Book Review: Death, Snow, and Mistletoe

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Death, Snow, and Mistletoe     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Valerie S. Malmont
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Amateur Sleuth   Cozy
Series: Tori Miracle # 4
Dell, Nov 2000, $5.99, 320 pp.

Tori Miracle traded in her Hell's Kitchen apartment in Manhattan and her job as a reporter to live in a dilapidated mansion in Lickin Creek, Pennsylvania. She chose the radical move to see if her relationship with

Sheriff Garnet Gochenauer would lead to something permanent. As Tori arrives in town, Garnet decides he no longer wants the law enforcement job and takes leave of absence to go to Costa Rica to instruct local the police force. Because she has no place to go, Tori remains in the small town and accepts the temporary position of editor of the weekly newspaper The Chronicle.

Somehow Tori seems to always land in the middle of messes for instance finding a missing child while realizing the lad's older brother wanted to kill him for the fun of it. The leader of the town's coven is killed along with another woman both wearing "Sugar Plum" outfits normally seen in "The Nutcracker Suite". Tori investigates the twin killings setting herself up for the murderer's next victim.

Valerie S. Malmont is becoming famous for her small town cozies with recurring characters playing important roles in the story lines. DEATH, SNOW AND MISTLETOE takes place during the holiday season so readers not only obtain an entertaining mystery but an opportunity to see a small town Christmas through the eyes of big city Tori.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner