Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59211 in Books
• Published on: 2009-11-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 336 pages

Customer Reviews

Slaying with a Stake of Holly
Meg has been talked into being this year's "Mistress of the Revels" for the college town of Caerphilly, Virginia. Really, that's just a fancy way of saying she is responsible for coordinating the annual Christmas, er Holiday, parade. Between the competing drummers and pipers for the Twelve Days of Christmas, the very pregnant virgin Mary, and the live elephants for the Diwali portion of the parade, she has her hands full.

And that's even without dealing with Ralph Doleson. Since he fits the costume, Meg is stuck with him as Santa even though he'd be better suited to play Scrooge. But his grumbling is short lived since someone drives a stake of holly through his heart. Now Meg has to find a killer before someone who didn't commit murder spends Christmas in jail.

This book is a wonderful Christmas romp with Meg and her family and friends. I was laughing so much during the first half at the antics of some of the characters. All our favorites are here and in fine form. And I enjoyed the lines thrown in from Dicken's Christmas Carol. The second half does get more serious as Meg really tries to find the killer. I did figure out who done it early on, but I needed Meg to tell me why done it. And I was having so much fun along the way I didn't exactly care.

This is a Christmas treat for fans of the series. It will get you in the mood for Christmas. Hopefully, yours will be a little more peaceful, however.

Good one!
Hooray! Donna Andrews is back on form! A really funny book with the Christmas parade full of hilarious detail and mad characters.

Only 4 stars because, once again, the murderer was just too obvious from the start (and the plot a straight rehash of an earlier book, too). There are simply not enough genuine suspects and they don't get enough attention to make it a mystery. Also, she made little kids discover the grisly murder scene (why?) without the adults being in the least concerned about their reactions (apparently because they didn't have any). I did find that weirdly distracting, even though this series is so fluffy that the reader just can't take it seriously...

It doesn't matter, though, because the pleasure is really all in the merry mayhem that swirls around the weak plot.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.