I chose this book for a challenge for all the wrong reasons to choose a book. The cover had a snow scene which I needed for the challenge...but it also had a pair of cute little critters a dog and a cat gracing the cover...Trixie and Twinkletoes. Holly, the human in the story, was excited about the "Christkindl Market" that she knows well, thanks to her grandmother's German heritage. Sounds like fun to me with food, beverages and all types of goodies being for sale in a series of little Swiss chalet like booths. The town even has a cute name, Wagtail. It's now covered with several inches of fresh-fallen snow and all the houses are decorated with cheerful colorful Christmas lights. That is all but Rupert Grimpley's house. In the early hours of the morning, Rupert's Christmas spirit shows it's itself uncheerful self with ear-splitting music and a 45-foot towering, blow-up Grinch. This was funny as it reminded me of a neighbor we had when I was a child that always tried to tell us kids that the venison in his freezer was one of Santa's reindeer. Festivities come to a halt when Trixie's nose goes into action and sniffs out a dead person. Holly and police officer Dave start an investigation. Then we have Holly's old flame, Holmes, who is also back in Wagtail...he points out that it IS his hometown, and with his fashionable "city-girl" fiancee much to Holly's disappointment. The entire Thackleberry family...don't you love these names?... is holding their Christmas at the inn and Holmes's fiancee is part of this family of business owners. The book is so full of small-town America Christmas spirit, complete with parties, enough food to feed a third-world country, decorations and, even fun despite it being a murder mystery. The author did an outstanding job with the characters, continuity, dialogue, and atmosphere. ( )

I am a huge fan of Cozy Mysteries, I absolutely love to read them! I will admit that I have not read any of the other Paws and Claws Mystery books but I definitely will now! I wanted to read a Christmas book so bad this year, probably because I have not been in the holiday spirit (I'm pretty much a Grinch!). So when I decided to request this book it was with the sole purpose of just reading a book with Christmas elements. It was an added bonus that it was a cozy mystery and with cats and dogs to boot!

I really like that even though I have not read the other 4 mysteries I did not feel lost or confused on who the other characters were. I did not feel like I was reading the fifth book is a series (is that a bad thing?) but it also was not bogged down by character explanation. I also liked and also disliked the fact that the murder happened toward the middle of the book and sort of took a backseat to the story of the characters. I liked it because it gave me a chance to actually learn the victim and what kind of person he was, it made me sympathize and want to learn who the killer was. I disliked it because this is supposed to be a mystery and well it was missing some of those mystery elements that I felt it needed.

Holly, Trixie, and Twinkletoes are loveable characters that made me wish my animals were as well behaved as them. Holly was not overbearing (just a little too nice for me, but the heroines are always too nice for me) and the side characters did not make me want to strangle them. They had the right amount of nosiness and didn't meddle as much as other side characters usually do, which can annoy me.

The story itself was great and easy to read, definitely would recommend for an in-between epic or dramatic reads. While the story was a bit predictable I will say that the murderer actually didn't turn out to be who I thought, which I loved. ( )

I didn't realise I had another book in this series to read until it arrived the other day; nor did I remember it being a Christmas themed one. One it showed up in my mailbox, of course I had to move it up the top of the TBR pile and get it read before Christmas.

In my post about her previous book, Mission Impawsible, I complained about the additional character and the emerging love triangle. Now, I don't know if a lot of other people felt the same way or what, but this book neither included that character nor referred to him in any way. Davis simply acted as though Mission Impawsible never existed in the Wagtail timeline, and as things end in this book, I doubt he'll be popping back up.

The mystery was much better plotted too, although the murder a horribly sad one, something not typical of cozies. All in all, it was a very solid cozy read with lots of effort at Christmas spirit (the murder in this one makes it hard to feel like the effort succeeded).

Not sure if I'll use this for a festive square or not, but if I do, I'll update my post accordingly. ( )

I am a huge fan of Cozy Mysteries, I absolutely love to read them! I will admit that I have not read any of the other Paws and Claws Mystery books but I definitely will now! I wanted to read a Christmas book so bad this year, probably because I have not been in the holiday spirit (I'm pretty much a Grinch!). So when I decided to request this book it was with the sole purpose of just reading a book with Christmas elements. It was an added bonus that it was a cozy mystery and with cats and dogs to boot!

I really like that even though I have not read the other 4 mysteries I did not feel lost or confused on who the other characters were. I did not feel like I was reading the fifth book is a series (is that a bad thing?) but it also was not bogged down by character explanation. I also liked and also disliked the fact that the murder happened toward the middle of the book and sort of took a backseat to the story of the characters. I liked it because it gave me a chance to actually learn the victim and what kind of person he was, it made me sympathize and want to learn who the killer was. I disliked it because this is supposed to be a mystery and well it was missing some of those mystery elements that I felt it needed.

Holly, Trixie, and Twinkletoes are loveable characters that made me wish my animals were as well behaved as them. Holly was not overbearing (just a little too nice for me, but the heroines are always too nice for me) and the side characters did not make me want to strangle them. They had the right amount of nosiness and didn't meddle as much as other side characters usually do, which can annoy me.

The story itself was great and easy to read, definitely would recommend for an in-between epic or dramatic reads. While the story was a bit predictable I will say that the murderer actually didn't turn out to be who I thought, which I loved. ( )

Cute and fuzzy fluff. ( )