This book was sweet, cozy, well-written, and had an interesting story. Christmas Village is a quirky place, with funny, interesting residents just enough crazy to be adorable. As Wescott's previous mystery, it had all the attributes a classic crime story has, and beyond that it transferred a wonderful holiday atmosphere that I felt so needed in my life!

Just as before, I loved the author's style, and the story was engaging. Even though I figured out the person of the murderer pretty soon, I didn't guess the 'how' that soon - and I had that 'whaaat, really, I should've known that' feeling at the end. It was fantastic! (Really, it was super logical. I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier.) And having Mrs. Claus as our main amateur sleuth investigating? How awesome is that?

My only tiny problem that I should mention was that for a very long time I didn't really care about the actual suspects. (The 'outsiders' in the village.) The villagers were so great characters, but those lodgers were pretty forgettable. It took me a lot of pages to become able to tell one from the other (well, the men at least), and even then I didn't really care which one was the murderer (only for the sake of the mystery) - I didn't feel like it would made a difference. By the end, it improved a bit, or so I felt. Otherwise, it was all perfect, and I loved the villagers and their place and traditions very much!

My actual rating if 4.5!

I honestly couldn't finish this book. The premise sounded very good, kind of like Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, which is my favorite book. However, the writing was not that great. The author kept alternating between calling the main character Rose or Miss Willoughby. Choose one and stick with it. The rest of the writing that I made it through was too tedious to read. I really hate giving negative reviews, but this one I just couldn't finish. I believe the author needs to work on their writing skills a bit before publishing again.

Note: I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Princess Fuzzypants here: It’s hard work writing and authors want their books to be full of literary sugar plums. To get the perfect recipe is a challenge as there are times a book will try to be too many things at once. The characters and the story line can damaged by too much of a good thing.
This one starts out with some delightful premises. It is set in a place called Christmas Village that sounds almost magical. Its protagonist is Maribel Claus, married to one “mister” who is exceedingly busy the week before the big day. Her best friend owns a charming cottage where she lets out rooms to tourists. This week her guests are the performers who will be entertaining the crowds during a festival. When the despicable manager of the troupe is murdered, all the other members are suspects. But what makes the mystery so special is it is the proverbial locked door killing but in snow. The corpse is discovered at the top of a snowy hill as if a giant bird has plopped him down. No tracks are discovered either up or down the hill. Who did it, how did they do it and why?
So far, so good. It even has the feel of a classic British mystery in both the dialogue and the settings. I should have adored it. But I found it a tougher read than some. It was not a bad story, nor was it a great one. I just felt it was trying to be too many things at once and it diluted the enjoyment. I did, by the way, figure out who the villain was and how the crime was committed pretty early in the book
I will still give it four purrs and one paw up.

This was such an enjoyable read! It was lovely getting to know the village of Christmas; it reminded me of what you might see on a Hallmark movie. The plot was great and kept me guessing. I loved that it was a quick, easy read. There was also some humor, which I always love in books. The perfect cozy read for Christmas time!

I usually don’t read any thriller/mystery books, but I decided to try this one because of the Christmas theme and the beautiful cover, and then when I read the description, I thought it would turn out to be an interesting read. And it was.

Pairing the Christmas theme with Wescott’s beautiful writing style made this installment wonderful! I admired the writing style greatly while I was reading it.

As for the characterization, I absolutely loved it! All the characters are built up very well, and their actions and dialogue are very natural. (Maybe with the exception of Madame Zorena). I think my favorite characters are Maribel, Eric, and Sticks!

I can honestly say that this book is funny. The humor was on point and I would just burst out laughing sometimes!

As for the plot itself, welllll it was awesome. With every passing chapter, I would suspect a different character, and then I would think that maybe they all committed the murder together or something, then I would change my mind and it went on and on and on… until the end of the book.

I definitely recommend this book!

A wonderful holiday mystery to cozy up with on a cold winter's night. The quirky characters make the plot line even better. The perfect book to read by Christmas Tree light while sipping eggnog. I wish all holiday mysteries were this entertaining!

I love a bit of cosy crime, even better if set at Christmas!
However, I really couldn't get into this novel. I tried but I just found it dull and not engaging at all. I finally gave up at chapter four. Am sure others will enjoy it, reading pleasure is such a personal thing.
I wish the author all the best.

The synopsis of this book is so very appealing to a Christmas crime addict like me. A snowy village setting in the week leading up to the big day, where almost everyone and everything has a Christmas name. Murder is committed and local ‘sage’ is tasked to solve it.
Sounds like the perfect December reading recipe.
Unfortunately, merely calling things cute names and having a few eccentric characters isn’t enough for me. I struggled from almost the start of this book, finally admitted defeat about a third of the way though and turned to the end to see who did it. Then realised I didn’t care anyway! The writing is pedestrian at best, I felt like I was just reading a list of dialogue from one dimensional characters. The denouement wasn’t much of a surprise either.
I’m sure this will appeal to some, but I like a bit more to get my sleuthing teeth in to.
Thank you to the publisher for this review copy. All opinions are my own.

A fun and festive read, Slay Bells is a cosy murder-mystery guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat.

It’s Christmas Village’s most wonderful time of year when all the inhabitants are preparing for the annual, week-long Christmas Festival.

But all is not right at Plum Cottage, as a troupe of entertainers in town for the festival are shocked at the death of their manager, Mr Stipes.

But this wasn’t just any death. Mr Stipes was murdered and left atop Plum hill, with no footprints going up or down in the snow. The town is baffled as to how the murder was committed, and who committed it.

As the village tries to go on with the festival, Sherriff Fell, along with the help of Maribel Claus, try to quell rumours of a Glockenvogel (or giant mythical bird) while working to find the murderer before they strike again.

In my opinion, there are four things that make a great murder-mystery and Slay Bells has them all.

Firstly, you need a suitable setting and if Christmas Village isn’t the perfect setting for a cosy mystery then nothing is.

It’s like every village from Midsomer Murders rolled into one. It’s got a town hall and council (or Elders as they’re called here), a historical society, gossipy villagers, cute cottages, and so much more that make it an ideal place to get engrossed in.

Secondly, you need a seemingly unsolvable murder. A locked-room murder, if you will.

While there’s no locked room in Slay Bells there is a body at the top of a hill with no footprints going up or down. How could the murderer have climbed up and down the hill without leaving any mark in the snow? It’s seemingly impossible!

Thirdly, a list of suspects, all with their own motive for wanting to kill the victim.

The troupe of entertainers make up this list, with an acrobat, a magician, a juggler, a strong-man, a psychic, and their beautiful assistant, all with their own grudges and gripes against the dead man. Freakin’ perfect.

Lastly, a great murder-mystery needs an investigator who leaves no stone unturned when trying to find the murderer. Maribel Claus is the investigator in this book, along with Sherriff Fell, the local head policeman.

I was a bit worried when I started this book first, as I thought Maribel was going to be a Miss Marple knockoff.

I hate Miss Marple.

I know, I know, it’s an unpopular opinion. But I just think she’s a nosy cow who needs to mind her own damn business, and she annoys me so much!

So I wasn’t looking forward to reading about another old lady sticking her nose into police business.

But Maribel is nowhere near as annoying as Miss Marple. She’s kind and funny and makes a great amateur detective, and she’s not too smug when she figures everything out before Sherriff Fell.

There was only one thing that annoyed me about this book and that was the ending being dragged out for much longer than it needed to be.

Once Maribel figures out who the murderer is, she waits until the next morning to reveal how the murders were carried out rather than just telling everyone straight away. What a tease!

It was the only part of the book that annoyed me because we just want to find out what happened, dragging it out for two or three chapters was a bit unnecessary.

But Slay Bells is the perfect festive read nonetheless. It’s cosy, it’s intriguing, it keeps you hooked, and it gives you all the Christmas feels you could possibly need.

Plus the title has a pun in it, and if you don’t love that then I’m sorry, I don’t think we can be friends.

Who wouldn't enjoy taking a break in all their holiday preparations and reading a clever golden age style mystery set in a Christmas Village with a main protagonist named Maribel Claus who husband is away and busy through Christmas Eve. Maribel's friend, Rose, takes in lodgers but needs help caring for them after spraining her ankle. This Christmas, the village has hired a troupe of circus performers and they are staying with Rose when sadly a murder takes place, a seemingly impossible one. Take a break from wrapping and see if you can figure this out.

Christmas and mysteries. Yes, please!

The story is set ion Christmas Village that is simply magical. At the lodge in town, murders begin to happen and the sheriff is clueless on what to do. He gets Maribel Claus to assist him to track this murderer down. Will they be able to find the murderer before Christmas or before things get out of hand?

I want to visit this town (sans murder of course). What a fun and magical place! This would be a fun place to hang out during the Christmas week. So pretty! The townsfolk seem like fun too even though they are all useless, especially the sheriff, without Madame Claus.

I didn't mind Maribel Claus, but she seemed too knowledgeable about people she didn't even know. Maybe she is magic too ;) I felt bad for the Sheriff. So dumb, so dumb. But yes, I didn't really connect with anyone. That was my biggest downfall for this book. I just didn't care as much as I wanted to. I just felt like I was along for the ride and didn't really connect with anything. Not the author's fault. The writing was done well enough. I just didn't really get into it like I normally do with mysteries!

The mystery did seem obvious but not obvious at the same time. I had my guesses who the murder was. I realized who it was after about the halfway mark. However, I wasn't too sure. My first guess had been wrong. Super, duper wrong.

The book dragged at the beginning until a certain event happened and then I was drawn in. I was worried there for a bit. I wanted to DNF, but I hung on and then what happened happened and I had to know the truth.

Overall, this wasn't bad. I enjoyed the mystery, but I didn't love this book. I didn't connect with anyone and I felt like it dragged too much at the beginning. I am curious to see what else this author has. Maybe more mysteries in this interesting town! I'll give this 3 stars.

I do love a cosy mystery set in a quaint village but this was a bit too twee for my personal taste. However, I’m sure plenty of genre readers will love it.

I have never read this author or any cozy mysteries so it seemed a little slow paced for me. I had a very hard time completing the book because the characters really didn't come to life for me. I failed to make the connection of the character names,setting and timing. It was interesting to note the drawings of the setting landscape. If you want to be able to put a book down and read in small parts then this book may be for you.
This book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.

A fun Christmasy read not the most hard to guess mystery but still fun and easy to read. Perfect for fans of cozy mystery’s like the Hannah Swenson series. I would definitely read a sequel so I hope they choose to write more!

A cosy, locked room type mystery, which didn't hit the mark with me. Bit of a fun read and fun characters with a good storyline and mystery.

I started out thinking this book was set sometime in the past, with Rose Willoughby hanging mistletoe in the parlor of her lodging house, with a traveling troupe of performers - her lodgers - watching. There was also more formal speech and no mention of a geographical location - at least none I'm familiar with. But as I continued reading, small mentions of modern day began to creep in - jeans, lawyers, texting - and it made me feel a bit disoriented. As I got to know the characters and the plot progressed, I decided to let all that go and just enjoy the story, and I'm glad I did! This is a richly woven mystery with solid, plausible suspects, puzzling crime scenes, and plenty of plot twists. I didn't really figure out the culprit(s) until the final reveal.

Despite my initial confusion about the time and location of this book, I really enjoyed the story! The feeling of near-timelessness and mysterious location with perpetual snow and foliage, along with protagonist Meribel Claus, whose husband spends most of his time in his workshop up through Christmas Eve, lend a magical, North Pole feel to Christmas Village. I'm interested to read more in this series, and find out if we'll get to see Christmas Village at another time of year. This was my first book by T.C. Wescott, but it won't be my last.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in Christmas Village just before Christmas, we have a group of entertainers there to preform. Mrs. Claus investigates since she is a village elder as well as a friend to the property owner where the body was found. The mystery kept me entertained and guessing. I look forward to more in this series.

I thank the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I just finished Slay Bells: A Christmas Village Mystery by T. C. Wescott and I give it 5 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed this cheeky cozy mystery. I loved how little details of Christmas were weaved into everything, I loved the main character, Mrs. Claus, and the setting was so dreamy. I enjoyed the creativity and although I suspected who was the murderer, I didn’t know until it was revealed. I definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a cozy Christmas mystery. I look forward to following Maribel Claus in the future.

Intriguing story with lots of plot twists that will keep you guessing until the end. Some very interesting characters that will keep you entertained. Can a town with very little crime solve this mystery? You'll read just to find out all the details.

I am usually an avid fan of cozy mysteries, but I really struggled to get into this one. The premise sounded wonderful, but I was somewhat disappointed in the book at first. I really struggled to get past the first few chapters.

The setting is sort of a fairy tale place, Christmas village, which is the home of Santa and Mrs. Claus and a whole host of somewhat quirky and often slightly unusual residents. Mrs. Claus is the amateur sleuth, and the sheriff is portrayed as somewhat bumbling and inept.

Once I got into it, I was interested enough in the story to keep reading, and I will say that T. C. Westport did manage to pull off a fairly well plotted story once I got into it. He began with what at first seemed like an impossible mystery, threw in a few red herrings, some more unforeseen happenings, and wrapped it all up with a very plausible solution.

I think that this book will definitely appeal to mystery fans that appreciate a novel that is just the tiniest bit out of the ordinary.