April Claus here with a distressing update from Santaland: Gobbles is missing.

Gobbles is a turkey. Birdnapping is suspected.

Turkeys are an unusual bird for the North Pole. Thanksgiving is an unusual holiday for Santaland, too, but the elves at Castle Kringle thought that the celebration would be a treat for me, since I lived in the United States until my marriage to Nick Claus—aka Santa—a few years ago. So Butterbean, the castle’s under-steward, ordered a live turkey from a website and, after a few hitches, Gobbles arrived and created a sensation. Our groundskeeper elf, Salty, built a luxurious turkey condo for our feathered guest to live in. This poultry pavilion became something like a zoo as a steady stream of elves made their way up Sugarplum Mountain to Castle Kringle to view the exotic fowl.

The condo now stands ominously empty.

At first I thought this turkey snatch might have been committed by someone unhappy about the culinary destiny of our honored bird. Given Gobbles’ popularity, there’s no shortage of suspects who might have tried to save him from the fate of the dinner plate. But there have been other disturbing things happening in Santaland. Like my nemesis, Elspeth Claus, face-planting into a plate of mashed potatoes during a pre-holiday dinner. Or the subsequent ransacking of the house where Elspeth lived with her old aunt. A birdnapping, a fatal poisoning, and a home invasion all in one week must be more than mere coincidence…

Normally I’d have more time and help to investigate, but Thanksgiving has distracted everyone, including yours truly. Constable Crinkles and his deputy are frantically decorating a float for the first-ever Thanksgiving parade in Christmastown. Elves at the castle are constructing giant helium balloons. My mother-in-law is focussed on place settings, pie preparation, and nagging me to find a substitute turkey. My good friend Claire is visiting from Oregon but seems to be carrying on some kind of clandestine activity in Christmastown. And I, as a newly designated drum majorette in the holiday parade, need to learn to twirl, stat.

Luckily, if there’s one skill I’ve honed as Mrs. Claus, it’s multi-tasking. I’ve also got my elf friend Juniper to help me in my sleuthing, as well as Quasar the Reindeer, and even a snowman or two to point me in the right direction. Please keep your fingers crossed that we can find our missing turkey and stop this Christmastown crime wave in its tracks!

Giveaway: Liz has generously offered to give away one print copy of Mrs. Claus And The Trouble With Turkeys. To enter, please leave a comment below. One entry per person and the giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends October 1, 2023. Good luck everyone!


Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys, A Mrs. Claus Mystery Book #4
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: September 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Jessica Fletcher meets Tim Burton in this creative and witty cozy mystery series filled with unconventional characters, a year-round Christmas setting, and a unique heroine who’s married to the real-life Santa Claus—and this time, there are two holidays in the mix.

At Castle Kringle, the elves are excitedly arranging their first ever Thanksgiving day feast. April’s husband, Nick—the real Santa—has some misgivings, since it’s tough to get ready for Christmas when everyone is obsessed with helium balloons and pie recipes. Chaos erupts when Gobbles, the live turkey imported for the castle feast, is bird-napped. That crime is quickly overshadowed at a pre-Thanksgiving potluck when Nick’s cousin, Elspeth, face-plants into her mashed potatoes—dead.

Someone poisoned Elspeth, and April believes Constable Crinkle is hauling the wrong suspect off to jail. An ominous message, written in what seems to be blood and urging April to stop investigating, only convinces her more. But who’s really to blame? Where is Gobbles the turkey? And can April solve a double helping of mystery in time for everyone to sit down to a non-deadly dinner together?


About the author
Liz Ireland grew up in Texas, where she experienced nothing but green Christmases for most of her life—until she moved to Canada. In addition to the Mrs. Claus mysteries, she writes the Cupcake Coven series of rom-coms under the name Elizabeth Bass. Liz is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Mystery Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. She currently lives on beautiful Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

All comments are welcomed.