April is spending her first Christmas in Santaland after marrying Nick Claus, who has taken over the title of Santa after the tragic death of his brother months ago. When an elf is found dead a week or so before the big day, April can’t help but do some investigating of her own.
This is a delightful start to a new cozy series – it’s like a grown-up version of The Santa Clause. Santaland is magical and lovely, but there’s a darker side, too. April’s in-laws aren’t exactly the most welcoming (dealing with her new mother-in-law, the dowager Mrs. Claus, can be tough!), there’s a lot of animosity and infighting amongst the different elf families, and reindeer can be horribly mean! Quasar is my absolute favorite, though (Rudolph who? Get ready for a new favorite reindeer!)
I’m interested to see where Ireland takes this series – April still owns an inn in Oregon, and she’s intending on spending summers there with Mr. Claus. It could be really fun to have a series set in two different locations!
Content warning: very brief mention of death of a spouse, infertility and infidelity.
Thank you Kensington Books for the finished copy!
Read with Aimee 