holiday season may be Lacey Townsend’s most stressful one yet. A much-needed holiday trip to her parents’ house takes an unexpected turn when she and her father discover a body in the woods. In a small town where everyone seems to have secrets, even her own fiancé, finding out the truth about what happened might be harder than it seems. Will Lacey discover the identity of the murderer, or will she only find confusion and heartache?

Genres: Cozy, Cozy Mystery

138 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 26, 2019

About the author

https://www.facebook.com/Patti-Bennin...

When Cozy Mystery author, Patti Benning, isn’t busy plotting the deaths of multiple fictitious characters, she loves to spend time hiking with her rescue dog, Max, who is her bestest writing buddy.

​Patti loves to cook and the food in her books has been tried and tested in her very own kitchen. She’s technologically shy, and stays away from social media a great deal, because it makes her feel more awkward and introverted than meeting someone face to face.

​Writing is the perfect job for her because in her books, she gets to explore all the topics she loves, food, animals, crafts and reading. She loves her readers dearly, and is thankful for the opportunity to share with them through her work.

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰

Another will written murder mystery family and friends relationships adventure thriller short story by Patti Benning. Lacey and her finance Chris are spending Christmas with Lacey's parents. The neighbor Charlie has gone missing. Lacey and her dad are out looking for a Christmas tree 🌳 and find Charlie's body. At her dad's company Christmas party Lacey discovers the killer. I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers of mystery novels 👍🔰. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa read books 📚. 2023 👒😤😇🌙

Patti Benning is one of my favorite authors maybe because her stories take me back sixty plus years. Happy reading in 2023

[Sandy Bartles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lacey Townsend and her fiancé, Chris Harris, are taking a 5-1/2 hour drive through lots of snow to spend Christmas with her parents. Lacey feels Chris is keeping something from her and is worried about what it might be. Between that, a body found in the woods and finding a murderer, the family stays pretty busy. I felt there was a need for a little more clarity in a couple of spots, but all in all, I enjoyed the story.

[Krystyna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Home is where the heart is

A good little read. Quick and easy but I must admit that I did have my suspicions from the start. A plot of love, greed and murder. The characters are just a bit thin and could have done with some more fleshing out.
They were on their way to spend Christmas with her parents. A long drive meant that she had a long time to think. What was going on with her fiance? However everything faded as they arrived. The Christmas traditions started now with time at her parents diner and then getting the tree. But news about a missing local had them all worried and finding his body in the snow didn't help. Who killed him? Was it to do with defaulting on his loan payments which had resulted in a row with her father and bad relations with his partner in the mortgage business? Was it to do with the fact that he had taken against his youngest daughter's boyfriend? What has her father and her fiance been upto? Will the Christmas party provide any breaks in this murder?

[Jeanie Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book for a quick holiday read with enough Christmas touches to keep the murder mystery a holiday without making light of the death. I especially enjoyed the connection between Lacey and her mother. I am on a cozy Christmas kick so A Merry Little Murder was just what I was looking for.

[Debbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable, quick holiday read. Lacey and her fiance head home to her parents’ for the holidays. Everything is going well until Lacey and her Dad find a neighbor dead in the woods. Now the holidays are tainted with trying to find out who did it. Can Lacey figure it out so they can get back to their celebrations?

[Grey853 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is very short even for a novella. It's also more a romance/relationship book than a real mystery. The murder doesn't even show up until halfway through and it's an easy solve.

There's a lot of season cheer, but not enough to keep me interested because there was no real mystery to be had.

[Carol Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

Family. Christmas. Friends. A little snow. What could go wrong? Loved this quick read by Patti Benning. Read while making some cookies. A delightful read.

[Kris Kizer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just hitting my reading goal

[Nana Fields · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved It!!!