Book Review - The Christmas Cookie Killer by Livia J. Washburn

The Christmas Cookie Killer

There has been a huge surge lately in attempting to widen the mystery genre to include new and inventive "detectives." I'm all for it, actually - mysteries need more than just the classic trope of a hardened detective investigating case after case, and it's more relatable to see someone more like ourselves solve murders without much knowledge of DNA or forensics.

This is the type of mystery that Washburn's Fresh-Baked Mysteries series falls into, and The Christmas Cookie Killer furthers that by centering on food-preparation coupled with murder, and also managing to juggle some of the Christmas spirit in there as well.

Washburn has some memorable characters, and although they seem a bit too good-natured and proper, her main character Phyllis is one of those grandmother types that you can't help but love. She also has a few housemates as well, most impressing being Sam. Washburn's characters are strong, and from only reading one book in the series, I'd hazard a guess that any backstory is released slowly throughout each novel, adding incentive to reading each book in the series.

This book moves rather slowly through the lone murder, however - if you're looking for a lot of clue-digging or murders, this novel is rather lacking. Much of the plot is devoted to life with Phyllis and the community around her, and Washburn is more apt to explore the aftermath of a town murder than pitting Phyllis in detective shoes. The plot's also fairly flimsy with the Christmas theme, but the spirit is still there.

Yet Washburn's story is definitely more enjoyable than flawed, and most of the points I have made are more creativity questionings than they are problems with the story. The Christmas Cookie Killer may be only loosely tied to the season, but it's still a good yuletide treat that differs from the usual cheery Christmas stories.