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Wrapped Up in Christmas
by
Kristen Painter
amateur sleuth, cozy mystery, magical realism in a Kindle edition on November 21, 2022 and has 262 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Blood Rights, Flesh and Blood, Bad Blood, Out for Blood, Last Blood, House of the Rising Sun, City of Eternal Night, Garden of Dreams and Desires, Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case, All Fired Up, "Prologue to The Vampire's Mail Order Bride", The Vampire's Mail Order Bride, The Werewolf Meets His Match, The Gargoyle Gets His Girl, The Professor Woos the Witch, The Vampire's Fake Fiancée, The Shifter Romances the Writer, "The Witch's Halloween Hero", The Dragon Finds Forever, The Vampire's Accidental Wife, The Reaper Rescues the Genie, The Detective Wins The Witch, The Vampire's Priceless Treasure, The Werewolf Dates the Deputy, "When Birdie Babysat Spider", Miss Frost Ices the Imp, Miss Frost Saves the Sandman, Miss Frost Cracks a Caper, Miss Frost Braves the Blizzard, "The Werewolf's Christmas Wish", The Vampire's Cursed Kiss, Her First Taste of Fire, The Trouble With Witches, Moody and the Beast, The Vampire's Sunny Sweetheart, Miss Frost Chills the Cheater, Lost in Las Vegas, Mystified in Music City, Sucks To Be Me, A Sky Full of Stars, Suck It Up Buttercup, The Forgettable Miss French, Sucker Punch, The Suck Stops Here
Second in the Frost & Crowe amateur sleuth cozy mystery magical realism series and revolving around the married Jayne Frost and Sinclair Crowe and takes place in Nocturne Falls at Christmas. It’s been a year-and-a-half of road trip since Lost in Las Vegas, 1, with bits of back history on their road trip.
My Take
Painter uses third person dual protagonist point-of-view from Jayne’s and Sin’s perspectives. And I’m just as awed at Sin at Jayne’s ability to eat and process sugar. Dang it! That ability is darned useful since Sin gets back into creating flavorful doughnuts.
It’s a chance to revisit Nocturne Falls and its cast of characters, although it’s not essential that you’ve read all the previous stories. It does make it more interesting, though. Nocturne Falls continues to develop — now they have an RV park. There is action in the story, but it’s mostly about the characters — most are wonderful, some are not. Of course, I always love the conversation from the cats, lol.
Ya gotta love Jayne’s ability with snow — we could sure use her in Wisconsin!
There are suspects galore and yet, the true criminals are never suspected. That Gracie does add a bit of spice, although it feels extraneous.
Wow, the refund offer Jayne and her father come up with is a-mazing!
As Jack Frost is married to Klara, I’m not sure why he refers to her as “Aunt Klara”.
The pace is reasonable, although Jayne gets too deep into the whole wrapping paper issue. Of course, that is what the story is about.
It’s a fun and cozy read.
The Story
It’s a weird rash of break-ins in Nocturne Falls. Nothing’s being taken but wrapping paper . . .
The Characters
Princess Jayne Frost, daughter and heir to Jack Frost, is married to Sinclair Crowe, a.k.a. Prince Consort Sinclair, a necromancer and doughnut wizard. Jayne’s Spider, a black cat, and Sin’s Sugar, a white cat, can both talk. “Spider loves Chicken Party.” Spider calls Sin “Dadman“.
Nocturne Falls
Jerry Quinlan is the manager for the Pumpkin Patch RV Park and Campground; his wife, Sandy, is a nurse. Jerry runs the local grocery store. Gracie Morales, a jaguar shifter, is an old girlfriend of Sin’s, and quite aggressive in her approach. Archie Tingle is the retired elf baker who bought Zombie Donuts from Sin. The Dr Prepper doughnut is one of Jayne’s favorites. The Hallowed Bean is a revered coffee shop. Delaney Ellingham runs Delaney’s Delectables, an over-the-top candy store. The Ellinghams are the vampire family who owns and manages the town. Willa Iscove runs a jewelry shop (The Gargoyle Gets His Girl, NF 3). Howler’s, which is owned by Bridget Merrow — is, yep, a werewolf and Hank’s sister. Kira is one of Howler’s servers.
Elsie Merriweather, a retired art teacher from Nocturne Falls Middle School, desperately needs help re-wrapping all her presents. Her nephew, Richie Atwood, is a delivery man for International Parcels. Mr (a website developer) and Mrs Dominguez (she works at the Shop-n-Save bakery); and Frank (a veteran on disability) and Myrna Connolly (a quilter); Cujo’s owners; and, the Quinlans are also victims.
Buttercup is the second shift manager at Santa’s Workshop whose grandmother is sick. Holly, Juniper, Kip, and Rowley, a retired NP tinker (Miss Frost Braves the Blizzard, JF 5 (NF 8.3)), are employees. They use the shimmer, a winter elf magic, in the shop. Their Christmas Magic paper is a new product with magical effects, if you use the Christmas Magic tape.
Birdie, a werewolf, is the police dispatcher and the chief’s aunt. Jack Van Zant is Birdie’s boyfriend (“When Birdie Babysat Spider“, NF 4.5). Hank Merrow, another werewolf, is the sheriff. Deputies include Sergeant Alex Cruz, who is still dating Roxy St James (The Shifter Romances the Writer, NF 6), and Remy Lafitte. Santana Morales, Gracie’s brother, just joined the police department.
Hank is married to Ivy (The Werewolf Meets His Match, NF 2), and they have two children: Charlie and Hannah Rose. Marigold Williams, who runs the flower shop, is a witch (The Detective Wins The Witch, NF 10); Pandora (The Professor Woos the Witch, NF 4) and Charisma are her sisters. Corette, who runs the bridal shop (and is a witch), is their mother (“The Witch’s Halloween Hero“, NF 4.1). Customers who have ordered up doughnuts include Mrs Campbell and the Kiwanis Club.
The North Pole (NP)
Jack Frost is the Winter King and King of the NP and Jayne’s father. Klara Kringle is Jack’s wife, Martha’s sister, and Jayne’s mother. Kris Kringle, a.k.a. Santa Claus, and his wife, Martha, are Jayne’s uncle and aunt. Santa’s Bag is a magical bag for shipping anything.
Las Vegas
Sin’s parents are Las Vegas royalty with both Anson and Lila romantics — he’s an illusionist and she’s a new and improved zombie (Lost in Las Vegas, F&C 1). Aunt Zinnia has moved in with the Crowes and has three cats. Wendell the Wonderful, a retired magician, is Aunt Zinnia’s boyfriend.
Cooper Sullivan, a summer elf (Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case, JF 1 (NF 5.6)), and Greyson Garret, a vampire (The Vampire’s Priceless Treasure, NF 11), are previous boyfriends of Jayne’s. Crane & Company is the source for the wrapping paper.
The Cover and Title
The cover is dark in color with navy drapes framing a snowy windowsill and deep burgundy walls and floor — that sheepskin rug does help to provide contrast to the blue-haired Jayne and Sin sitting in front of the Christmas tree surrounded by presents. You can almost see Spider scratching at the tree on the left, and the better-behaved Sugar sitting by Sin’s hand. At the very top is a colonial blue series info with the title immediately below in white. At the bottom is an info blurb and the author’s name, also in white.
The title is that Jayne and Santa’s Workshop — and the police — are Wrapped Up in Christmas.
