Murder Under The Mistletoe

by Jennifer Jordan

Mystery writer Dee Vaughan and her husband Barry travel to a quaint English country inn to celebrate a quiet holiday, but everyone staying there becomes a murder suspect when a fellow guest, beautiful model Miranda Travers, is found dead on Christmas Eve. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Christmas, Cozy Mystery, Holiday, Cozy

251 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1989

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Barry and Dee Vaughan take a holiday in Italy where they get their first glimpse of Miranda Travers. A fashion model with even more good looks than your usual runway beauties and with men swarming like bees round a bee hive. She's got two men on a string as potential husbands and a few others who'd love to shove the top contenders out of the way--including Morgan Grant who, oddly enough, she's gives little encouragement to. Even Barry feels the effects of her charm.

The Vaughans return home and forget about Miranda Travers...until she shows up later that year at the same country hotel where Barry and Dee have decided to spend the Christmas holidays. Once again she has all the men dancing attendance and it looks like she's going to add another feather to her cap by luring young Gabriel Field away from Joyce Bradley (if only temporarily). She even creates a stir between the two young men in the antique business. Major Henry Gardner seems to have her measure, but even he isn't immune to a beautiful young woman. When her Italian beau (possible husband #2) sends her a rare statue as a Christmas gift, she longs to show it to someone. But when she's found dead on Boxing Day and the statue has disappeared, one has to wonder if she showed it to the wrong person. Was she killed for the art piece or for the way she toyed with men's hearts?

I feel like I should have liked this more than I did. After all, it's got an academic-type--Barry is a History teacher who writes mysteries on the side. Barry and Dee are likeable people with a nice little dog named Bella. And the country hotel at Christmas setting is a nice backdrop for a bit of murder and mayhem. There's a decent sprinkling of culprits...though not quite enough with strong enough motives. But it just doesn't click. I don't buy into Barry and Dee as amateur sleuths. Even the fact that Barry writes murder mysteries and this supposedly gives him insights into motives and whatnot doesn't really help. It takes for-ev-er to get to the murder. As the first line below indicates, we have to start off with a detour to Italy first. And, sure, it gives us a bit of background on our victim, but not anything that we couldn't have picked up one way or another at the hotel. I get the feeling that Jordan wasn't real keen on her amateur detectives either, after all, she published this one in 1989 and apparently abandoned the murder ship. The set up with Barry and Dee and their pet Inspector Ken Graves, makes one think that a series was intended. But I think it just as well that it didn't happen.

First posted on my bl0g My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting portions of review. Thanks.

[Johnna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Dee and Barry Vaughan mystery set in the English countryside.....perfect to help put your mood in the Holiday spirit

[Paige Kuether · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lovely English murder, well written and humorous.

[Nan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but predictable after the intro, it did take a while to get to the murder.

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've had this book for years and its been moved from bookshelf to bookshelf, and recently I found it on my mom's bookshelf and decided that I should finally give it a chance and just read it. Its pretty short, so it wouldn't take long. So I read it, and it was OK. Apparently it is part of a series. The main characters- Dee and Barry go on vacation to a B&B for Christmas. While there, a famous model who is also staying there dies. So Dee and Barry (who are likable characters) try to find out who did it. Its a pretty simple book. I would've liked it more if there were less characters. I kind of got confused who was who. But, all in all, it was a decent read.

[Margaret]

A nice cozy British mystery - I liked the author's use of the first person - alternating chapters were told by Dee or Barry, a husband and wife team who solve a mysterious murder during their holiday stay at the Grove. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the author's tendency to have the characters regularly spout French sayings in their conversations such as "cherchez la femme" and "crime passionnel" - it seemed pretentious & I found it a bit annoying - was she trying to make the characters seem more sophisticated & continental? This habit seemed to lessen by the end of the book (or I got used to it!) - overall, a pleasureable holiday read.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't really explain why I gave this four stars. I guess because I read it on a snowy, lazy day.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

So-so. Easy reading.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very fluffy, but not bad. I like the English setting. It didn't broadcast the soluction. I couldn't really buy into the mystery solving couple.

[Pam]

11/15/07 bought at UBS