“Coming back to the manor now felt like a sore that kept rubbing raw. The good memories she had there had become so tainted by everything else that had happened in the last five years.”
Jessica Baker, A Christmas Puzzle
Title: A Christmas Puzzle
Series: A Lady Thea Mystery (Book 3.5)
Author: Jessica Baker
Genres: Historical Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Christmas
Pages: 54 (Kindle)
Publish Date: December 15th, 2022
My Rating: ★★★★★
Read: 12/4/2022 – 12/5/2022
Happy publication day!
Review:
What a lovely Christmas surprise this was! Picking up after Book 3, we follow Thea and her family at Christmastime… but it isn’t all merriment for Thea.
After a year of excitement and danger, a quiet Christmas at Astermore feels a bit foreign. Thea misses her friends — a certain inspector in particular — and feels isolated being thrown back into her familial role. Uncertain of where her relationship with Leslie stands, she doesn’t know how to ward off her family’s not-so-subtle hints of marrying her off. Meanwhile, little Mercury has been sneaking out of the room. After one of his adventures, he brings Thea a key. A seasoned sleuth at this point, she sees this as a new mystery.
As always, I enjoyed visiting Thea’s world. This one has a slightly different vibe than the other books with the absence of some key characters from the rest of the series, but it was interesting getting a glimpse of what Thea was like before they entered her life. There are some appearances from some of the minor characters from past installments which was also fun to see. I’ll be on the edge of my seat until the next book!
A huge thanks to the author for sending me a free digital ARC of the book! I will also be purchasing a physical copy.
Likes & Dislikes:
What I liked:
- This might be obvious, but a story set at Christmastime. It’s such a great time and setting for it.
- Getting to hear a little bit more about Thea/Thayne’s relationship.
- Mercury! I’m such a sucker for a cat in books.
- Getting to know more about Thea’s father.
What I didn’t like:
- It ended on such a cruel cliffhanger!
- I definitely missed the other characters, but they wouldn’t have fit into this plot.
Afterthoughts:
This is the perfect one-sitting Christmas read, however, there’s definitely a benefit from reading the rest of the series first.