It's Christmas. Devlin has left to spend Christmas with his mother. He has given instructions for Gemma not to find any murdered bodies!
Gemma has been asked to supply goodies for a party to benefit poor children at the Morecombe family estate. This Morecombe family is very dysfunctional and when the long lost son/brother Ned comes home crashing the benefit party, the family gets even more dysfunctional.
A snow storm hits that evening making Gemma and the Old Biddies to spend the evening. In the wee hours of the morning Gemma finds Ned smothered in the library. The murderer has to be one of the family. The patriarch asks Gemma to question everyone until the storm lets up and the police can arrive.
Since Devlin is on holiday, Pratt is head detective. Gemma has no confidence in this man. He even accuses Gemma as the guilty party!
Another easy cozy excellent read! ( )

Gemma caters an event at an English country house and is trapped there because of snow. The owner's son and heir is murdered. He's not very likable and most present possessive a motive for killing him. The detective can't get there right away because of the storm so the owner asks Gemma to begin interviewing everyone. The "Old Biddies" who appear to be recurring characters helped Gemma with her inquiries. The cat Muesli steals the show! I suspected the person it ended up being, but the author incorporated enough red herrings to make it interesting. Because I did not read previous installments, I missed out on a lot of character development, including the main character and the Old Biddies. I didn't feel these characters were developed enough that this works really well as a stand-alone holiday read. Without the back story, it's only mediocre. Someone who has read previous installments might enjoy it more. ( )

The Mousse Wonderful Time of the Year by H.Y. Hanna
Oxford Tearoom mysteries #10

Every book in this series gets better and better! This time Gemma and her boyfriend, Devlin, spend most of the book apart but he is still an integral part in her life. As she is alone she takes on a catering job and gets snowed in only to be faced with another murder to investigate and a murderer to find. I have to say that this time I was left guessing till the end. I had an inkling who it might be but wasn’t sure till the person was finally brought to light.

What I liked:
* The plotting and the way the story was written
* The humor in the Christmas dinner at the home of Gemma’s parents – an iguana?
* The Old Biddies – they add that little bit of je ne sais quois
* Muesli – what a charming cat and also a life saver
* Not being upset by the loss of the murder victim...what a creep he was!
* The hint that Seth and Cassie might be moving forward into a relationship
* The growth Gemma has made as a sleuth

What I did not like:
* The murder victim – Ned – what a waster!
* The father of the murdered man – a lot like his son
* The officiousness of the policeman assigned the murder case

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )