Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide by Lois Winston is the eighth book in the “Anastasia Pollack Crafting” cozy mystery series, coming October 1, 2019

Two and a half weeks ago magazine crafts editor Anastasia Pollack arrived home to find Ira Pollack, her half-brother-in-law, had blinged out her home with enough Christmas lights to rival Rockefeller Center. Now he’s crammed her small yard with enormous cavorting inflatable characters. She and photojournalist boyfriend (and possible spy) Zack Barnes pack up the unwanted lawn decorations to return to Ira. They arrive to find his yard the scene of an over-the-top Christmas extravaganza. His neighbors are not happy with the animatronics, laser light show, and blaring music creating traffic jams on their normally quiet street. One of them expresses his displeasure with his fists before running off.

In the excitement, the deflated lawn ornaments are never returned to Ira. The next morning Anastasia once again heads to his house before work to drop them off. When she arrives, she discovers Ira’s attacker dead in Santa’s sleigh. Ira becomes the prime suspect in the man’s murder and begs Anastasia to help clear his name. But Anastasia has promised her sons she’ll keep her nose out of police business. What’s a reluctant amateur sleuth to do?

Christmas craft projects included.

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I really love this series because you never know what situations will befall Anastasia as she goes about her daily business but gets pulled into looking for clues to clear a person, and this time Ira need her help in more ways than one.

Once again, the author knows how to tell a story that immediately grabbed my attention and I couldn’t put this book down until the last page was read. Who was the murdered man? Who wanted him dead? What connection does he have with the Pollack family?

The author unravels this light-hearted, witty and holiday tale with a well-written mystery with visually descriptive narrative that put me in the middle of all the action. The pacing was pitch perfect with how well this story was being told with engaging dialogue and exploits that kept me immersed in all that was happening. With enough suspects and clues sprinkled throughout, it was fun watching it all play out with a few hints, here and there, to keep me on my toes. Of course, where would this tale be without the appearances of Lucille, Harriet and Ira’s children and I enjoyed the tactics used for dealing with them.

This was one of the best books in this delightfully lovable series and I can’t wait to see what exciting adventures await Anastasia and her friends.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the author.