1st December 2025.
ISBN: 978-1-83618-369-3 (PB)
Eve Mallow is happy with her life in the village of Saxford St. Peter. She enjoys her career as an obituary writer but is content to augment her income by working at the cafe owned by her best friend, Viv. While Eve will never be the inspired baker that Viv is, she is invaluable in creating order out of the chaos that usually surrounds her impetuous friend. Eve is also very happy in her marriage to Robin, after her first marriage had ended in divorce. She is glad that Robin is enjoying his police work in London, but she worries about him, and misses him, especially as Christmas will soon be approaching.
In early November, Eve accompanies Viv, and Viv’s brother, Simon, and her son and daughter-in-law on an exciting local expedition. They visit Arthur’s Boatyard, a business that has been famous for repairing boats and barges for the past hundred years. They are going to collect the sailing boat that Simon has ordered, which has been restored at the boatyard. At the boatyard, Eve feels uncomfortable about the obvious tension between Anthony Mottram, the owner of the boatyard, and Anthony’s second-in-command, Hal Osborne. This is unusual, because the pair have been close friends since their childhood, and both of them are friends with Simon. Her doubts prove to be well founded when Simon takes his new boat out, with Viv’s son and daughter-in-law, Jonah and Stevie, as passengers. Eve and Viv and Eve’s dachshund, Gus, walk along the shore to watch Simon’s first voyage. They are alarmed to see Stevie bailing water out of the boat, and it seems possible that the boat is about to sink.
Simon’s swift action averts the disaster but the fault in a newly-restored vessel indicates that the problems at Arthur’s Boatyard are far more deep-seated than anybody had realised. In the next few days, rumours go round the village that an empty vodka bottle was discovered in a newly restored boat; Anthony claims it must be due to a casual worker, but Eve wonders if Hal or Anthony are responsible, which would account for the tension between them.
At the start of December, Eve, Viv, Simon and two of their friends attend a party at Mistletoe Place to celebrate the centenary of Arthur’s Boatyard. All the friends have assisted Eve in her investigations in the past, and Eve has primed Simon to push for an update on the fault in his boat. The friends plan to watch the interactions at the party in the hope of working out what is going on between Anthony and Hal. Mistletoe Place is the property of Hal’s uncle, Theo Osborne. Although Theo is a widower, whose only daughter has left home, Mistletoe Place also houses Hal’s father and stepmother. Eve is familiar with the house because Hal’s stepmother, Tabitha, is a successful interior designer, and Eve has visited Tabitha, in her capacity as a journalist, in order to research an article about the business. Eve likes and admires Tabitha, but she notices that she looks more anxious than is reasonable for a friendly, celebration party. It is obvious that there is a lot of bad feeling at the party, most of which is centred around Anthony. Eve overhears Hal begging Anthony not to sack him because his job is his ‘passport to freedom’; she also overhears a violent quarrel between Anthony and Theo Osborne, in which Osborne accuses Anthony of being behind somebody’s disappearance. Eve also encounters Anthony’s sister, Ada, who is gloating that things are going wrong for Anthony and Hal. Near the end of the party, when some guests are leaving, Tabitha asks Eve if she has seen Anthony because people wish to say goodbye to him. Eve wonders if he has taken refuge from the controversy surrounding him by going to the boatyard, and she and Viv walk down to see if they can locate him. Anthony is at Arthur’s Boatyard, but when Eve and Viv find him, he is dead, his head battered and bloody by a pipe wrench.
Once again Eve has an obituary to write and a murder to investigate. She commences a round of interviews and soon discovers that the Osborne and Mottram families have many secrets. There are clues to follow and alibis to probe, while Eve still has her everyday work to do, and preparations to make for Christmas and getting her cottage ready for her annual charity open evening. She is also concerned that Robin might not be home to share with her all of the joyous preparations for Christmas. Another murder occurs, but Eve continues to investigate, which results in a terrifying encounter when her own life is in grave peril.
Mystery
at Mistletoe Place
is the fifteenth book in the series featuring Eve Mallow and the people of
Saxford St. Peter. It is an enjoyable addition to a series that continues to
develop and grow, and is based in a warm, close-knit village community. It has
an interesting plot, and engaging characters, whose relationships develop with
each book. Murder at Mistletoe Place is an enjoyable read which I recommend.
-------
Reviewer:
Carol Westron
Carol
Westron is a Golden Age expert who
has written many articles on the subject and given papers at several
conferences. She is the author of several series: contemporary detective
stories and police procedurals, comedy crime and Victorian Murder Mysteries.
Her most recent publications are Paddling
in the Dead Sea and
Delivering
Lazarus,
books 2 and 3 of the Galmouth Mysteries, the series which began with The
Fragility of Poppies. 
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