I’m Holly Schlivnik, President of Mermaid Swimwear. Think your life is complicated? I’ve gone from no men in my life to two; a widower in the rag biz and an LAPD Captain.

I was on my houseboat getting ready to spend Christmas Eve with the cop when two spinning whirls of freezing air spun counterclockwise as twin tornados swirled down. I had enough stress getting ready for my big date. A pair of pain-in-the-patootie apparitions added more to my angst and was the last thing I needed. The ghosts of the widower’s dead wife and daughter blew two blasts of cold air toward my face as they chorused “Merry Christmas!”

I half-heartedly mumbled back, “Merry Christmas.”

I had to hustle my bustle to be ready on time. Conversations would only put me further behind schedule. A rousing rendition of Joy to the World blared from the TV and gave me the solution to my problem.

I pointed to the TV and asked Justine, the widower’s toddler, “Do you like parades?”

Justine clapped and jumped up and down. “Yes, ma’am, I do!”

I pointed to the TV. “Okay, then sit down in front of the TV and watch the Hollywood Star Christmas Parade.”

She giggled with delight and sat cross-legged facing the TV.

Intent on pushing me into his arms, Buddy’s wife’s ears perked up at the word party. She glanced at my bathrobe and said, “You best shake a leg, girlie. Mah Cajun boy don’t fancy bein’ kept waitin’.” She floated over to my bed and fingered my ensemble. I shivered as Marie’s fingers coated the dress with icicles. She gave a loud wolf whistle and whooped, “Honey chile, after mah Buddy gets a gander of you in this here smokin’ hot dress, it’s gonna be all over but the shoutin’.” She tapped the bed and cackled, “You better plan on bein’ late to the party. You might not ever make it out of this here boat altogether.”

“I’m going to the party with somebody else tonight, so Buddy will see my dress another time.”

Marie’s back stiffened. “Who else except mah Cajun boy could you possibly be goin’ anywhere with?”

I sniffed, “It’s none of your business who I spend my time with.”

Marie blew a puff of freezing air in my face. “Well, I’m makin’ it my business, girlie! You and my Cajun boy are destined to be together, so you better git with the program and fast.”

As my face defrosted, I almost put my eye out with the mascara wand when Justine suddenly pointed to the TV and screamed, pardon the pun, loud enough to wake the dead. “Mama! Look at the lady wearing a Santa Claus costume in the parade! She just jumped onto the float with Santa sittin’ in his sleigh and took her red jacket off. Mama, she’s not wearin’ anythin’ under her jacket. The lady has blinkin’ Christmas lights hangin’ off her ta-ta’s, and they’re playin’ Daddy’s favorite Christmas carol.”

We watched in amazement as the flashing Sexy Santa tore off a skimpy St. Nick costume. She danced naked as a jaybird with only a string of blinking Christmas lights glued to her nipples and playing Deck the Halls. Then two big LAPD uniforms leaped onto the float and hustled the half-naked stripper, with her illuminated boobs still flashing, and the choir belting out Deck the Halls, off Santa’s sled and arrested her. The only thing left to say was, “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night…”

Death by Dreidel – A Holly Swimsuit Mystery, Book 6
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: May 2025
Format: Digital, Print
Purchase Link

Mermaid Swimwear President Holly Schlivnik attends an industry Hanukkah party to honor Rapido Swimwear CEO Leni Waxman as the Mount Cedars Hospital Woman of the Year. The guest of honor collapses and dies in the middle of the event. An autopsy confirms that industry bully Leni expired as a result of poisoning by coming in contact with a purposely contaminated dreidel.

When Holly’s business partner is wrongly arrested for Leni’s murder, the wise-cracking, irreverent snoop sticks her nose everywhere it doesn’t belong to flesh out the real killer. But the trail has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster and nothing turns out the way Holly thinks it will as she takes on a ruthless killer hellbent on revenge.

About the author
Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries. She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.

Also check out the first book in my new “Hannah White” mystery series, The Case of the Croaked Coach.

Looking for more? Contact Susie at her website: authorsusieblack.com.