Hark the Herald Angels Slay by Vicki DelanyMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
A little over 3 stars, I think. This was a fun little Christmas book, even if they were celebrating Christmas in July. In this installment, Merry's past comes back to haunt her, in the form of the ex-fiancée who was one of the reasons that she left New York and returned to her hometown of Rudolph.
Max, the ex, didn't come alone. He brought several staff and was followed by his new squeeze, the magazine owner’s daughter. Right about the point where, as a reader, you start to wonder if anything is going to happen, hey presto! A body is discovered in Merry's shop and her employee has gone missing.
There was a welcome departure from Delany's usual plot line—Detective Simmons never considers Merry a suspect and actually includes her in part of the investigation since she knows the people involved. The usual Delany pattern would dictate that the police would suspect Merry and resent any of her suggestions or discoveries. This was a refreshing change.
Also a nice change is a distinct reduction of the small town politics and less time spent by Merry and her BFF in restaurants and coffee shops. This may be the way that we really spend our time, but it's dull to read about. (One of my major beefs with cozy mysteries is that there is way too much attention paid to food, housework, clothes, and personal grooming. All this stuff needs to happen in real life, but it's boring as hell to read about.)
As cozy mysteries go, these are fast and reasonably fun, if somewhat predictable.
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