Not quite 3 star but will finish the series books I have, though I won't get any more. ( )

4 star
I really love this series, the main reason for that would be the great characters, starting with Merry and then all the quirky townies. My favorites are Shilo who luckily is back in this book after being largely absent in the last book. My next favorites are Pish, Hanna and Lizzie all have a big presence in the book. The mystery in this one was intriguing as there seemed to be such a large quantity of suspects. But the thing that will pull me into the next book is the overall series question of how Merry plans on saving the castle, now that it seems she will be marrying and staying in Autumn Vale ( )

Praise be, this is so much better than the first three in the series that I want to shout it from the rooftops. Instead of repeating herself 200 times, the author only repeats herself 20 times. Yay. This should have been the first book in the series! Now just one more to finish and I can be done with these. ( )

Another great book by Ms. Hamilton.

Merry Wynter returns to Autumn Vale after an extended trip to Spain to find many of her friends a bit frosty after her long absence. At Wynter Castle, Pish is housing an operatic star hoping for a comeback, Roma Toscano. In town, her best friend Shilo seems remote and even Merry's almost boyfriend, Sheriff Virgil Grace has big news he wants to discuss. When Merry's nemesis, postmistress Minnie Urquarht is discovered dead, with a collectible letter opener in her wound, Merry feels compelled to nose around. There were plenty of storylines and a lot of new characters to keep up with as the series continues to grow in length. I thought the cult-like Consciousness Calling storyline just added a few too many extra red herrings, but liked how it dovetailed with the main murder. I hope Merry continues to focus on Wynter Castle and how she can make her place in Autumn Vale permanent. ( )