Review - Slay Bells by Kate Kingsbury

Title: SLAY BELLS
Author: Kate Kingsbury
Paperback
ISBN:978-0-425-21840-2
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
November 2007

The holiday season is upon in this victorian mystery and the Pennyfoot Hotel is the setting. Cecily Sinclair Baxter is owner of the Pennyfoot and she is excited to have the children from the hotel and town has the guest of honor but their guest of honor is Father Christmas. However Father Christmas is late and when Cecily sends a man to the roof to see if he can locate Father Christmas, we find that the young man has fallen to his death and then we find Father Christmas stuff down the chimney. Everyone thinks it was a horrid accident befell the young man and the man posing as Father Christmas, everyone that is but Cecily.

She is proven right it's murder but maybe more curious that that is that one of the maids has spotted a ghost, not just any ghost but one dressed as a clown. Cecily has her hands full but when Baxter her own husband starts to act peculiar Cecily get a full head of steam up and decides it's high time she does a little snooping.

When things start disappearing and dining chair end up on the green well Cecily has never known a ghost who could carry five heavy chairs onto the lawn.
Newspaper clippings, secret cladestine meetings and Chef who only thinks he's french set this a Merry Christmas Mayhem of magic and murder.

SLAY BELLS is a wonderfully cozy whodunnit and will delight the most scrooge of mystery readers. I give this book *********out of ten.

Pamela James/Reviewer