Review & Giveaway: The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen

Description (from cover):

‘She may be thirty-fifth in line for the throne, but Lady Georgiana Rannoch cannot wait to ring in the new year–before a Christmas killer wrings another neck…

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me–well, actually, my true love, Darcy O’Mara, is spending a feliz navidad tramping around South America. Meanwhile, Mummy is holed up in a tiny village called Tiddleton-under-Lovey with that droll Noel Coward! And I’m snowed in at Castle Rannoch with my bumbling brother, Binky and sourpuss sister-in-law, Fig.

So it’s a miracle when I contrive to land a position as hostess to a posh holiday party in Tiddleton. The village is like something out of A Christmas Carol! But no sooner have I arrived than a neighborhood nuisance, a fellow named Freddie, falls out of a tree, dead… Dickensian, indeed.

Freddie’s merely a stocking stuffer. On my second day in town, another so-called accident turns up another mincemeat pie–and yet another on my third. The village is buzzing that a recent prison break could have something to do with it…that, or a longstanding witch’s curse. I’m not so sure. But after Darcy shows up beneath the mistletoe, anything could be possible in this wicked wonderland.’

My thoughts:

This series has to simply be one of my favorites. Georgiana Rannoch is a loveable character and is very near and dear to my heart. I grab these mysteries as soon as they come out and simply cannot get enough. I love Georgie’s wit and humor and these mysteries always make me laugh. I can expect to have fun while reading a book in this series.

Georgie has decided that she would rather spend Christmas in a small town called Tiddleton-under-Lovey instead of being trapped with her dreary family in Castle Rannoch. She arrives in Tiddleton-under-Lovey and soon mysterious accidents begin occurring. Someone in the small village meets with an accident every day and is killed. Georgie being the great solver of mysteries that she is, can’t help but be intrigued and wants to investigate. Soon she discovers that there is a pattern to these unseemly accidents and she must solve the case before someone else turns up dead.

Rhys Bowen never disappoints me. This was a Christmas themed mystery and it was very cozy. I enjoyed it immensely. I will admit that I did peg the murderer pretty soon, but it still was a captivating read. I love the way Bowen weaves Christmas tradition into a complex murder mystery and found it to be very clever. I was also thrilled that there were new developments with Georgie and Darcy’s relationship. It’s about time. I was starting to get frustrated about that, but hopefully with these new details their romance can go forward and actually feel like its going somewhere for the reader. I absolutely cannot wait for the next to be released in this series and applaud Bowen on a job well done!

Overall Rating: 4

Title:  The Twelve Clues of Christmas
Author:  Rhys Bowen
Series:  Royal Spyness Mystery #6
Publisher:  Berkley
Publication Date:  November 6, 2012
Pages:  320
Genre:  Historical Mystery
Get It:  Amazon; Barnes & Noble

Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.

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