I love this series by Vicki Delany. I could read these books all year-round. I found this mystery very intriguing. It also kept me guessing because so many people had a reason to be suspected. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Vicki Delany’s "Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas" is the cozy mystery equivalent of getting roped into organizing the town Christmas pageant—sweet, chaotic, and bound to involve more drama than you bargained for. Set in Rudolph, New York (a town so festive it probably snows glitter), we meet Merry Wilkinson, owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, who just wants a peaceful holiday selling ornaments. But when a local theater star drops dead—right in Merry's shop, no less—her Christmas suddenly has more body bags than gift bags.

The real star of this festive show is the hilarious cast of characters, from Merry’s over-the-top opera-diva mom, Aline, directing the local production of "A Christmas Carol", to Jackie O'Reilly, the shop assistant dreaming of Broadway—or at least something bigger than selling snow globes. Delany’s witty dialogue and quirky townsfolk keep things lively, even if the mystery itself feels as predictable as Aunt Carol’s fruitcake recipe.

Landing merrily at 4 out of 5 stars, "Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas" delivers holiday coziness with a playful side of murder. You don’t need to read the previous books to dive in and enjoy the festive chaos—this mystery stands just fine on its own two (probably elf-shoed) feet. Curl up with a blanket and cocoa, and embrace Rudolph’s unique holiday tradition of seasonal sleuthing and suspiciously timed murders.

Thank you, NeGalley, Publishers, and Vicki Delany, for gifting me a copy of Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas in return for my honest review.

3/5 stars

It's Christmastime again in Rudolph, and you know what that means: the annual Christmas production of A Christmas Carol. This year is extra special since Merry's Mom, Aline, who is a retired opera singer, is coming out of retirement to perform with the group. What should have been a fun, small-time play turns deadly when one of the cast members turns up dead. Merry is again on the case to protect her store and the town of Rudolph.

I have enjoyed this series as a whole, but this book was my least favorite of the six. I was ok with the repetitiveness in the last book, in the same place where a previous murder had taken place and the same characters as the murder suspect, but this was the second book in a row that it occurred. I get what she was trying to do with the play, but why wasn't the murder in the theater? Someone murdered in Merry's store, again? I wanted something new and a change of scenery.

While the plot and storyline were repetitive, I still love Vicki's characters and writing style. She has a way of making her characters come to life and giving each unique characteristics. At this point, the characters feel like old friends who are a joy to read about.

I will continue reading this series, and I hope the repetitiveness in the last two books was just a fluke.

It’s the beginning of December in Rudolph, New York and business is brisk at Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a gift shop owned by Merry Wilkinson. The local amateur dramatic society is preparing a special musical production of A Christmas Carol. But it’s not a happy set, as rivalries between cast and crew threaten the production. Tensions come to a head when a member of the group is found dead after shopping at Mrs. Claus's Treasures. Everyone in the cast and crew is a suspect, including Aline, Merry’s mother, and Merry's shop assistant Jackie O'Reilly. Can Merry find the culprit before Christmas?
This was a great cozy mystery that put me in the Christmas spirit. Merry is a great amateur sleuth who has to find whodunit while dealing with kooky characters, and drama queens. The plot was very confounding, and I was surprised when the culprit was revealed in the end. The author is a great writer, I could feel the snowstorm jumping off the page, and I shivered a little while reading. The only problem I had with this story was I felt the pace was a little off. I thought it would've been a faster read. This review is my unbiased opinion. Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane books for this advanced reader's copy.

This is the sixth installment in the Year Round Christmas Series. It is one of my favorite series. I love the characters, It is so fun getting back with them. This was a great book. I look forward ro reading more of this series.

Rudolf, New York is full of Christmas cheer, or is it. This charming Christmas time cozy mystery has the local drama club preparing for the annual Christmas production. When a member of the team is found dead, we find out some of the members are jealous of the roles others are playing and think they deserved the part. Is this enough to take the merry and bright out of the holiday season? As the snow flies so do tempers in this cozy that kept me guessing as I flipped pages.
An author whose books I don't miss has done it again with another satisfying cozy mystery presentation.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

What a lovely cozy mystery. It had all of the ingredients to keep me wanting to find out who the killer was and how it was going to end. Well-crafted characters made it seem as if they were real. So real, I could see myself being friends with them.

A great job!

4.5 stars

It’s no secret that Vicki Delany (or Eva Gates) is one of my fave cozy mystery writers. It’s also no secret that Christmas is my favorite holiday. Combine the two – plus a year-round Christmas town – and I’m on bookish cloud nine!

I somehow missed book 5, though I certainly didn’t intend to, but I was easily able to pick back up with Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas with no problems. The author does a fabulous job of giving first time (or it’s-been-a-minute) readers the basics of what they need to know without spoiling previous books, making this one a great place to start if you haven’t read this series yet. You’ll want to go back and read the others eventually, though, thanks to the engaging writing voice, clever plotting, and the lovable characters.

Merry is the ideal cozy mystery protagonist – she’s bright, she’s layered, she’s well-known throughout the town, she seems to have a knack for attracting murders and a curious mind for solving them. She also has a network of ‘informants’, a successful Christmas shop, a supportive best friend, a loving boyfriend, colorful parents, and an endearing St. Bernard called Mattie with a personality as big as his paws! In Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas, her role as a prominent town daughter is in the spotlight – between her mother being the star attraction in the town’s amateur theater performance and her dad being a dead ringer for Santa Claus – and I enjoyed getting to observe her in that role a bit more in depth.

Speaking of the theater, the town’s production of A Christmas Carol has more divas than Ebenezer Scrooge had coin in the bank. And what do you get when you throw a bunch of dramatic personalities into close contact and then turn up the pressure to deliver a stellar performance? A lot of ego clashes, creative differences, and … well… DRAMA. And the town of Rudolph’s little theater troupe is no exception, an aspect to the story that keeps tension high and motives plentiful. Delany skillfully tucks in several red herrings and a couple of surprising twists, all successfully designed to keep you guessing right along with Merry. I appreciated that even though Merry probably investigates more than she should, in the end when it counts, her first thought is to call the police. Her tentative camaraderie with (and mutual respect for) Detective Simmonds is also enjoyable to read – they really are more alike than I think they realize but different enough to make them a good team.

Bottom Line: In Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas, Vicki Delany takes readers back to the charming town of Rudolph with a plot fraught with drama – and not just at the theater! Clues abound but are not so obviously presented as to make it easy on Merry, Detective Simmonds, or we armchair readers sleuths either. The author’s talent at creating vivid characters & immersing us in the setting had me so absorbed in the story that I nearly threw my Kindle in fright when my husband walked in the front door without warning LOL! I very much enjoyed spending time with these characters again, except for Jackie who got on my last nerve (as she was intended to), and I look forward to my next visit on the pages of another Year-Round Christmas Mystery!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book

I really enjoy this series and catching up with Merry and her friends and family. It was an entertaining book. However, I do wish there was more movement forward in the relationships in the book. I want to see the characters grow and change.

This is the 6th book in the A Year Round Christmas series. If possible, readers should go back a start at book one in the series for a full appreciation of Delano’s characters.

In typical Vicki Delaney style, the quirky folks who live in Rudolf, New York are the heart of the story. The local production company is rife with jealousy and role envy. The drama spills over into Merry’s (our amateur sleuth) Christmas store and drags her into yet another murder mystery. Such fun!

I'm a devoted fan of Vicki Delany's "Year-Round Christmas Mysteries" series, where the festive town backdrop and engaging mysteries always charm me. However, my recent experience with "Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas" left me deeply frustrated, primarily due to the change in narrator.

The series, set in a Christmas-themed town year-round, has been a delightful escape for me. I've grown fond of the characters, especially the protagonist. Unfortunately, the narration in this installment took away from my enjoyment. The new narrator's portrayal of the mother character drastically shifted my perception. Instead of the kind and loving mother I've known through the series, she sounded like a completely different, and frankly, unpleasant character.

Narration can make or break an audiobook, and in this case, it significantly impacted my experience. The tone, voice choices, and overall performance by the narrator fell short, making it difficult to immerse myself in the story as I had with previous books. While the story itself wasn't bad, the narration dragged down the entire experience.

Despite my love for the series, I couldn't give this audiobook the rating it deserved because of the narration. I had to deduct a star solely because of this aspect. If I could rate the narrator separately, it would be a much lower score. It's a reminder of how crucial a narrator's skill is in audiobooks and how it can greatly influence one's enjoyment of a beloved series.

As a side note, I've also found the character of Jackie to be consistently frustrating throughout the series, wondering why she hasn't faced consequences despite her behavior across multiple books.

Overall, "Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas" fell short due to the disappointing narration, but the core story and series remain favorites of mine.

It’s the beginning of December in Rudolph, New York, America's Christmas Town, and business is brisk at Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a gift and décor shop owned by Merry Wilkinson. The local amateur dramatic society is intensely preparing a special musical production of A Christmas Carol. But it’s not a happy set, as rivalries between cast and crew threaten the production. Tensions come to a head when a member of the group is found dead shortly after a shopping excursion to Mrs. Claus's Treasures. Was someone looking to cut out the competition? Everyone in the cast and crew is a potential suspect, including Aline, Merry’s mother, and Merry's shop assistant Jackie O'Reilly, who was desperate for a starring role. It could be curtains for Christmas—and for Merry—unless the killer can be ferreted out of the wings. Nothing says Happy Holidays like a good murder for Christmas. This is a delightful cozy that manages to be festive and mysterious at the same time. This is the 6th installment in the series and it just keeps getting better.

It is Christmas time in the town of Randolph, the year round Christmas town and they are getting ready for a musical production of The Christmas Carol. Let me start by saying WOW book six of the Year Round Christmas series has more drama involved than any community theater group should be allowed, especially for this time of year. Our sleuth Merry knows all about performers and their temperament her mom is a real diva, seriously, she is a retired Met Opera diva. So was it artistic differences, acting ambitions, or something else that leads to the death of Paula who has been cast as Mrs. Cratchit? Since the murder occurred in Merry’s store, Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, during business hours, and Jackie her assistant was the over eager understudy, Merry has no choice but to ask questions and get to the bottom of all the drama. The story moves at a good pace and Merry does such a great job with not asking the wrong people the right questions and getting herself into perilous predicaments. This is a fun holiday cozy that keeps you turning pages and wondering why Paula was the victim.

Cast and crew are preparing to present "A Christmas Carol", but things are rocky. Merry gets pulled into another mystery when a cast member is found murdered. Her mother and shop assistant are among the suspects. This was a fun holiday themed book with engaging characters and a strong mystery.

The author gives us a nice mystery with plenty of clues, suspects, and red herrings. The characters are well written and very well developed, they almost seem like they could come to life and be your neighbors. The only thing that I didn't like about the book are all of the spelling errors and punctuation errors that should have been caught by the author herself or at least her editor.

A fun, Christmasy, cozy mystery to get you in to the holiday spirit. I was not able to guess the killer until, right before the reveal. Vicki Delany did a good job keeping me guessing.

I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series and hopefully getting to all of the previous books in this series that are already sitting on my bookshelves!

Loved this one! A delightful cozy mystery! I enjoyed it very much. If you enjoy mysteries or stories with an amateur sleuth, and do not need the graphic reality with descriptions of gore and violence, this is a good choice. You can follow the clues to solve the mystery without any threat of nightmares.

"Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas" by Vicki Delany is a delightful addition to the Year-Round Christmas Mystery series, offering readers a cozy and festive murder mystery set in the charming town of Rudolph, New York. With its holiday-themed setting and engaging plot, this book earns a solid four-star rating, providing an enjoyable read for fans of cozy mysteries.

The story unfolds in America's Christmas Town, where Merry Wilkinson owns Mrs. Claus's Treasures, a gift and décor shop. As the town gears up for the holiday season, the local amateur dramatic society is immersed in preparing a special production of "A Christmas Carol." Delany skillfully combines the festive atmosphere with the tension brewing among the cast and crew, setting the stage for a murder mystery that keeps readers hooked.

The characters are well-developed, and Merry Wilkinson makes for a charming and relatable protagonist. The dynamics between the cast and crew add an extra layer of intrigue, with rivalries and conflicts escalating as tensions rise. The author successfully weaves together the holiday cheer and the suspenseful elements of a murder investigation, creating a well-balanced and engaging narrative.

The murder mystery itself is cleverly crafted, with a variety of suspects, each with motives that keep the reader guessing until the end. The setting of a gift and décor shop adds a cozy touch, and the inclusion of Aline, Merry's mother, and Jackie O'Reilly, Merry's shop assistant, as potential suspects adds depth to the plot.

Delany's writing style is accessible and engaging, capturing the festive spirit of Christmas in Rudolph. The pacing of the story is well-managed, with the suspense building gradually and culminating in a satisfying resolution. The inclusion of the amateur dramatic society's production of "A Christmas Carol" adds a unique and enjoyable element to the narrative.

"Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas" successfully delivers on the promise of a charming cozy mystery with a holiday twist. Vicki Delany combines festive cheer with a well-crafted murder mystery, making it an ideal read for fans of the genre. With its engaging characters and a plot that keeps you guessing, this book is a perfect seasonal treat for those who enjoy a mix of holiday magic and suspense.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to receive this book for an honest review.

This book is book 6 in the Year-Round Christmas Mystery series. Unfortunately I have not any others in this series but I decided to read anyway. I found it confusing to keep track of the all the characters.

But I did find this book to be a good cozy Christmas book.

3.5 stars
A solid offering from elite cozy author, Vicki Delany. I wasn’t captured by the beginning of this series, but it appears to have settled in to Delany’s well-developed, well-paced signature style. The town regulars are round, familiar characters, and the relationships are engaging.
A production of A Christmas Carol is a bit overdone in Christmas Cozies, but it provides a good setting for the mystery and a cast of possible suspects. I did have the murderer identified well before the reveal, but I wouldn’t say it was terribly obvious. All in all, a good holiday read.

Thank you to Vicki Delany, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.