We Wish You a Merry Murder

Susan Henshaw #3

by Valerie Wolzien

Although Kelly Knowlson firmly thought her newly remarried ex-husband, Evan, would return to her, did she set him by the fire, egg nog by his side, THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS in his hands, and put a bullet in his head? By the time the police show up, the body is gone, so of course Kelly is the prime suspect. Between molding cheese balls and salmon mousse for a holiday dinner, suburban sleuth Susan Henshaw fits in a little yultetide detecting to discover if Kelly Knowlson iced her ex. And if not, who would dare send such an uncharitable Christmas greeting...?

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

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 21, 1991

About the author

Valerie Wolzien is the author of the Susan Henshaw suburban mysteries and the Josie Pigeon seashore mysteries. Ms. Wolzien lives in an old house overlooking the Hudson River. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached online at valerie@wolzien.com.

Reviews

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, Christmas cozy mystery that made me nostalgic for the 90's! 🎄

[Jessi Galligan · Rating 3 out of 5]

i was so confused by how the characters acted in this book. like no one was that shocked to see a dead body? the wife and ex-wife weren’t that upset that their husband was murdered? a woman hid said dead body for a week instead of calling the cops? the murderer just… admitted to it all with almost no prodding?

i also got lost in the dialogue quite often. so many characters talking, not always labeled well. i had to re read many passages.

anyway. gave it an extra star because the 90s of it all was so nostalgic.

[Chrystyna · Rating 3 out of 5]

We Wish You a Merry Murder by Valerie Wolzien - OK

The third of my tea and mystery sweepstakes winnings and perfect timing to read it.

Set in an upmarket town in Connecticut (which I presume is somewhere near New York and is commuter belt for rich business men), the ladies of the town are running around preparing for Christmas and doing the rounds of the social engagements.

It is Kelly Knowlson's first Christmas post divorce, not helped by her ex, Evan, not only remarrying but returning to the town and building a new house directly behind his old marital home. Just how are Kelly and new wife Rebecca going to deal with this and avoid each other socially?

All this comes to a head when Evan is found in his old home with a bullet in his head! Not only that, but the corpse disappears before the police can arrive and Kelly is either suspect number 1 or unstable enough to have imagined it.

Determined to find out who the real murderer is and clear their friend Kelly, friends Susan and Kathleen get on the case.

The only thing that bugged me was the way these rich, over privileged, women ran around after their rich over privileged husbands.... eg buying presents for their husbands to give to their secretaries etc. Doesn't sit well for me, but that's just the setting and nothing more.

[Gale Penton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this mystery. The characters and mystery were wonderful.

[CJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I received from my late grandmother's library. I love reading/touching the books she once read. This book was out of the norm of what she typically read.

Imagine the Real Housewives of Connecticut mixed with Investigation Discovery. These women are so wealthy it is truly unrelatable, but I loved it.



At one of these rich women's MANY Christmas parties one of the husbands is found murdered. His body was seen at his ex wife's home, which happens to be right behind his new home (scandalous). When the cops come his body has disappeared. Two of the women are left playing detective to try and figure out what has happened and who among them is a murderer.



I would have rated this four stars if the ending had cleaned up better and the murderer have been more fun. I thought the murderer was a boring choice and it got complicated. Overall this was a fun quick read and who doesnt love reading about the lifestyles of the 1% ers.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle-Aged Suburbanite Housewife Detective

Susan and her friends are housewives of upper-middle class families in Connecticut. One of their own is missing. Or murdered? Maybe both? In the whirlwind of holiday parties, visiting chaotic family, shopping for Bougie gifts, and keeping up with the Jones, Susan rushes to solve the case.

This book was written in the early 90s and made me reflect on just how much internet and smartphones have changed the world. Talks about fancy hard-disk computers, installing private phone lines for teenagers, and expensive tape desks, really set the stage.

I had an inkling who the murderer was but not why. The reveal is cleverly done and really points out all the foreshadowing.

[Marty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another despondent woman who is sure her husband will return to her…meanwhile said husband has married another woman and now lives in the house behind his old house. -----And he winds up dead in his first wife’s home. I never really connected to the people in this novel and really didn’t care what happened to them.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of Christmas atmosphere - food, gifts, decorations, parties! But a man is murdered, and the prime suspects are his ex-wife and his current wife. Amateur sleuth Susan Henshaw must solve the mystery juggling cooking, shopping, going to parties, and dealing with her mother-in-law. Very nicely done.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVE this book - I read it EVERY year at Christmas time(last year I read it twice ;-)

[Scoozer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very simple cozy. It was dated, but I mostly just found it annoying.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Valerie Wolzien. So sad her publishers decided to stop her books!

[Kelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to force myself to finish this book. None of the characters were relatable or likeable. The book was filled with high-society snobs and I didn't even care about the person who was killed. The characters seemed to constaintly be interrupting each other so it was difficult to keep track of who was talking. At some point, I stopped caring and just wanted to get through the book. I suspected the murderer early on, but had to suffer through the looong, supposedly suspenseful, reveal at the end.

[Tracy Carcione · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite entertaining, & I like the 2 main characters, but the world it is set in is as alien to me as any science fiction. Women concentrating so much energy on cooking so they can throw the perfect party, or buying presents for their husbands' co-workers or business associates, & trying to have the perfect decor & such so their husbands can have a perfect life. I guess some people really did live like that, & maybe some still do, but no one I've ever met. But, once I accepted that weird world, I enjoyed the book.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm working my way through this series again after reading them for the first time at least 20 or so years ago. Some titles haven't aged well but this one is really, really good. I feel it's the one where Wolzien really hits her stride and makes this the series I remember liking from back in the day. Well plotted, interesting characters and a believable murderer. Definitely a winner.

[Suzanne Perryman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Merry murder

The characters and plot of this book were sometimes very complicated but still interesting I did not expect the outcome

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a favorite Christmas mystery book. I read it several times before but many years ago. I enjoyed reading it again. I think I have read all Wolzien's books. Wish she would have written more.

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Jessica Horgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an easy read with not the ending I was expecting. Loved the holiday vibes and mystery.

[Rita Pierrottie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Read

There were enough plot twists in this story to make one dizzy. I never didn't know who the culprit was until the end.

[Joe Sedivec]

Good Light reading.

[Jewett · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like cozy mysteries, you will love this one. It is hilarious and a little twisty.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable mystery. Lots of surprises and hard to guess who done it. Well done Valerie!

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time keeping track of the characters, especially who was friends with whom. And good lord, our protagonist Susan Henshaw has more energy than a roomful of monkeys, not to mention how much money at her disposal to do all that grocery-buying, cooking, and Christmas shopping. Was it a good read? Yes, once you get past some of the annoyances.

Update, 5 years later: After re-reading this back to back with the author's Josie Pigeon's Christmas mystery, Deck the Halls with Murder, I found Susan Henshaw, her vast wealth, and the entitled community she lives in just too precious for my taste. If you can get past all that, the murder and whodunit is pretty well thought out, although I figured out where the body was early on.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not much good at reviews but I did enjoy this book more than the first two entries in the series. This book moved swiftly with clues dropped all over but the ending was a big surprise. The conversations about clues were not nearly so prolonged as in the first two books.

Susan Henshaw is a housewife in suburban Connecticut getting ready for the Christmas holidays. Her mother-in-law arrives a week early with a boyfriend in tow and a crazy fad diet. I loved the descriptions of all the Christmas decorations and the arrangements for the parties. I felt like I was there.

I'm going to find the next book though I had a difficult time finding this book.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was published in the 90's. Reading a cozy about rich suburbanites was a nice change of pace from all the cozies that are published today, where the economy is bad and half the book is about how the protagonist/protagonist's small business is struggling financially. The mystery wasn't bad either. I'd read others in the series.

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by Valerie Wolzien, and I enjoy her writing style. I can just sit back and relax and not have to think too hard about the mystery because I know Susan Henshaw will work everything out by the end.

[Sarah "Kat" · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fast read. The setting in CT was rich and snobby but imaginably beautiful. The women characters were such upper class snobs and their jocking to be was at times annoying. Overall I enjoyed the writing enough that I would pick up another by this authore.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the best Susan Henshaw books I've read. Not sure exactly what I liked about it so much. I never would have guessed the ending in a million years and I did enjoy the old gathering of the suspects at the end.

[ChrisGA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical cozy with housewife Susan as sleuth along with her best friend Katherine who is an ex-cop now another housewife. A man murdered while hosting a Christmas partybut then the body disappears---Who killed him--exwife or current wife—or one of group of friends at party.

[Sissy BP · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun Christmas mystery. All the elements are there - shopping, cooking, eating, parties, Christmas concerts, family, celebrating - with a murder thrown into the mix. I first read this book about 25 years ago and it's still a favorite.