Mike Finn’s Reviews > Christmas Stalkings > Status Update
Mike Finn
is 63% done
FAMILY CHRISTMAS by Patricia Moyes ★★★
A sad, slightly dark tale, told in a gentle almost whimsical tone that made everything sound harmless and cosy when it was actually lethal and tragic.
I admired the storytelling. It's reminded me that I have Patricia Moyes' debut novel 'Dead Men Don't Ski' in my TBR. I must dig it out soon.
— Nov 27, 2025 01:52PM
A sad, slightly dark tale, told in a gentle almost whimsical tone that made everything sound harmless and cosy when it was actually lethal and tragic.
I admired the storytelling. It's reminded me that I have Patricia Moyes' debut novel 'Dead Men Don't Ski' in my TBR. I must dig it out soon.
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Mike Finn
is finished
FRUITCAKE, MERCY AND BLACK-EYED PEAS by Margaret Maron ★★★
A heartwarming tale with a distinctive North Carolina flavour. Set between Christmas and New Year's day, this story made me smile because it managed to be kind and credible while looking squarely in the eye of some difficult things. Not cosy in an unrealistic way, but human and gentle and full of the best kind of Christmas spirit.
— Nov 28, 2025 07:38AM
A heartwarming tale with a distinctive North Carolina flavour. Set between Christmas and New Year's day, this story made me smile because it managed to be kind and credible while looking squarely in the eye of some difficult things. Not cosy in an unrealistic way, but human and gentle and full of the best kind of Christmas spirit.
Mike Finn
is 91% done
A POLICTICAL NECESSITY ★★★★
A big part of my enjoyment of the story was my growing hope that a slime-ball Tory politician was going to get what he deserved rather than what he was certain he was entitled to. The rest of my enjoyment came from trying to figure out how that would happen. I didn't see the twist coming but I enjoyed it when it arrived and I enjoyed the satirical tone throughout.
— Nov 28, 2025 07:15AM
A big part of my enjoyment of the story was my growing hope that a slime-ball Tory politician was going to get what he deserved rather than what he was certain he was entitled to. The rest of my enjoyment came from trying to figure out how that would happen. I didn't see the twist coming but I enjoyed it when it arrived and I enjoyed the satirical tone throughout.
Mike Finn
is 86% done
THE FABULOUS NICK by Mickey Friedman ★★★★
A fun tale of Santa, posing as Chimney repair man, solving a crime that has resulted in a young boy hating Santa. This was simple but engaging. I enjoyed meeting Santa. The puzzle was interesting. And I found out just how much of a cookie addict Santa is.
— Nov 28, 2025 02:05AM
A fun tale of Santa, posing as Chimney repair man, solving a crime that has resulted in a young boy hating Santa. This was simple but engaging. I enjoyed meeting Santa. The puzzle was interesting. And I found out just how much of a cookie addict Santa is.
Mike Finn
is 80% done
TWO IN THE BUSH by Eric Wright ★★★
A story about East End criminals sorting out their grievences over Christmas was unlikely to win my heart. Even so, my curiosity pulled me into the story. I needed to know how the criminals were going to use the Salvation Army to take down their opponent.
— Nov 28, 2025 01:58AM
A story about East End criminals sorting out their grievences over Christmas was unlikely to win my heart. Even so, my curiosity pulled me into the story. I needed to know how the criminals were going to use the Salvation Army to take down their opponent.
Mike Finn
is 74% done
MISS MELVILLE REJOICES by Evelyn E. Smith ★★★★★
This was fun. Dark, quirky fun but fun all the same and with a Festive feel. Yes it's a story about an assassin but she's a civilised, interesting assassin who intends to kill someone who does not deserve to be allowed to live. True, killing on Christmas Eve is a little tacky but you have to play the hand you're dealt.
Miss Melville is a wonderful creation.
— Nov 27, 2025 04:23PM
This was fun. Dark, quirky fun but fun all the same and with a Festive feel. Yes it's a story about an assassin but she's a civilised, interesting assassin who intends to kill someone who does not deserve to be allowed to live. True, killing on Christmas Eve is a little tacky but you have to play the hand you're dealt.
Miss Melville is a wonderful creation.
Mike Finn
is 58% done
THE SANTA CLAUS CAPER by Bill Crider ★★
Competently done but, neither of the two men in the story, both of whom were trying to date the same woman, interested me. They felt real enough I just didn't like them, The woman felt more like a concept than a person. The story slid by me because it was more about the two men than about solving the slight but clever mystery of the Christmas Shoplifting..
— Nov 27, 2025 01:36PM
Competently done but, neither of the two men in the story, both of whom were trying to date the same woman, interested me. They felt real enough I just didn't like them, The woman felt more like a concept than a person. The story slid by me because it was more about the two men than about solving the slight but clever mystery of the Christmas Shoplifting..
Mike Finn
is 46% done
THE JANUARY SALE STOWAWAY by Dorothy Cannell
The humour in this didn't work for me. It felt too much like a children's story so, I set it aside.
— Nov 27, 2025 01:24PM
The humour in this didn't work for me. It felt too much like a children's story so, I set it aside.
Mike Finn
is 43% done
THE ONLY TRUE UNRAVELLER by John Malcolm ★★★★
On an unusually snowy Christmas Eve, two old friends walk through a cemetery, As the day darkens and the weather worsens, the civilised conversation between the two men develops an edge that builds into a sense of menace and then of doom.
It’s beautifully done. The pace is perfectly controlled. The structure reminds me of Poe: inexorable, unhurried and chilling.
— Nov 26, 2025 04:21PM
On an unusually snowy Christmas Eve, two old friends walk through a cemetery, As the day darkens and the weather worsens, the civilised conversation between the two men develops an edge that builds into a sense of menace and then of doom.
It’s beautifully done. The pace is perfectly controlled. The structure reminds me of Poe: inexorable, unhurried and chilling.
Mike Finn
is 36% done
ANGELS by Medora Sale ★★★★
'Angels' is about a cold blooded assasination at a children's Christmas Pageant. The solution at the end is so rapid, if you blink you'll miss it. So I ought to be going - not cosy and a bit of s meh mystery. Instead I'm going - this caught the atmosphere of a Christmas pageant at a posh girls' school, I liked the people, enjoyed the humour, found the idea original and the ending worked.
— Nov 26, 2025 10:18AM
'Angels' is about a cold blooded assasination at a children's Christmas Pageant. The solution at the end is so rapid, if you blink you'll miss it. So I ought to be going - not cosy and a bit of s meh mystery. Instead I'm going - this caught the atmosphere of a Christmas pageant at a posh girls' school, I liked the people, enjoyed the humour, found the idea original and the ending worked.
