No Gifts to Bring
Author: Kathleen McKee
Reviewer: Jen
Rating: C-
December’s optional theme: Celebration!
What I’m Talking About:
Note: After reading the first book in the series for review, I discovered this prequel story. According to the author, No Gifts to Bring was originally as standalone book, but readers fell in love with the main characters, thus the Aspen Notch Mysteries was born.
Since this is a cozy mystery with romantic elements set during the Christmas holiday, I selected it for this month’s optional theme of Celebration! Plus, I wanted to read the prequel before I get to the second book in the Aspen Notch Mystery series.
Told from the first person POV of Susan, the book opens with a terrible accident in a raging blizzard. Sue, along with a couple others in the pileup, are given refuge in a local home despite the owner’s cranky attitude. The next day, they are able to dig out their cars, and Sue makes it to the resort where she’s spending the holidays. However, once she’s settling in, she finds out that the owner of the home is accusing her guests of stealing.
No Gifts to Bring sets up a layered and interesting mystery. Sue and another guest at the resort, Alan (a retired NYC detective), start looking into the homeowner and her shady family. And then it gets more involved when the homeowner dies and her son continues to press charges. The mystery ends up being a good one that evolves over the course of the story.
In between the sleuthing, we follow Sue as she navigates her loneliness and examines her life choices. She is a widow who found out about her husband’s double life after his death. She’s isolated from her adult children. While her situation is realistic, I don’t care for her attitude. She’s extremely insecure, always thinking people are laughing at her (it’s mentioned a lot) and she is quick to judge others, making her a somewhat unlikable heroine. SPOILERS… But this is the kicker: Sue spends much of the book falling for a man she met during the storm. Having read the first book in the series, I know she ends up with Alan, the detective with whom she has a tenuous friendship for at over half of the story. Then, when the mystery has been solved, they declare their mutual love and intent to spend the rest of their lives together. WHAT?? END SPOILERS
While I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery behind No Gifts to Bring, I learned I did not like main character, Sue, all that much. And while McKee may be able to spin a good whodunit, her romance skills are severely lacking in this prequel book. Luckily, I already know I enjoy the Aspen Notch Mystery series, or I may not have picked up the first book after reading this one.
My Rating: C-
Jen
About the Book:
A snowy pile-up and rescue scam. A theft accusation and two murders. Can Sue clear her name before she’s the next victim?
Distanced by her children and determined not to spend another Christmas alone, Susan Belcroft books a stay at a ski resort, hoping to rekindle her sagging spirit.
With travel to the lodge interrupted by a sudden snowstorm, she and three other stranded drivers accept a seemingly kindhearted rescue, only to find themselves charged with theft.
The stakes increase when police find the accusers’ dead bodies.
Release Date: September 13, 2018
Publisher: Vinci Books
Series: Aspen Notch Mysteries #0.5
Genre: Mystery, Cozy Mystery
Format(s): e-book
Book Source: Purchased with my own funds