The Body in the Sleigh: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Faith Fairchild Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Katherine Hall Page (Author)

Book Description

Series: Faith Fairchild Mysteries | Publication Date: October 27, 2009

All the Fairchilds are spending the Christmas holidays on idyllic Sanpere Island. While the Reverend Thomas Fairchild recuperates from surgery, his caterer wife, Faith, rejoices in the rare family-time together. But Faith's high spirits are dampened when she discovers the body of a young woman in an antique sleigh in front of the Historical Society. The victim, a teenage drug addict, was beloved by many—and her untimely death rocks the tight-knit island community.

Meanwhile, local spinster Mary Bethany finds a newborn baby boy in her barn on Christmas Eve, along with a note left in the basket and an alarming amount of cash. As Faith tries to locate the child's mother, she realizes his abandonment may be connected to the dead teen's last days—and that, like death and life on Sanpere, evil and redemptive goodness are also intertwined.

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Agatha-winner Page's delightful 18th Faith Fairchild mystery (after 2008's The Body in the Gallery), Faith and her family get away to their cottage on Sanpere Island in Maine's Penobscot Bay for the Christmas season. Tranquility reigns only briefly before Faith finds a young girl's body tucked among the mannequins in a local holiday display. If this wasn't enough to keep Faith busy, she receives a Christmas Eve call from reclusive goat farmer Mary Bethany, who's discovered a babe in her manger—a newborn boy inside her barn, along with a puzzling note and a serious bankroll. When Mary determines to keep the baby safe and Faith attempts to locate the birth mother, both women end up in peril. Amid the holiday festivities, Faith wears the hats of good wife and mother while slipping into her sleuth cap at every opportunity. Her investigative work builds to an exciting conclusion. Faith's kitchen skills result in some wonderful recipes listed at the end. (Nov.)
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Review

“Katherine Hall Page is my favorite writer of the traditional mystery. Not only is The Body in the Sleigh a gripping whodunit, but it’s a classic tale of hope.” (Harlan Coben, New York Times bestselling author of Long Lost )

“This 18th entry in the addictive series featuring Faith Fairchild, minister’s wife and caterer extraordinaire, attests to Page’s skill at creating absorbing cozies with likeable, well-rounded characters who feel like old friends.” (Mystery Scene on The Body in the Sleigh )

“Page is adept at mixing charming narrative with page-turning mystery.” (BookPage on The Body in the Sleigh )

“An enjoyable, swift read....Page...gift-wraps everything up with a bow on top.” (Bangor Daily News on The Body in the Sleigh )

“This charming story, told with humor, warmth and wonderful characters, is a perfect holiday present for cozy mystery fans.” (Romantic Times on The Body in the Sleigh )

“A tasty holiday treat.” (Iron Mountain Daily News (MI) on The Body in the Sleigh )

“The feel-good Christmas theme, pleasant characters and recipes will keep the faithful content.” (Kirkus Reviews on The Body in the Sleigh )

“Delightful.” (Publishers Weekly on The Body in the Sleigh )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1ST edition (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061474258
• ISBN-13: 978-0061474255
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #682,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katherine Hall Page is the author of seventeen previous Faith Fairchild mysteries, the first of which received the Agatha Award for best first mystery, and recently The Body in the Snowdrift was honored with the Agatha Award for best novel of 2006. Page also won an Agatha for her short story "The Would-Be Widower." She lives in Massachusetts with her husband and son.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's holiday time and the Fairchild Family are spending it in Maine., October 28, 2009

By 

M. Lignor (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Body in the Sleigh: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Faith Fairchild Mysteries) (Hardcover)

It's holiday time and the Fairchild Family, Faith, Tom, Ben and Amy are spending it in their summer cottage on Sanpere Island on the coast of Maine. Maine you ask? In the middle of winter? That's just crazy. But, Tom is recuperating from major surgery and the family decides to go to their cottage where he can relax and have a pleasant, quiet recuperation. Still, just like Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote, whenever Faith shows up anywhere, the dead bodies start to pile up. Although, things start out very quietly, family time together, watching ice boaters, snow shoeing in the woods and a lot of reading, things are about to happen.

Faith takes the children to town one morning to take Christmas pictures in front of the Sanpere Historical Society. They had decorated an old sleigh with Christmas packages and a couple of manikins dressed up in antique costumes. But, as Faith is taking the pictures she notices that there are three manikins. And, the third figure turns out to be a dead body. The victim is Norah Taft, a young woman who had lived on Sanpere during the summer months and just recently had come back to live full time with her mother. She was apparently a drug addict and had committed suicide. Many people on the Island remembered her fondly and were very disturbed by her death.

In the meantime, also on the island, a local woman, Mary Bethany, who raises goats comes upon a newborn baby boy in her barn on Christmas Eve. The only indications of his identity are a note asking Mary to raise the baby as well as a lot of cash. Mary asks Faith to help her find the identity of the baby's mother and during their investigation they find that the truth behind the child abandonment is connected somehow to Norah's death.

This book is a page-turner. Ms. Page is wonderful as usual and ties everything up at the end with her usual talent. She is a great story teller and has won about every prize given to Mystery Authors. However, I've read all of her previous books about Faith Fairchild (17) and they all had a certain light-heartedness about them. This book is entirely different. It is much darker but the story is really excellent. The plots jump around a little but, if you read this author's books like I do you don't put it down long enough to get confused. Excellent job, Ms. Page. I'm so relieved you haven't decided to have Faith go after a group of vegetarian vampires. They are really getting old. Thanks for the great read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting Christmas mystery a, October 31, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Body in the Sleigh: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Faith Fairchild Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Faith Fairchild and her family spend Christmas together at their cottage on Sanpere Island in Penobscot Bay, Maine. At a local store, Faith finds the corpse of a teen named Norah in an antique sleigh. She assumes the young girl died from an overdose as there are no visible marks on the girl, but the police suspect her boyfriend is her killer.

On Christmas Eve goat farmer Mary Bethany calls Faith asking for help. Mary explains she has found a newborn boy with an enigmatic note and $50,000 inside her barn. While her husband the Reverend recovers from gallstone removal surgery, Faith searches for the biological mother. She locates college student Miriam whose boyfriend is a dealer. The amateur sleuth and the mom are in trouble from those who want both dead.

This is an exciting Christmas mystery as Faith and her family celebrates the holiday season together by her investigating the homicide and the baby abandonment while her spouse recovers from surgery with good cheer from the brood especially the children. The story line is fast-paced with two underlying messages of the lucrative drug trafficking is everywhere as the economics supersedes the law and the ethics, and the Fairchild family wishing everyone a happy holiday season with recipes and good cheer to all.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rough sledding, February 1, 2010

By 

R. Fink "Armchair traveler," (Harrisburg, Pa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Body in the Sleigh: A Faith Fairchild Mystery (Faith Fairchild Mysteries) (Hardcover)

My intro to this series and possibly not the best choice since readers with a foundation in it are enthusiastic. There is not much sleuthing here. We guess the "who" and "why" early on and then, through various points of view, discover the "how." Passable but not compelling though I enjoyed the descriptions of a Maine winter landscape. Did not inspire me to explore the other titles, but I very much appreciated the addenda dedicating the text to librarians.