Not A Creature Was Stirring by Christina Freeburn is the first book in the NEW “Merry & Bright Handcrafted” cozy mystery series. Publisher: Henery Press, coming January 22, 2019.

Empty nester Merry Winters loves three things: Christmas, crafting and her family. To regain purpose and joy, Merry hits the road to a Christmas vendor event with her furry sidekick Ebenezer in her new mobile crafting sleigh, aka an RV.

But it soon turns into the nightmare before Christmas when Merry unwraps her Scrooge of an ex-husband’s body in one of the RV’s compartments. Add to that his missing winning lottery ticket believed to be stashed somewhere in the RV, leading the homicide detective and Merry’s stepdaughter to believe Merry is the one whodunit.

With visions of prison dancing in her head, will Merry be able to solve this Christmas calamity before she’s locked away?

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I like it. We are introduced to recently divorced Merry and her crafting business. Little does she know she’ll become the prime suspect in the death of her ex-husband when his body is found in her newly purchased RV that she bought from her stepdaughter. What follows is anything can happen as first Merry tries to clear her name and at the same time can’t believe that her stepdaughter would kill her own father.

This was an enjoyable read with a comfortable tone, plenty of non-stop action and pacing that was on par with how well this story was being told. The mystery was nicely done with just the right amount of intrigue to keep me devouring all that was happening. The suspect pool was small, but all had stronger motives and with each clue sprinkled throughout this whodunit took me closer to the killer’s identity. When I thought I was a bit closer, the author changed directions all to the betterment of this festive whodunit. As the story came to a close, the pacing became frenetic as everything fell into place and all I could do was savor every moment as justice was served. There were a few surprising twists and I’m glad one of them was righted. Overall, a delightfully entertaining debut and I can’t wait for more tales with Merry and her friends.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss.