Cecily Sinclair Baxter loves just about everything involving Christmas - decorating the Pennyfoot, celebrating with family and friends, caroling, giving gifts, even her friend Phoebe's disastrous pantomimes. The one thing she doesn't like is that the Pennyfoot seems like a magnet for murder during the Christmas season. Cecily hopes this Christmas will be murder-free but her hopes are quickly dashed when a member of her staff is murdered. Even worse, more murders quickly follow and Cecily fears a serial killer is loose at the Pennyfoot. Cecily vows to stop the killer before Christmas is totally ruined.

Like Cecily, I love Christmas and part of my holiday ritual is reading the latest Christmas Pennyfoot Hotel mystery. "Mistletoe and Mayhem" is a delightful addition to that holiday tradition. All of the favorite characters are there: Cecily and her husband Baxter, Madeline Prestwick and her husband Kevin, Phoebe Fortescue and her husband Frederick, as well as the household staff - Gertie, Pansy, Mrs. Chubb, Michel, and Samuel. Visiting them feels like visiting old friends. While this is a cozy mystery, this entry is a tad "bloodier" (for lack of a better word because it's not really bloody or gory at all) than other entries in the series and the body count is higher than usual. The mystery is well written and plotted and there are more than a few surprises along the way (without giving anything away I loved the subplot involving one of the guests!) Readers will have a good time trying to figure out who the killer is and author Kate Kingsbury provides plenty of suspects. Kingsbury also gives lots of hint as to who the killer is but the identity of the killer may still surprise many readers as will the (sad) reason behind the murders.

Kingsbury says in her introduction to "Mistletoe and Mayhem" that she isn't sure there would be more Pennyfoot books and accordingly she wraps up several ongoing storylines from the series (mostly the romantic storylines) but ends the book on a bit of a cliffhanger. Fortunately, on her website and Facebook Kingsbury says she is writing another Pennyfoot book (yay!) and it will be interesting to see how she resolves the cliffhanger. In the meantime, enjoy this year's trip to the Pennyfoot. ( )

The sixth special Holiday Edition of The Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery

This is a historical cozy set in Edwardian England, during the holidays and features Cecily Baxter, Manager of Pennyfoot (once hotel, now Country Club.)

Another year and everyone at the Pennyfoot is holding their breath that the holiday curse has been broken and the season will be free of any untimely deaths. In London the Mayfair Murderer is attacking young women, but surely everyone is safe in small Badger's End.

Charlie, one of the footmen is killed when a gargoyle falls from the roof and strikes him dead. Clearly an accident. Then the maid, Ellie goes missing. Something is strange about the secretive and mysterious guest Mr. J. Mortimer in room #9. Then the missing maid's shoe is found in the coal shed. Cecily goes about asking questions and sleuthing while her husband seems preoccupied.

This holiday themed historical mystery is a nice light read. It won't disturb your holiday cheer as it manages to maintain plenty of seasonal trappings among the sleuthing. Nothing gruesome even though murders rack up.

The Pennyfoot's employees figure into the story as their lives are intertwined with the two who died. They're brought to life with all their concerns and desires. The employees also wrap up some romantic themes that continue from the prior books. I liked the various employee's viewpoints intermingled with Cecily, it brought the reader in for a fulller experience at the Pennyfoot - a sort of 380 view.

Cecily is a kind, imaginative, bright and observant sleuth whom I easily liked. The plot was interesting and kept me guessing nicely. The mysterious guest in room #9 was a great touch.

It delivers a surprise or two along the way and Cecily has a harrowing confrontation with the killer. There is a cliffhanger ending that has me anxiously waiting for the next book to find out what happens.

A solid cozy sure to delight with a good mystery and plenty of holiday cheer.

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Kingsbury's holiday Pennyfoot books offer a cozy mystery in an elegant setting. This year the Christmas Curse is in full swing as the bodies start piling up and Madam Baxter may face a difficult choice in the near future. Complex plots with lots of red herrings mixed with upstairs-downstairs humor. ( )

A cozy holiday murder mystery with a special cameo star character guest. Mistletoe and Mayhem is an easy read that is surprisingly light despite the occurrence of four murders. Out of politeness and not wishing to ruin the guests holiday, the staff of the Pennyfoot do their best to keep the unfortunate events secret. However, this proves to be difficult and soon rumors spread dampening the holiday cheer. In the good old fashion tradition of whodunit mysteries, the actual investigator is an idiot. If left up to him, no crime would ever be solved! Thankfully, Cecily has a keen eye and knack for detection and puzzle solving. It also doesn't hurt that her good friend is gifted with a six sense. Together, they're sure to solve the mystery by Christmas Eve.

Although the characters background are well-developed, the actual motive for the murders is glazed. I believe this is the result of trying too hard to not give away the culprit, but in doing so, decreased the suspense and 'ah-ha' moment. Looking back, there are parts/scenes of the story that are irrelevant. I assume they were included to throw the reader off the trail. Normally, I do not mind, but I felt this wild goose chase was rather benign and left me wondering why some of it was written into the story. I had a few, 'Why am I suppose to care about this?' moments. ( )