People sometimes ask me, “Alex, what is it like to solve a murder?” My answer is usually, “Like a dream come true.” I realize how bonkers that sounds—believe me, I do feel sad about every death. But as a kid, I didn’t dream of being a princess or a pop star. I wanted to be Nancy Drew. I wanted clues, culprits, and at least one dramatic reveal per week. Instead, I grew up, got practical, and became…a banker. Yep. Can you say “soul-crushing culture?”

Once I’d saved up enough from my somewhat boring, but reasonably lucrative financial career, I realized that actual sleuthing gigs were few and far between—so I did the next best thing: I opened Murder and Mayhem, a mystery book and poison-themed chocolate shop. Because if I couldn’t solve real crimes, at least I could sell the dream to others—along with chocolates shaped like skulls and names like Gingerbread Glesemine truffles and Strychnine Strawberry.

My identical twin, Hanna—who had been running our parents’ gift shop back in Frankenmuth—decided to abandon ship (sorry, Mom!) and join me here in Harriston, Montana, to become the Willy Wonka to my Sherlock Holmes. Our mother still hasn’t fully forgiven me for “stealing” her chocolatier.

Things only got better when our friend and neighbor, Maggie, came aboard too. Between the three of us, we turned Murder and Mayhem into the coziest little crime-and-cocoa haven this side of the Rockies.

Now, you’d think winter would be our slow season, right? Think again. Ever since the first murder hit our quiet little resort town, business has boomed. Turns out, true crime fans travel, and some of them are…let’s say “colorful.” Decembers have been especially wild since I seem to keep stumbling over dead bodies. I know most people count down the days until Christmas; I count down how many days we’ve gone without finding a body.

This year, though, I’m optimistic! We’re going to have some festive fun without any fresh corpses under the Christmas tree. Our annual Christmas festival is the biggest it’s ever been, and I’ve been up to my eyeballs in candy canes, fake snow, and glitter that I swear is reproducing. The town has really outdone itself with the lineup: Victorian-garbed carolers wandering the streets, a petting zoo, face painting, a Christmas market, a “Build-a-Frosty” contest, sled races, wagon rides, a tree lighting, a family dance on Main Street, and of course, the holiday decorating contest to kick things off.

Which brings me to my current bout of grinchiness. A certain obnoxious diva in charge of the decorating contest roped me into being one of the judges—along with my nemesis. Insert a little self-pity. Thankfully, one of my besties, Sam—the owner of the Cookies’ n Crumbs Bakeshop— is the other judge. I really don’t know what I’d do without my close circle of BFFs. They are the glue holding together the last bits of my sanity at the moment. But it’s fine. Once we get through judging tomorrow night, things should calm down, and Harriston—and I—can return to our regularly scheduled cozy chaos.

DECK THE HALLS WITH HOMICIDE – A Killer Chocolate Mystery, Book 3
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: October 2025
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link

Perfect for fans of Jacqueline Frost and Vicki Delany, when a holiday decorating contest turns deadly, twin sisters Alex and Hanna trade tinsel and twinkle lights for tracking the twists and turns of a cunning killer.

Alex and Hanna, owners of Murder and Mayhem book and chocolate shop, are hoping for a quiet holiday. That is, after Alex is finished judging the Deck the Halls contest organized by Vanessa, nicknamed “The Dragon.” The whole experience has turned Alex’s usual festive spirit a little grinchy. Instead of inspiring holiday cheer with fun lawn displays, the contest has turned cutthroat and decorations have started disappearing. After Alex’s beau, Tom, is seen in a heated argument with the Dragon about his stolen trimmings, Alex finds him dressed as Santa, kneeling over Vanessa’s dead body…with one of his missing candy cane decorations buried in her chest. It’s no surprise he becomes the sheriff’s top suspect.

Alex and Hanna quickly amass a cast of suspects deeper than Santa’s reindeer roster, including an old family friend tasked by their mother with romantic interference; a nosy reporter eager to reveal Alex’s previous murder-y exploits; and the victim’s psychologist-to-the-stars husband with a spicy secret. But as they try to catch a crafty killer, Alex also grapples with the escalating wrath of Tom’s daughter, and a mysterious psychic dropping cryptic clues, while Hanna deals with her own Christmas crisis.

Murder puts a bitter spin on the twins’ sweet confections and they must find the killer and wrap up the case to keep Santa off the naughty list.

About the author
Christina Romeril writes the Killer Chocolate Mystery Series. She’s been a murder mystery fan since third grade when her mother purchased her first Trixie Belden Mystery. She grew up in Southern Ontario spending her summers in Muskoka where her imagination for murder and mayhem took root among the lakes and forests of the Canadian Shield. Later, she moved to Southern Alberta and discovered the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. The tiny village she now calls home inspired the location of her cozy mystery series, though she moved it across the border, closer to the mountains, near Big Fork, Montana.