Ho. Ho. No…
It’s Christmas in Sweet River, Texas, and the whole town is feeling festive apart from Ainsley McGregor. Ainsley has never enjoyed the holidays and would rather ignore them, but with her shop Bless Your Art busier than ever and filled with happy shoppers, even she’s feeling some Christmas spirit. That is, until her Great Dane, George Clooney, sniffs out a dead body in the Santa House at the Christmas Festival.
When one of her favorite crafters becomes the prime suspect, Ainsley is determined to prove his innocence. The case is full of so many twists and turns that even Ainsley begins to fear the truth. Is she protecting a killer?
With help from her friends and some extremely nosey townsfolk, Ainsley and her dog hurry to find the truth—as long as they can outwit and outrun the killer first. Otherwise, this Christmas might just be her last.
Titles in The Ainsley McGregor series include – A Case for the Winemaker – A Case for the Yarn Maker – A Case for the Toy Maker –
Title: A Case for the Toy Maker
Series: The Ainsley McGregor Series #3
Author: Candace Havens
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Published: October 26, 2020
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 4 stars
It’s time to return, once again, to Ainsley’s new town, new shop, with a brand new cozy mystery to be solved right at Christmas time with A Case for the Toy Maker. It should be a most joyous time of the year – but someone isn’t celebrating, they’re killing, and if Ainsley isn’t careful she’s next on their list.
Once more it’s George Clooney (Ainsley’s Great Dane) who noses out a dead body in the Santa House right near Santa’s throne. And, equally unfortunate, it’s one of the crafters at Ainsley’s business, Bless Your Art, that is the main suspect in the crime. She knows he doesn’t have a killing bone in his body but someone else certainly does. Now it’s a race against the clock, and the local police who are convinced they have the murderer in hand, to find the actual murderer in this small community.
A Case for the Toy Maker is a fun, engaging, fast-paced Cozy Mystery that kept me on my toes with twists and turns that eventually lead to the killer. But before that fiend is discovered we have a puzzle to solve, some townsfolk to get involved, and more danger to be faced. I had such a good time with this story. It features all the characters I’m coming to love and enjoy, a definite puzzle to figure out, and my favorite character of all… a Great Dane by the name of George Clooney. If you love a really Cozy Mystery then you’ll want to pick this one up… right now.
Do you have to read the earlier books? No, not really. But they are fun, enjoyable stories that would hold your attention and give you a bit of background. I’d suggest starting from the beginning if you can for this series gives you everything you’d want to find in a good Cozy Mystery.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from Tule Publishing. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
Available for your favorite e-reader. Mine is the Kindle.
