Deck the Santa: A Christmas Cozy Mystery

Murder All the Way #1

by Sue Hollowell

They wanted a peaceful vacation in a wintry location. But when Santa meets an untimely end, can these intrepid investigators save the season?

Chloe Carson is excited for her long-awaited family reunion. But as they gather in a snow-clad village to plan their aging mother’s dream of opening a restaurant, the old lady’s habit of spreading garden gnomes around town leads to a panicked pilgrimage. And the mayhem continues when their visit to the nutcracker museum reveals Kris Kringle has come to an unmerry demise.

With a ton of questions and no answers, Chloe and her cunning cocker spaniel furrow their brows while hunting for clues in the picture-postcard setting. But when the truth about the deceased jolly old elf comes to light, she discovers a line of suspects who all wanted to permanently stuff him into a giftbox.

Can Chloe wrap up a killer before someone else lands on a deadly naughty list?

Deck the Santa is the heartwarming first book in the Murder All the Way Christmas cozy mystery series. If you like colorful characters, pensive pooches, and tinsel-covered fun, then you’ll love Sue Hollowell’s holiday whodunit.

Genres: Christmas, Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Fiction, Holiday, Amazon, Ebooks

102 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2022

About the author

Get a free cozy story at https://dl.bookfunnel.com/nn1op4cew3

Sue Hollowell is a wife and empty nester with a lot of mom left over. Finding a lot of time on her hands, and as a lover of mystery novels, she began telling the story of a character who appeared in her head.

The Chemical Bond is a book about Meredith Markette, a young woman who reluctantly enters into the field of law enforcement when her police officer father is killed in the line of duty. Her quest is to discover his murderer and in the meantime come to terms with a tragedy of her youth.

Will this book ever see the light of day? Maybe. Sue really likes the story and character. And writing that book taught her a ton about the publishing industry. Through this experience she has discovered a love of writing stories, and especially mysteries. She hopes you enjoy her books as much as she enjoys writing them.

She and her husband are on the search to adopt a dog, really missing her spaniels that passed a couple of years ago.

Get a free cozy story at https://dl.bookfunnel.com/nn1op4cew3

Reviews

[Mairi Swan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I get that it is a cozy mystery but I expected a little more action or suspense. I didn't even get the slight agitation when catching the killer in the end.

[Dez the Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little read, kind of like a dorky little cousin of Sherlock Holmes

This was a fun read, left me with a little smirk for most of the read. I liked the story but thought the story needed more tidying up.

Expect this to not be a serious mystery, but a quirky, cozy whodunnit. If you can wrap your mind around that, you’ll enjoy this story for what it is.

This is the first one in the series, so I will be reading the other two and providing my thoughts on those as well…I am hoping it gets better as it goes along. Perfect holiday read!

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I Felt Like I Was Missing Something...

I felt like I was supposed to know these characters, but as far as I can tell this is a first book in a series...and I had no idea what was going on through most of the book...it seemed to jump around a lot and the suspects characters weren't very well developed

[Kathy Brackin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute holiday short story loved it!! Loved Max the dog ❤️

[Nati · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 ⭐️
I've been reading some cozy mysteries this year that I've gotten from "Stuff your Kindle" day and other events of the sort. I have to say, so far, from the last ones I've read, this is a well-written one. So I really liked that and that's why even if it is more a 3.7 I rated it 4 stars.

It was interesting, though a bit weird. A dog that solves sudokus and writes puzzles... hmmm.
A bit of a spoiler (I won't say who the murderer was, but don't read if you haven't finished the book): you don't see it coming. I mean, not in a good way. It felt a bit out of nowhere.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the setting: Hollywerth felt like a cool Christmas town and I loved Mabel, Chloe's mom.

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎄🎄🎄

🎄 Hide The Gnome Shenanigans
❄️ Cocker Spaniel Side Kick
🎄 Kris Kringle Murder Mystery


✨️ 📚 BOOK 📖 / 🎧 AUDIO 🎧 REVIEW ✨️

🎙Narrators: Virtual Voice 🎙

Welp, this wasn't what I was hoping that it would be. I borrowed this from Audible's Plus catalog thinking okay a short and sweet Christmas Cozy, right? Nope. 

First of all I had no clue it was virtual voice until it started playing, okay my fault for not paying attention. Two, too many things didn't make sense throughout the story. I have read PLENTY of short cozy mysteries. They are more direct and to the point, but show a little bit of how the MC goes on about solving the story. 

This one gave us some of that but also some VERY unattainable results while doing so. Since when can a dog read and tell someone what something says? Yeah, I have yet to see that either. Now the dog bringthing them to clues, okay that is feasible. But then the person who is at the center of the crime in the end is barely seen in the story. There is a bit too much of a stretch for this one to really go over well for me. Not to mention the MC is in her early 30's, not 50s like the books vibes were. I understand that the writer is possibly a middle aged woman, but that doesn't mean that the MC needs to have the same thought process just because her mother is aging. Which was said in the blurb, which also led me to believe the MC is nowhere close to early 30's.

This just isn't going to be a series that I will continue. 


✨️ All opinions are my own, honest, and voluntary✨️.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly Entertaining!!! I really enjoyed this little cozy Christmas mystery filled wonderful characters and the old small-town feel of celebrating the Christmas season. Chloe, Mabel and Max visit Hollywerth where they are to meet up with the rest of the family. While waiting for their arrival, Chloe, Mabel and Max enjoy the town gathering ideas for their Treehouse Hotel, the restaurant they are planning to open and leaving garden gnomes around the town. Unfortunately, heading into the nutcracker museum they stumbled upon a dead Santa. Who killed Santa and why? Come follow the investigation as they solve this murder. This is a must read to uncover who murdered Santa, the evidence Chloe is collecting, and the antics of Max.

I received a free copy of this book via BookFunnel and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[RuthNH · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review is for the audiobook.

Narration can make or break an audiobook and this one broke it. I didn’t check the narrator before listening, and I soon discovered it was narrated by “virtual assistant”. I could tell by the mostly wooden, robotic reading.

The story was a standard cozy mystery. Maybe I would have enjoyed it in the regular book format.

I hope virtual assistance isn’t becoming the norm for audiobooks. If so, I’ll stick to the physical books.

[Juliet Minerva Swift · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t really enjoy this short novella, to the point I had to DNF even if it was very short.
For starters, it feels like I should know more about Chloe and her mum but I have no idea who they are. After reading some reviews, it turns out this was a spin off series, but I wasn’t aware of this, and the little character intro was sooo confusing.

And when we got to know them more through their actions, I straight up disliked them. At some point someone comes by talking about video games and the mum is distracted by this and sort of wanders away to chat, and the daughter talks about teenage brain and how to keep things back on track by going on a sleigh ride?? Time and logic are just off enough that you are slightly confused at all times but can't point at what the issue is.
Max is even worse. The fact that he’s constantly off the leash is so rude, considering that he is not incredibly trained so he ends up wandering off all the time. Also the fact that he unexplainably can understand? And loves gingersnaps? I get making it cute, but it feels too nonsensical.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short holiday read

I am surprised that this is the first in a series because I felt that I was missing so much back story this must be further into the series than the first book.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Deck the Santa is a cosy mystery novella by Sue Hollowell. It features the characters Chloe and her mother, Mabel. They have gone to a winter wonderland, in the hopes of spending time with their loved ones, for a family reunion. However, things take a dark turn when a local Santa impersonator is found dead. There are fifteen chapters.

In the Amazon book description, it says, “This mini-series is best read after the Treehouse Hotel Cozy Mystery series.” I didn’t realise that until after I had already started reading this. I read the first book in that series; I didn’t like it. But, after finding out that this book is a spin-off of that series, I still decided to give this book a chance. I figured that it might be better…?

In my opinion, I don’t really like either of the main characters. Mabel (the mother) and Chloe both have really negative personality traits, and multiple times say or think really rude things about other people. For example, when they are at the café owned by Jules, about a quarter of the way into the book, there are points where both Mabel and Chloe have rude things to say or think about others. For example, they are welcomed to the café by Jules, and Mabel claims that it was a “rude welcome”. But I saw no way for it to be a “rude welcome”; Jules welcomed them to the café personally, and greeted them very nicely… Which is a pretty good thing to do, considering the man she was thinking about marrying had just been found dead, murdered. And when Jules is then questioned, by the pair, about the guy’s death, Chloe is suspicious of her. She thinks, “What wasn’t she saying?” Well, I’m sure there’s a lot Jules is not saying, and for good reason; considering the pair literally just met her. She probably doesn’t want to talk to people she’s just met about such a personal relationship. And the rude remarks they think and say about Athena, as well. The woman was clearly just trying to do her job and keep on schedule, yet both the mom and Chloe have rude remarks about her. The first thing Chloe thinks about her is that she must be in a relationship with the actor guy, with zero reason to think that. It was just creepy of her to think it; considering two people standing together in a café doesn’t automatically mean the two are in a relationship. The way the pair of main characters behave throughout the book is just awkward, and both of them are really unlikeable for me. To the point where it gives me second-hand embarrassment. To be blunt, the dog was just an annoyance. Max, the dog, seemed like such a bother. The irony is that the author kept noting about what a well-behaved dog he was, yet the actual behaviour of the dog suggested otherwise; he kept running away from the owner, multiple times would annoy people (even poking his head into the pockets of one woman). I just didn’t like the dog, or the weird thing with the gnomes... I felt the story would be a heck of a lot better if the author had focused on the actual mystery. It would have been nice if the author had presented us with more details about the death, suspects, evidence, etc rather than wasting time on this dog. So much of it was awkward and irrelevant, in my opinion.

The mystery, and aspects surrounding it, are pretty weird. So basically, Santa (Lloyd) is found attacked in the Nutcracker Museum. Mabel and Chloe are privy to all sorts of gossip as they take little trips in the local areas. While I know the author is intending the information they hear to be “useful” in some way, it just feels like ordinary gossip, without any relevance. I know the author is probably doing it to increase the suspect pool, offer foreshadowing to who the murderer might be, or why it was done… But, at the same time, the gossip the pair overhear offers me little actual interest in the investigation. For example, one of the primary suspects is the new Santa, who turned out to have been playing Santa there for a decade, before he was replaced. But… So what? Why is this meant to make him a suspect? A boss decides to not rehire some guy that had been working there; that’s not really suspect material. Especially because the logic Chloe thinks is that the guy is supposedly so mad that he wouldn’t be Santa for this year, that he would theoretically decide to murder someone…? What? That doesn’t make sense, because it would put him at far more risk of being imprisoned, rather than getting his old job back; meaning that he would get to spend even less time being Santa. The same for her suspicions of a hypothetical angry parent she thinks might have murdered the guy. Would some angry parent really risk prison time just because some mall Santa told a hypothetical child that they weren’t getting the present they wanted for Christmas? I doubt it. The logic the author provides behind a lot of these suspects just doesn’t make sense. Reading Chloe’s thoughts on the matter is just awkward, mainly because she makes really weird speculations about things; things that don’t make sense. And the audience gets almost no information in terms of real evidence. To be blunt, the book is mainly about this holiday experience for the mom and Chloe, and very little about the actual murder.

Apart from that stuff, I feel like the story was very messy. While I understand that the author was trying to lead us through this Christmas village area, there were way too many plot lines that were brought up and never finished in the novella. Things about the actor, or even mentioning all the stuff about the family reunion; there was just way too much that felt completely irrelevant to the mystery at hand. Like the whole thing about meeting the actor could have just been completely left out of the book; it didn’t really have any bearing on the mystery. Especially with all the rude remarks they were making about the assistant; it felt like there was zero point to it. I assume these aspects might get dealt with during the next books in the series, but I just don’t think it feels like something I would want to read. I don’t think I’ll be reading more of the series.

Overall, I did not enjoy the book. The main characters were very unlikeable, in my opinion; things they would say or think about others made them seem like really nasty people. And the way they were talking to people, trying to gossip about the murder, it felt useless because they got zero real information about the case. The case itself had zero evidence that we got to find out about, aside from stray gossip from the townsfolk. The gossip itself wasn’t even relevant in solving the case. The general story was very messy, with a lot of story elements being introduced and then not properly utilised by the end of the piece. I did not like it. At the current point in time, I have no intention of reading further books in the series.

[Irene Melson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a quick read, only 97 pages. It is a cozy mystery yet I didn't feel you got to know any of the characters and it jumped right I to the mystery and before you know it the mystery is solved but there wasn't much plot to the story. It is a 3 part series so maybe there is more development in the other books but it left me with no desire to read the others.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a quick read. Not sure I'd read it again.

[Ashton Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just ok. I feel it would have been better had it been longer. It just felt like a rough draft or am outline. I didn't connect with any of the characters besides the dog.

[jazmine · Rating 2 out of 5]

i felt like i was missing something in this book. it also was a bit too fast paced for me. and like the ending kind of fell flat. the dog was cute tho

[Merry Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely enjoyable and fun cozy murder mystery with a Christmas theme set in Hollywerth a village with a Bavarian theme all decked out for the holiday. Chloe helps her feisty, octogenarian mom, Mabel, run the Tree House Hotel in Cedarbrook, and this little trip to Hollywerth was set up as a working reunion by Chloe's mom of Chloe and her siblings to discuss their new venture of opening a restaurant in Cedarbrook. While looking around their hotel lobby and signing up for some activities the hotel offers, Mable sees the nutcracker museum/gift shop as they came down to the lobby and she and Chloe and Chloe's incredibly smart dog, Max, go to the door to check it out. Since mom has a side business of making gnomes, these nutcrackers were an attraction. The Window of the gift shop says closed for inventory but then Anabel one of the hotel people said she could let them have a peek, but then she has to close to hurry the inventory so the store can open for the guests. When she unlocks the door, Chloe, Mabel and even Max was in awe until Anabel screamed from the back of the store. Chloe and Max ran to Anabel only to find Lloyd, the Santa Clause lay dead, beaned by a nutcracker. And so it all starts. Chloe, mom and Max decided to figure out what happened and who could possible want to kill Santa Clause. We are treated with some wonderful scenes like when Mabel meets another women, Matilda, her age who was a gamer or mom and her new friend run into a tv series star. The characters are so much fun and the energy Mabel has, and her sometimes non-filtered blurting out make you laugh and gasp. I love this series so far and can't wait to see what could possibly be next for Chloe, Mabel and the incredibly smart Max. I received and ARC of this book but the opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

[Heather Cawte · Rating 1 out of 5]

The whole thing is too scrappy and unfocused - full of extraneous detail on trivial things, and too little detail on more important ones. The writing itself is very sloppy and amateurish, and would benefit from a session with an editor.

The two main characters are rude and difficult to like.

The additions of Maude and Karl are pointless, as neither plays any useful part in the story. There is no room in a 100-page novella for unnecessary tangents.

Asking us to believe that even a smart dog can literally read and solve written puzzles is ludicrous.

I also can't believe that Anabel has no idea Lloyd is cheating on her with both Shellie and Jules, especially as Jules is happy to tell two complete strangers that he is her fiancé.

We are never given the explanation of, and evidence for, the murderer doing what she does - and she turns out to be someone we meet only once, and very briefly. This doesn’t play fair with the reader.

Finally, it is inexcusable to leave the book almost mid-sentence, with a cliffhanger telling you to buy and read the next book in the series.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is never too early to get into the Christmas spirit and Hollowell's Christmas Cozy Mystery series is the perfect way to kick if off. Set in Hollywerth that seems to be inspired by Bavarian style Leavenworth, WA between the homage to the Nutcracker Museum and tree lighting ceremony and the mention of Icicle Brewing Company, she could not have picked a better setting.

The cozy mystery part is another winner with an easy read when the local Santa is found murdered only to be replaced by the previous Santa. Is there bad blood because of the replacement or more to do with his personal life as talk of relations with more than one woman starts to circulate.

Add in the humor or Chloe's mom Mabel and her obsession with gnomes and it has the recipe for a fun holiday series that will have you anxiously waiting for more.

Note: I received a free copy through BookFunnel in exchange for a honest review.

[Tari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read any of the Treehouse Hotel mysteries yet, but this little story did a good job of quickly explaining about Chloe and her mom, Mabel. Now I have this urge to go start the Treehouse series. I already read and like the Belle Harbor series by this author. But you definitely don't have to already be familiar with Treehouse mysteries to enjoy this.

When Mabel got to be friends with a woman named Maude at the Christmas village, they were an absolute hoot together with their sleuthing and how Maude was teaching Mabel to be a gamer, what a sight that'd be! They were definitely more entertained by the murder of the one resident Santa actor than Chloe ever would've been just the little I know about her lol.

Even though it's a short book, the killer wasn't super obvious at least not to me and there was a good showdown. It was cool how the book ended in what we're to assume is the next murder, so I borrowed the next one in KU right away and started it!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Christmas to remember

What could absolutely ruin a Christmas time family reunion? Santa being murdered. Chloe and her mom are in Hollywerth for a family visit and when they make their first stop on the activities planned they happen upon the unfortunate deceased Mr. Claus. Mabel doesn’t let that dim her enthusiasm about the trip and she happily leads Chloe from one activity to the next. Chloe is mulling over murder in her mind while enjoying a picturesque little town. Will the two of them and their unconventional ways find a killer before Christmas is tainted forever?
An interesting cozy mystery. Lots of touristy actions and a lot of behind the scenes sleuthing. It’s a light mystery but a feel good story, even if Santa is the victim.
I received an ARC from the author. This is my honest opinion and review.

[Chad Barrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chloe, her mother Mabel and dog Max go to a town for a family reunion with her brother and sisters but before the siblings arrive, the trip stumble upon a murder scene-someone has bumped off Santa! Now who would do such a thing so close to Christmas?

The trio put their heads together to try and solve this mystery before the other family members arrive. This is a light cozy mystery with no cliffhangers and the answer isn’t revealed until the very end.

I found it entertaining and recommend it to all those who enjoy light cozy mysteries. If you like smart dogs , so much the better. It shows even older adults can sniff out clues and bring the perpetrator to justice and not just leave it to the younger generations which are prevalent in books today.

[Deb S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chloe has returned home to help her mother run the family hotel named the Treehouse. Her mom Mabel decides that it would be good to visit a small town named Hollywerth to see what kinds of things they could possibly add to the Treehouse. Hollywerth is a quintessential Bavarian themed tourist destination & Chloe looks forward to exploring all the charming stores. Before that happens, a murder occurs. Chloe & Mabel continue to investigate, but with so many suspects on their list it’s hard to narrow it down. The killer is caught right before the tree lighting & the mayor is finally able to turn the lights on.

This book is a great start to my favorite holiday even if it’s early. The setting takes me back to when I was little & we used to go to our town's tree lighting.

[Shannon M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chloe, her cocker spaniel, Max, and her mom, Mabel (the cast from Sue Hollowell's Treehouse Hotel mystery series) have traveled to Hollywerth, a Bavarian Christmas village, to meet with Chloe's siblings to discuss family business. Unfortunately, their trip doesn't get off to the best start when murder crosses their path. Mother and daughter, as well as Max, let their curious natures take over as they begin to investigate. I wish that Hollywerth was a place you could visit in real life because its description is downright magical. If you love Christmas then Hollywerth sounds like the perfect place for you. I highly recommend this book and I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series. Happy Reading!

* I received an ARC from the author but this review is my honest opinion.

[Javon50 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chloe Carson helps run a treehouse hotel in Cedarbrook with her mother and has traveled to a delightful Bavarian village to meet up with family members to discuss opening a restaurant, a dream of her mother’s. Not in their vacation plans was stumbling across a dead Santa in a nutcracker museum. Not excited about finding a murder victim but curious about what may have happened, Chloe along with her clever cocker spaniel Max, she starts asking questions of guests and those who knew the dead Santa, intent on solving the murder. What a clever Christmastime mystery. Chloe and Max are a charming, inquisitive pair and this story is an entertaining and engaging read. This is my honest, voluntary review of an advanced reader copy of this book.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deck the Santa (Murder All the Way Book 1), my seventh enjoyable short (102 page) read from author Sue Hollowell that I finished in about 90-minutes. I don't know if it was the dog or the gnomes (how big is a gnome? I picture them as 2' or 3") but this is Hollowell's best book I've read so far. I'll have to get the rest of the Murder All the Way series. “I received a free Kindle copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I look forward to reading more from this author with Cupcakes and Catastrophe (A Belle Harbor Cozy Mystery, #1). (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018.

[Paula Corregan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable and engaging cozy mystery. Chloe Carson and her mother, Mabel, arrive in Hollywerth, a Bavarian Christmas- themed town, for a family reunion. They come upon the body of a man dressed as Santa in a store in town and then attempt to find the identity of the killer, with the help of Max, Chloe's cocker spaniel. The characters were personable and believeable. The killer's identity came as a surprise to me. I highly recommend this book to other cozy mystery readers. I received an ARC of this book, and the opinion expressed is strictly my own.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chloe and her mother, along with her cocker Spaniel Max, have travelled to Hollywerth for a fun Alpine getaway and family reunion. They are just in time for all the festivities! Everything is going great until the town's Santa is found dead! As Chloe and her mom start investigating, they find out that this Santa was not very well liked and lots of people had motives to kill. Be prepared for lots of laughs when you find out what Mom and Chloe's dog are up to! And the rest of the family hasn't even gotten there yet! Very enjoyable read and you don't have to wait for Christmas either!

[Delphia Von Heeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deck the Santa us Book 1 in A Christmas Cozy Mystery by Sue Hollowell. I really enjoyed this book. I liked that Chloe and her mom, Mabel, are the main characters in this series (continuing the main characters from the Treehouse Hotel series). When Chloe, her mom and Max the cocker spaniel go to a nutcracker museum, they did not count on finding a dead Santa. This begins a wonderful cozy mystery. I believe that Sue Hollowell writes interesting stories that have great characters that always leave me wanting more. I can't wait to read book 2, Twist Upon a Star. I received an arc for free and am leaving my review voluntarily.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who killed the new store Santa

Chloe and her mother are visiting Hollywerth for their out of this world Christmas village and displays when they come across a murder and from then on Chloe tries to solve said murder before they must return home. It seems like everyone they meet becomes the next suspect in this crime, which makes sense since the town itself isn’t that big. So come along and grab this book and find out for yourself who would have wanted the victim gone for good at the happiest place you could be.

[Katy Cameron · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to say, this is the first place in my life that I have ever seen German food described as 'spicy' (it gave my German friends a good laugh though), in fact it seemed, rather weirdly, that this book was set in a mock German village so the author could moan about how the food didn't suit her digestion. I did struggle with the dog 'solving puzzles', but not as much as with Chloe being described as the sleuth when her mother actually solved the problem. I would happily see a series with the mother, but the rest could be dropped.