Can Candy Cane Carriages survive a murder? SLAY RIDE is the third in D.B. McNicol’s Holiday Corner Christmas Cozy Mystery series and it is just as entertaining, fast-paced, and fun as the first two. The story begins with twins Candi and Mandi’s arrival at Holiday Corners to visit their grandparents and help them out with the family business, Candy Cane Carriages. College grads Candi, future vet, and Mandi, future biz wiz, jump in with their skills to help their grandparents. Gram and Gramps want to retire and it looks like Candi and Mandi may be staying on.
What should be a jolly holiday season comes to a bump in the road when the body of a local photographer is found in one of their sleighs. It may be connected to animal rights activists, but it is a frame job?
The town is is set on fire with gossip and rumors as local law enforcement and a medical examiner put their best boots forward into solving the case. So many suspects! And so many motives.
The author paints colorful characters and the plot kept my attention as possible love interests entered the story and a stranger to town rolled in with her own sort of appeal. When I read mysteries, I usually know “who done it” early on, but this story kept me guessing, in a good way.
SLAY RIDE was quite a page-turner and enjoyed it very much. Most of the story is told through dialogue and action, which is my favorite kind of read because it goes fast and unrolls like a movie in my mind.
I look forward to the next one in the series as I get to meet all of the characters and see what trouble brews beneath the surface of a small town with a Christmas theme, 24/7, year-round. This is another great read from D.B. McNicol that can stand alone in the series and can be appealing any time of the year.
These days, I much prefer to read holiday mysteries, rather than sentimental holiday stories, and SLAY RIDE was a satisfying, solid read in that vein. Loved it! A delicious holiday recipe is at the end. Don’t miss it. Five sleighs!
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