Yule Be Dead by Lorraine Bartlett with Gayle Leeson

Yule Be Dead by Lorraine Bartlett with Gayle Leeson ISBN-13: 9780425266007 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: Nov. 27, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
It's Christmastime, but not everyone is jolly--especially not Vonne Barnett, who was found dead in an apparent car crash. Katie Bonner, the manager of Artisan's Alley, happens to be at the tea shop Vonne's mother, Francine, owns when the news is delivered. Vonne left a trail of men behind her so the suspects are many--but the clues are few. A broken teacup leads Katie to one of the suspects, but before she can investigate, she's attacked.


My Review:
Yule Be Dead is a cozy...romance? The book started out as a mystery: a woman is found dead in a staged car accident. Katie asked some questions relating to why someone would want to kill the woman. But she quickly was distracted by her visiting mother-in-law, debating whether or not to buy a tea shop, two men competing for her attentions, and by the shenanigans happening in her current store. When she angered a suspect about a current crime, he attacked her. Is he the murderer? That thread got lost in the male posturing about who will keep Katie safe. Whodunit was uncovered in the end by the drunk murderer coming to Katie and basically confessing.

While the characters were likable, this was more romance than mystery or suspense. There was occasional use of bad language. There were no sex scenes. This novel is the 5th in the series. You don't need to read the previous novels to understand this one, and this story didn't spoil the whodunit of the previous books.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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