Mistletoe and Murder by Laura Stewart - Book Review

Mistletoe and Murder by Laura Stewart

Series: Amelia Adams #2 (Standalone)

Publication Date: 19th Oct 2022

Genre: Contemporary Cozy Mystery 

4 Stars 

One Liner: Slow but entertaining 

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Amelia Adams has turned her Scottish inheritance into a hotel. The Stone Manor Hotel is set to host its first-ever Christmas wedding of a millionaire and his young fiancé. Naturally, this resulted in an assortment of guests, quirky and annoying personalities, old grudges, buried secrets, blackmail, and high-voltage drama (with loads of booze).   

Amelia gets a call from a mysterious stranger who wants to tell her something important. This sets things in motion, resulting in a few attacks, deaths, and chaos. As if that’s not enough, her friend and celebrity painter, Lorcan, seems to be in trouble. 

With the impending wedding celebrations and a killer on the prowl, it’s up to Amelia to get to the bottom of the mystery and save the day (without becoming the killer’s next victim).  

The story is in Amelia’s third-person POV, with a few chapters in Lorcan’s POV. 

My Thoughts: 

The book is the second in the series but works well as a standalone (I haven’t read the first and could follow this without much effort). There’s enough info about the previous book but scattered in bits and pieces. This prevented info dump and kept the focus where it should be. 

The pacing is slow and steady. It doesn’t pick up the pace, but the writing is easy and engaging. Also, the book is 400 pages, so the plot is detailed, and takes time to get to murder and sleuthing. While this usually irks me, I liked the (recurring) characters and their interactions, so it wasn’t boring at any point. 

The generous doses of humor and the setting are major plus points in the book. The rooms in the hotel are pretty interesting and named after famous mystery writers. Guess what’s the best room in the hotel? Agatha Christie’s suite, of course! 

The main characters seem easy to like and have a few quirks that make them a wee bit flawed. There are a few eye-roll moments (which are expected). 

The climax and ending are well done without being over the top. It took me a good while to guess the killer, but I’m glad I got it right. A certain revelation was unexpected though it fits with the overall plot. 

To summarize, Mistletoe and Murder is a solid cozy mystery and a wholesome entertainer. It is lighthearted, funny, and satisfying. A bit of pace could have made it even better. 

I’m tempted to check out the previous book to know Amelia’s complete story and look forward to reading more from this series. 

Thank you, Bloodhound Books, for the eARC.