Worry quickly turns into frustration when Mrs. D’Angelo reveals she was delayed by new neighbors moving in. As the center for all things gossip, Mrs. D’Angelo is determined to introduce the new arrivals to the neighborhood. As the days pass, Mrs. D’Angelo notices strange things about the newcomers, but Merry, busier than an elf in Santa’s workshop, has little time for matters that really don’t concern her. But things turn from jolly to downright concerning when Mrs. D’Angelo disappears, and Merry is forced to admit that something might be terribly wrong.
With family and friends counting on her during this stressful holiday season, it is up to Merry to make sure this Christmas doesn’t end up wrapped in blood red. (Summary via Goodreads)
I know O, Deadly Night by Vicki Delany is the eighth book in the Year-Round Christmas Mystery series and can be read any time of the year but reading it in December really helps put readers into the Christmas spirit .... even with a murder to solve.
In O, Deadly Night main character Merry Wilkinson is as busy as always running her store, Mrs. Claus's Treasures on Jingle Bell Lane in the town of Rudolph. But when Mrs. D'Angelo, her landlord who lives downstairs in the big Victoria that Merry lives upstairs in, tells her about some mysterious goings on across the street in an empty house, she begins to also gets suspicious. And then when Mrs. D'Angelo goes missing for a few days, her attention is on high alert.
When Merry goes snooping across the street she finds more than Mrs. D'Angelo tied up in the kitchen pantry. She finds a dead woman in the cellar with lots of machines. It is soon learned that the dead woman is actually someone who went to school with Merry's sister Eve and the machinery is used to make counterfeit money. The deceased, Raquel, has a criminal past and the NYPD take over the investigation so Merry can let it go.
Unfortunately, Merry cannot let it go even though Christmas is soon approaching and she needs to concentrate on her store and enjoy the holiday. But she is way off in her investigating when her and Mrs. D'Angelo come face to face with Raquel's killer .....
I loved reading O, Deadly Night !! There is no way you cannot fall in love with the town of Rudolph, the shops and the people. I wish it were real so I could visit it !! I guess we will have to settle for visiting it in the books.