I have not read a huge number of festive books this year. I think it is because I am such a mood reader, rather than a planner. And, this has definitely been my year for crime and thriller books, so when you can mix that with a festive read, it sounds like my kind of book.
I read this as a buddy read with a lovely fellow bookworm, and it is a great book to read along with someone else, as you can play armchair detective, but you can also share your own anecdotes about Christmas. I also finished it on Christmas Day, which seemed like perfect timing to me.
‘Happy Bloody Christmas’ starts with the discovery of a dead Father Christmas in the pantry (sounds like something out of Cluedo, which I think may have been a little of the inspiration for this book – especially as it gets a shout out in the book) and, from there, we follow Anna as she tries to not only solve the mystery of who stabbed Santa, while also keeping Christmas on track. But it is already Christmas Eve. This leads to a rather amusing series of events as Anna tries to juggle all that comes with an investigation and Christmas.
This is a cosy crime tale for the festive season with a note of light heartedness as it looks at family relationships and pressures at Christmas time. It makes for a rather easy but well-constructed story, that leads us in all sorts of different directions as to who may have chosen Santa as their victim – there are a few moments of misdirection, and that makes for a page-turner of a read.
As I always say, there are no spoilers here, so that makes for a slightly shorter post; however, I am excited to see that there is a second book out next year which I may well pop on my list of festive reads (which, I agree, sounds like rather a lot of planning for a mood reader).
Have you had any favourite festive reads this year?