Holly, Baubles and Murder: A British Cozy Murder Mystery with a Female Amateur Sleuth (A Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery) by Victoria Tait #Review / #Giveaway – Great Escapes Book Tour

Holly, Baubles and Murder:
A British Cozy Murder Mystery with a Female Amateur Sleuth
(A Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery) by Victoria Tait

About Holly, Baubles and Murder

Holly, Baubles and Murder:
A British Cozy Murder Mystery with a Female Amateur Sleuth
(A Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
8th in Series
Setting – Yorkshire, England
Kanga Press (October 20, 2023)
Number of Pages c. 240
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C9NXPJ1X

A joyful Christmas festival turns deadly when a corpse ends up as the chilling centerpiece. Can an amateur sleuth unwrap the tinsel-tangled mystery before the merry cheer melts away?

Talented antique enthusiast, Dotty Sayers, is thrilled to be organising a Christmas display at a Yorkshire country house. She enjoys decking the halls, but the season is far from jolly when the chief guide is found dead, her body as cold as ice.

When cops dismiss the death, Dotty turns to her prickly American colleague, only to learn he has his own secrets to solve. But when he disappears, this amateur detective fears the festive charades have become far deadlier.

Can Dotty string together the clues and bring to light the killer?

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Dotty Sayers has a new assignment. She is filling in for an employee on maternity leave and she is organizing a huge Christmas display at a Yorkshire county home. She is very excited to ready the house for all the visitors who will visit the house and grounds leading up to Christmas. She feels she has everything well in hand until a long-time guide is found dead, eerily laid out in one of the rooms.

The local police decide the woman died of natural causes but Dottie feels differently. She tries to share her thoughts with her partner in organizing the event. Zach is an American volunteer but he seems distracted by something personal. When he is found injured in the same place as the deceased guide Dotty knows there is something afoot in the house. She needs to take a step back and really look at the people she is now living with because she thinks one of them is a killer.

Dotty Sayers is spreading her wings and is much more confident than the Dotty we met when this series started. While I miss the characters from the earlier books, who can now be found in the spinoff Waterwheel Cafe Mysteries, I am really enjoying the way Dotty is striking out on her own. She learned a lot working at Akeman’s Antique Center but definitely needed a break from the Cotswolds. Her travels have given the character more depth and have allowed readers to meet her parents and new people in her life.

The theme for the Christmas decorations was The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe‘s Narnia, and took several days and volunteers to get all the elaborate scenes set up. It also included a shop where guests could purchase pies and drinks. Games and places to chat were also available while people waited for their tours. The event was halted for a couple of days due to snow though. The author described all the decorations, the food, the weather, the house, the grounds, and every scene in such detail. I was able to easily visualize everything so clearly and felt several times that I was there peering over Dotty’s shoulder.

The mysteries within Holly, Baubles, and Murder are delightfully twisted together. The guide’s death, Zach’s secret, and vandalism at the local church, along with all the chaos of getting the home decorated for the masses, and also getting ready for a huge snowstorm headed their way really make the pages fly. Dottie works so hard to follow clues and uncover secrets in her quest to find the killer. It is difficult because she just met all these new people. Ms. Tait introduced some very complicated characters for Dotty to interact with and I loved how she stayed true to the Dotty we have come to know. Sweet on the outside but like a dog with a bone when she is trying to find the truth and fit a bunch of clues together. The way she handled the reveal was classic.

Holly, Baubles, and Murder is a splendid addition to this series. The setting of the Yorkshire home during the holidays was enchanting and the mysteries were intriguing and interesting. Dottie becomes a stronger protagonist with each book in the series. I wonder where she will travel next and what mystery she will be tasked to solve.

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About Victoria Tait

Victoria Tait was born and raised in Yorkshire, England. After following her military husband around the world, she drew on her life’s experiences, and a love of Agatha Christie, Father Brown, and Murder She Wrote, to write British-based cozy mysteries.

Her determined female sleuths are joined by colourful and quirky teams of helpers, and her settings are vivid and realistic. As you’re compelled to keep turning the pages, you’ll be irresistibly drawn into a world where you’ll experience surprises, humour, and sometimes, a tug on your heartstrings.

Do you like tea, mysteries, and books? Then why not join Victoria’s TeaCozy Club for regular news and updates, and download the free prequel to the Dotty Sayers Antique Mysteries series as a gift by visiting VictoriaTait.com

Who doesn’t like tea, cake, and a slice of murder?

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Purchase Links  
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The Dotty Sayers Antique Mysteries

Also written by Victoria Tait

Coming January 5, 2024

 
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”