A Very Merry Murder by Mary Angela is the third book in the “Professor Prather” mystery series. Publisher: Camel Press, coming October 1, 2018.

It’s December in Copper Bluff, and from hillside to hallowed hall, everyone is merry—or will be as soon as semester break arrives. Students are studying, professors are grading, and Emmeline Prather is anticipating the university-sponsored holiday concert. Friend and colleague Lenny Jenkins will be accompanying the visiting quartet, Jazz Underground, and Em can’t think of a better way to kick-start the holiday season.

But before she can say “Jingle Bell Rock,” trouble arrives at Candlelight Inn, the bed and breakfast where the quartet is staying. One of the band members dies unexpectedly, and suspicion falls on Em, whose altercation with the man ends with him on the floor. He never recovers, and now she’s worried her reputation might not either. When Emmeline starts to see parallels between an Agatha Christie novel she’s teaching and the victim, Lenny claims she’s read one too many mysteries.

As the clues unravel, so does the murderer’s patience. Em is close to finding the truth, but will the truth—or the murderer—push her over the edge? It will take a Christmas miracle to solve this case, but if there’s one thing in surplus this time of year, it’s faith.

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It’s Christmas time and the joyous occasion is not cooperating when Em becomes the prime suspect in a recent murder and thus begins an investigation to clear her name and save the holiday spirit.

This was a tightly woven whodunit that captured my attention as I had to know what happened next. The pacing was on par with how the story was being told keeping me riveted to the pages as one by one, the suspect pool dwindles and Em is closer to the revealing the killer’s identity. With enough clues sprinkled throughout with a few twists and turns, I thought I had a handle on the killer, but the author changed direction all to enhanced my personal entertainment. When it was all said and done, I enjoyed the mix of holiday happiness and the solving of the murder mystery.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the author.