Year of the Projects - We Wish You a Murderous Christmas + Butter Off Dead

I do love a good list.  It gives a nice sense of order and focus and I love making lists about the books I want to read.  Last year I focused just on series I was behind on.  The project went great and I caught up on a ton of series but I felt like I was neglecting other books on my shelf and books at my library.  This year I have a few lists going - Series, Library, Clear Off My Shelves, and a random TBR Bingo where I pull books off my Goodreads TBR.  Here are a few of my most recent reads.

Goodreads: We Wish You A Murderous Christmas (A Year Round Christmas Mystery) by Vicki Delany
Project: Catch Up on Series

Blurb:  It’s Christmastime three hundred sixty-five days a year in Rudolph, New York, and as Christmas Day approaches, shop owner Merry Wilkinson is enjoying a rare evening off at the Yuletide Inn when she runs into owners Grace and Jack Olsen. With Jack's health failing, Merry is relieved to hear that his son Gord will be taking over the day-to-day running of the Inn.

But then Gord reveals that his new plans have no room for Christmas at the Inn, and Merry and the other shopkeepers start to fret about the effect a bland franchise hotel could have on their livelihoods.

When Gord is found stabbed to death, there’s an entire town of potential suspects—and it’s up to Merry to find whoever brought homicide home for the holidays...

My Thoughts:  Gord is one of those cozy victims that when he's found dead the reader is not sad.  He's really really dreadful.  But while I wouldn't want to spend anytime with Gord and wasn't sorry to see his page time come to a rather abrupt end I did thoroughly enjoyed watching Merry and the rest of the community of Rudolph unravel the mystery.   This is such a fun Christmas-y series and one I was sorry to read had ended.  I have one more book left in the series and am looking forward to visiting Rudolph again soon.  My Rating: Liked It!

Goodreads:  Butter Off the Dead (A Food Village Mystery) by Leslie Budewitz

Project: Catch Up On Series

Blurb:  In an attempt to woo tourists to Jewel Bay and cheer up the townies, Erin Murphy, manager of the specialty local foods market known as the Merc, is organizing the First Annual Food Lovers’ Film Festival, filled with classic foodie flicks and local twists on favorite movie treats. But when her partner in planning, painter Christine Vandeberg, is found dead only days before the curtain rises, Erin suspects someone is attempting to stop the films from rolling.
To make matters worse, Nick—Erin’s brother and Christine’s beau—has top billing on the suspect list. Convinced her brother is innocent and determined that the show must go on, Erin has to find who’s really to blame before Nick gets arrested or the festival gets shut down. But the closer she gets to the killer, the more likely it becomes that she’ll be the next person cut from the program...

My Thoughts:  Oh I will miss this series!  There are actually a few more books but this is one of those series I started about halfway through and I have really enjoyed going back and reading the first 3 books.  I really enjoyed that this festival wasn't Erin's brainchild and that we were able to get to know her brother Nick a bit as he's always been kind of a shadowy character.  The mystery was an intriguing and the wrap up was a bit of a surprise.  My Rating:  Really Liked It!