Claus for Concern (Lester)
An Aurora Aspen Magical Holiday Mystery
(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)
Another Christmas book that I thought should get its own entry. And this one appears to be the first in a series, which was nice. (Other books were Chirstmas books in the middle of their series.) It was written well-enough and the main character was good, but the mystery was not. When a character dies, the waiter who served a drink is arrested. There is literally no evidence other than he handed the sheriff a poisoned drink. But Aurora Aspen is determined to find the real killer to help her ex-boyfriend.
The town hasn't seen a murder in years, and you would htink that they would want to get this one right. Even if the police were inexperienced (mentioned at the end of the book), you would think that they would want to get help to get it right instead of getting it done. They know the victim was killed with heart medication, and yet no one wonders where a healthy young man got the medication from. For that matter, in hindsight, using it to kill the man seems like a boneheaded move on the part of a killer who should've been smarter and not just lucky. Then again, the final actions of the killer were pretty stupid.
Speaking of the killer, when Aurora realizes who the killer is, and the killer is in the next room, she withholds that information from the reader even though it should be foremost in her mind. Granted, by this point, it's obvious because there's really only one other character of note in the book. So the resolution is somewhat less than satisfactory.
Anyway, Aurora Aspen runs a catering business. She is a witch by birth but her grandmother is no longer alive to explain how to be one. She doesn't understand how her magic works except that she can tap into the spirit of the holidays and focus it to make things a little better. Christmas trees and cookies look better with just a little push. Her Dad, whose house she still lives in, knows about it. Her mother left them many years ago, but her presence is felt during the book. And there's more to her that needs to be revealed. Her best friend has known about her powers since they were little. Her ex-boyfriend, Cam, does not, but it seemed like he did in the chapters after bail was posted, but then it stated that he did not.
The Santa and Mrs. Claus characters who turn out (people dressed as them for Christmas) are a bit of a mystery themselves, but apparently, not one worth investigating farther by the main character even though their presence is somewhat unusual. For one thing, they seem to know a bit about her and her power. For another, the word "Claus" is in the title. Yes, it's a Christmas-time story but Santa plays only a tangential role in a couple of minor scenes.
One spoiler I will disclose is that none of the other players, many of whom seem odd, are revealed to be magical in nature themselves. One would expect more witches to appear in the series before long. I probably won't be reading the Valentines Day book, which should be the next in the series.
Comments
Post a Comment