Christmas Books on my TBR!

By Sydney Leigh

The Christmas season is approaching at an alarming speed and my brain hasn’t quite caught up. For me, the best way to settle in is with the help of a good book. There are lots of good ones to choose from but I’ve narrowed my picks down to my top three. I’m excited to share them with you.

A Nutcracker Nightmare, by Christina Romeril (Crooked Lane, 2023). This is the second book in the Killer Chocolate Mystery Series. I read the first one and loved it. It features twin sisters Hanna and Alex, owners of a bookstore/chocolate shop.

In A Nutcracker Nightmare, the twins are volunteering at a local high school reunion. A dead body is found  one of the twins becomes the prime suspect. With the help of some good friends and their canine companion, Watson, Hannah and Alex must solve the case before they end up as behind bars, or worse, part of Christmas past.

There are so many things to love here, especially a small town class reunion and twin amateur sleuths!

Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas, by Vicki Delany (Crooked Lane, 2023). This is the sixth book in the Year-Round Christmas Mystery Series. If you’ve never read one of them, now’s the time. Charming, fun, and fast-paced, this series is one of my favorites when the season arrives. It takes place in Rudolph, New York, known as America’s Christmas Town, and protagonist Merry Wilkinson owns Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a local gift shop.

In this latest book, the town is getting ready to put of musical porduction of A Christmas Carol. But friction between the cast and crew are threatening to ruin the show and things go from bad to worse when a member of the group is found dead. Suspects include Merry’s mom as well as her shop assistant, springing her into action. 

A Christmas Wager, by Holly Cassidy (Putnam, 2023). Is there a better time to pick up a rom com than Christmas? My answer is no. This book is an enemies-to-lovers delight that takes place in a cozy Colorado mountain town. Take a small-town boy and pit him against a corporate city girl and the sparks fly.

Bella Ross and Jesse Harrison agree to compete in the town’s annual holiday games. Bella is visiting Maple Falls with the goal to acquire a failing Christmas shop. Jesse, the grandson of the shop’s owner, wants to stop her. With compromise out of the question, Bella and Jesse agree to compete in the games. The winner gets to decide on the price of a failing Christmas shop. But as the games begin, feelings toward each other start to get in the way. Um… yes please!

Sydney Leigh ran a seasonal business for several years, working in the summer so she could spend cold months in cool places. Now she writes modern cozy mysteries and thinks about murder. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and served on the Board of Crime Writers of Canada from 2018-2021. A Peril in Pink (Crooked Lane) comes out in March, 2024.