I wasn't terribly taken with this book for the first third, but got more interested during the second third. I was rather unhappy about needing to go into town before I could finish it. I picked it up again when I got home.

Faith comes from a small family and finds her husband's family reunion a bit overwhelming. Of Dick and Marian Fairchild's four offspring, Tom & Faith have the best marriage.

Who is behind the increasingly nasty pranks going on at the Pine Slopes ski resort in Vermont? Clues are scattered among the various family problems. Faith gets to avoid some of the family fireworks because the resort's cook has vanished. She likes the kitchen and the well-trained staff of young South American university students working where they can practice their English during what is their summer.

The first murder isn't messy. The second murder is very messy. Do the victims have the same killer? Will Faith be next, or has her missing nephew already become the third victim?

The solution left a bad taste in my mouth -- reasons and methods. The last chapter takes place quite a bit later and gives us what happened to various characters. (Robert's fate was no surprise at all.) There are recipes, of course. My dad was a natural at cooking. My mother wasn't. I take after her in the culinary arts, so I won't be trying them out. I think some of them might be quite delicious if someone else made them.

The Charles Dickens quotation on the page after the dedication made me smile. I enjoyed looking up various NYC buildings mentioned in chapter two. The very brief history of skiing given in chapter four was interesting.

I enjoyed the author's note about books she loved when she was a girl because, except for the All-of-a-Kind Family, I read and have them, too. I even have the same edition of A Little Princess, although I think Ms. Page is confusing the end of the book with the end of at least one of the movie versions. Also, the Story Girl was written by L. M. Montgomery, not Frances Hodgson Burnett. Ms. Page is right about the magic of those stories, though.

The recipes are:
Apology Mushroom Soup
Llapingachos with Salsa de Mali (Potato Cakes With Peanut Sauce)
the recipe for the salsa
Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)
Glad's Brownies
Aunt Susie's Cake
the recipe for the frosting ( )

The whole Fairchild clan is gathering at a Vermont ski resort to celebrate dad Dick's birthday: Faith, her husband Tom and their two kids, Tom's brothers, Robert and Craig and Craig's new wife, and Tom's sister, Betsey, and her husband and two teenage sons. The family has been vacationing at the small, family-run resort for decades. Because the Fairchilds are so close to the resort's owners, they are naturally distressed when malicious pranks begin to drive away business. With Faith in attendance, series readers won't be surprised that the pranks eventually lead to murder.

This is one of the more entertaining books in the Faith Fairchild series. I can imagine the book as a Murder, She Wrote episode, with Jessica Fletcher in the role of long-time friend of the resort owners relentlessly pursuing the unknown prankster who threatens her friends' livelihood. There wasn't as much "mystery" as usual in this book, but I was entertained by the family drama and was content to wait for the suspense to develop. ( )

Faith Fairchild encounters a body while skiing at her husband's family's favorite Vermont resort. As more strange events occur, it becomes apparent that someone does not want the resort to continue operating. Will the killer be found before irreparable damage to the resort's reputation is done? While I have not read this book before, the plot seems somewhat similar to something I've read. I just can't put my finger on it! ( )

Vermont skiiing with Fairchild family. Simon-killer.