“A Stocking Full of Murder” by Lynn Cahoon features three short holiday mysteries: Corned Beef and Casualties, Mother’s Day Mayhem, and A Very Mummy Holiday.

Corned Beef and Casualties:

The St. Patrick’s Day Festival is bringing a lot of business to South Cove, California including Jill Gardner’s store Coffee, Books, and More which is filled with customers. Unfortunately, the festival also brings a murder when a body is found at the beach. Although Jill only met the murder victim once, she can’t help getting involved and trying to help her boyfriend Greg solve the case

“Corned Beef and Casualties” is a nice little mystery. I have never read any of the other Tourist Trap mysteries (something I will rectify) so at first I had a hard time figuring out who each character was but once I did I really enjoyed this mystery. The St. Patrick’s Day Festival setting is a nice one as is the mystery, I did feel bad for the murder victim and the motive was especially sad.

Mother’s Day Mayhem:

Jill is taken aback when Greg says he wants her to meet his mother. She is afraid his mother won’t like her. When she is not worrying about that, she is worrying about Kyle Nabors who works next door to her. His mother was recently released from jail but refuses to meet with Kyle which is breaking his heart. Jill can’t resist trying to find out why his mother is avoiding him but will Kyle be able to handle the reason?

“Mother’s Day Mayhem” was my favorite story in this collection. It is not a murder mystery, but the mystery in the story is very well done, if a bit heartbreaking. There are some twists and turns in the story that took me by surprise – well done. My one complaint about this story is the continuity – I wish my weekends had two Saturdays like a weekend in this story!

A Very Mummy Holiday:

Jill, Greg, and members of their family/friends have left South Cove to spend Thanksgiving week in Oregon. They are hoping for a nice quiet holiday but their hopes are quickly dashed when they first meet a group of menacing strangers and them stumble across a mummified body. The police think they know who the killer is but Jill isn’t convinced. Will her search for the real killer put her and her friends in danger?

“A Very Mummy Holiday” is a nicely done mystery. I like the Oregon setting – I could picture it while reading the story. The mystery is well done (if quite sad) with a great deal of tension that had me at the end of my seat while reading the story. It was pretty easy to figure out who the killer was but the tense situations still made this a great read. My only quibble with this story is another continuity error – just how long was the murder victim missing?

Continuity issues aside, “A Stocking Full of Murder” is a nice collection of short mysteries. ( )