by by Victoria Tait (Author) 

A Book review by Jackie Houchin

     Victoria Tait’s eighth installment in her Dotty Sayers British cozy mystery series arrives fresh for Dotty. She is no longer working in an antiques auction house (although she is still dealing with a “private” collection). She has had a summer in France and a time repairing family ties in Scotland.

Her familiar pals and “frenemies” are nowhere to be seen. (One of them has established her own series!)  A new cast of characters populates this book and Dotty’s life. You can almost see her take a deep breath and square her shoulders, with an eager smile on her face.

It is almost Christmas and she has an interesting new job. All things seem cheery and bright as she enters the Yorkshire country house. Her main task is organizing a complex Christmas display in the house and around the grounds that is centered on C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. The estate will have many visitors which help the finances of Lord Abermarle and his family. A secondary task for Dotty will be to help catalogue the contents of the attic.

Tait takes a while establishing Dotty in the house and getting us used to the new characters, both “upstairs” and “downstairs.” We see friction developing between people, and hints of secrets closely guarded.  We meet a young man, an American, preoccupied with searching library books and records, a sweet little girl who is deaf, and female pastor of the local parish. I totally enjoyed getting into this new setting.

But HOLLY, BAUBLES AND MURDER is a mystery and a death inevitably happens. Is it murder? Dotty is the only one who thinks so. What about another attempt on someone’s life? Surely it is not an accident!  Dotty must brush off her sleuthing skills and go to work to prevent yet another death.

You might guess the villain before the big reveal, despite a huge red herring near the end, but it is fun to follow Dotty’s progress and see HOW the deeds were done…and importantly, WHY.  In this entire book, the lovely Christmas decorations, holiday meals and sweets, a treasure hunt, and the inevitable gang of animals to be fed and rescued is truly enjoyable.

FIVE stars