Sticks and Stones and a Bag of Bones by Heather Weidner

Series Name: Mermaid Bay Christmas Shoppe Mystery Book #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: January 17, 2023
Format: Print, Digital, and Audio

When a beat-up suitcase full of bones washes up by the pier, the residents of the quaint resort town of Mermaid Bay are whipped into a hurricane-sized frenzy over the gruesome find in the middle of their Christmas in July festivities. The holly-jolly mood retreats like the tide, with everyone wondering who was in the suitcase.

Christmas shoppe owner, Jade Hicks, wades into the fracas when voodoo dolls and mysterious notes and posters about impending doom start popping up all over town, threatening to destroy the economy of a community that lives and dies by tourist dollars. Then tensions crest when the prickly bookstore owner is found strangled to death with a string of holiday lights.

Jade and her French bulldog Chloe, have to solve the crime before anyone else gets hurt, and her business and the festival are forever tainted.

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Dru’s Short Musing:
I enjoyed this light and fresh whodunit that kept me on my game.

The author did a great job in presenting this well-written and fast-paced drama where mischief and mayhem was afoot where scattered notes and bits of voodoo seemed to plague the residents of Mermaid Bay. Who wanted the bookstore owner dead? There’s a town full of potential suspects and I had a great time following along with Jade as each clue gathered took us closer to the killer’s identity. What drove this tale was the visually descriptive narrative, the engaging dialogue, the small-neighborly atmosphere and the likeable cast of characters that includes Jade, Nick and Chloe. Overall, this was a great read and I look forward for more exciting times in Mermaid Bay with Jade and her friends.