Customer Reviews

A Wee Christmas Homicide (Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the third in Dunnett's series of Scottish mysteries, set in the small town of Moosetookalook (don't you love that name?), Maine? Liss MacCrimmon, a former professional Scots dancer whose career was ended by a knee injury, now runs her aunt's Scottish Emporium. When a lack of snow before Christmas ruins the local businesses, Liss devises an idea to run a 12 Days of Christmas promotion involving "Tiny Teddies," a hot new toy out of stock in most of the Northeast, except in Moosetookalook. The promotion works, but with people fighting over the collectible toys, a more bizarre crime occurs: a Tiny Teddy in the window of a local toy store is shot--then followed by the shooting death of the acerbic, avaricious toy store owner.

I hadn't read the other books in the series, but it seemed pretty easy to catch up with the plots surrounding Liss, the two men vying for Liss' affection, Liss' aunt, the deputy sheriff, and the other regular residents and places of Moosetookalook. The mystery was fairly perplexing, and I liked the Maine setting, but the characters didn't particularly grab me enough to purchase the other two books. YMMV!

This was my first Dunnett - and probably my last.

The writing was OK. I thought the author did a credible job of hinting about previous books without giving anything away to those who will be reading them afterwards. (That would not be me).

However, the murder / mystery side of the story was boring. I couldn't rouse any enthusiasm for it at all. And the romance side was beyond ridiculous. SPOILER ALERT: At the end, the heroine was apprehensive that maybe one or both of her prospective suitors was going to pop the question for Christmas. Except that she had less interaction with both of these gentlemen than almost any other characters in the book. These people barely talk to each other. Marriage didn't appear remotely feasible, much less imminent.

Actually, I didn't like the heroine at all. You always have the problem with cozies establishing a sound reason why the amateur is involved in solving the case at all. Here, there was NONE. SPOILER ALERT: In one scene, she breaks into someone's house to find a "clue" because his actions are suspicious for no reason that I could discern. She muses to herself that she is squeamish about looking through his things, but someone who may be a murderer, or just a smuggler, isn't deserving of "fair treatment." WTF? How is this shop keeper, with no personal investment in this investigation, the judge of who deserves anything? And of course, in this case, fair treatment just means the right not to have your house broken into and searched.

The only character in the book I found interesting was the best friend, who WAS a cop with a reason to be involved in the investigation. I also liked that she was realistically struggling with changes in her romantic relationship, which WAS an actual relationship. Because of this character, I might be willing to try the author again in another series. But I won't go looking for it.

I had enjoyed the previous two books in this series, so I was looking forward to this one. I love books set around Christmas, small town or big city, doesn't matter. I downloaded it to my Kindle and curled up for a pleasant evening.

The first half of the book was fine. I got a chuckle when Liss talked about how she hated books where the author creates a heroine who is "TSTL" - Too Stupid To Live. Then what happens? Ms Dunnett has Liss do something so incredibly stupid I just stopped. Up to that point, Liss had been reasonably bright, and when she did do something a little silly, she'd acknowledge it and go on. But this was so absolutely moronic, it effectively ended the series for me. Too bad, because I did like the books up until then.

In Moosetookalook, Maine, at the Scottish Emporium, owner Liss MacCrimmon is suspicious when Gavin Thorne of the Toy Box enters. He wants to buy the wee Scottish teddy bears at a dealer discount. She says no, but he drops a newspaper with an article on the latest toy craze of the season the Tiny Teddies. Across New England and probably the country, no store has any in stock except in Moosetookalook, Maine as Liss has a hundred; and Gavin and Marcia also have a supply.

With a snow-less Christmas, the economy is in a slump. Liss suggests advertising on TV, the Net and the newspapers the sale of the Tiny Teddies to bring in collectors to fill the empty hotels and restaurants, etc. desperate for a purchase. The three owners agree but Gavin gauges the supply and sells them for outrageous prices. Someone obviously irate shoots a bullet through his store window piercing the heart of the last Toy Teddie. Everyone assumes it was a dumb prank, but Liss finds Gavin SCONE COLD DEAD in his home executed with a shot to his heart. She is determined to find the killer though the State Police Officer Gordon who is her boyfriend tells her to keep her butt out of the investigation. Her obstinacy almost leads to the deaths of her and Gordon.

Kaitlyn Dunnett gives her readers a glimpse of what a small Maine town is like just prior to Christmas. Moosetookalook is populated by eccentrics who are independent and hard working. They rally around the tree for the good of the town. Although why Liss insists on probing the homicide of an obnoxious colleague is a bit over the top of Mt. Katahdin, fans will enjoy the holiday homicide in The Pine Tree State.

Harriet Klausner

This book was centered around all the hussle and bussle of Christmas, particularly obtaining the "hottest" toy of the year. The book is easy to follow. I was able to put it down (I read another short book I was interested in). But when I picked it back up, I could easily remember the story line and finish the book. Some reviewers claim that parts of the book aren't realistic. I understand fiction has to be somewhat realistic to be credible, but, really, it is fiction. This is not your normal sweet, gooey, Christmas novel. But I did enjoy it.

What a delightful cosy mystery for Christmas.

I quite enjoyed this tale set in Moosetookalook, Maine with many Scottish references. Quite refreshing to read a mystery without a lot of sex and violence. Dunnett tells a good, entertaining story, well written and a page turner with a surprising conclusion. Highly enjoyable read.

I want to read more of her stuff.

James A. Anderson,
Author of DEADLINE

I loved this book, delightful read, hid the murder till almost the end. The flovor of the Scottish tinged Northeast came through with every well turned phrase of this book. And the frenzy of avid collectors was extermly well dipicted.
This is my first book by Ms. Kaitlyn Dunnett, but be assured I will be checking out her back list, her style is an easy read and transfers her readers to that special place of 'yes, this could very well be a small town in Main and these could very well be real people I might meet if I go for a skiing vacation.

This is the first I have read of this author, and the last. I bought it because I love Christmas cozy mysteries. But, as mysteries go this one was slow and tedious. There are far too many mundane details, and not much intrigue. Liss, (sometimes written "Lisa" in my copy) never really came to life for me. When she said her knee was sore, I realized that it was the only time she seemed to feel anything.
A main reason I disliked this book so much is that the inner margins did not exist in my copy, so the last word on every line was hidden in the spine of the book---I had to make up a bunch of words to try to read this book.
Really, it was a book I could hardly pick up. I really think the publishers know that we will buy Christmas stories, and do not invest much effort in polishing up a pitched story.

I enjoyed this holiday read very much. Even though there was homicide, it was a very still humorous and entertaining.