The Twelve Books of Christmas by Kate Carlisle - 5 Stars!

 

In the middle of a wonderful Christmas holiday in Dharma, Brooklyn Wainwright and her husband, Derek receive a phone call from their friend Claire in Loch Ness, Scotland. The laird of the castle, Cameron MacKinnon, has just proposed to her! They plan to be married on New Year’s Day, and they want Derek and Brooklyn to be their witnesses. And while they’re visiting, Claire hopes that Brooklyn can solve a little mystery that’s occurred in the castle library—twelve very rare books have gone missing. Once in Scotland, Brooklyn starts working on the mystery of the missing books but is distracted when one of the guests is poisoned and another is killed by an arrow through the heart. Now Brooklyn and Derek must find a killer and a book thief before another murder occurs and their friends’ bright and happy future turns dark and deadly.

This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I love Brooklyn, she's a fantastic amateur sleuth who somehow finds dead bodies in her spare time. Derek reminds me a lot of James Bond, he's a suave character who loves Brooklyn and assists her in all of her sleuthing. Brooklyn's parents and the other side characters are very unique and fun to read about. The plot was gripping and intriguing. There were red herrings and misdirection that kept me confused until the very end. The setting, an old castle in Scotland, was very well described and added to the overall atmosphere of the book. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and hope you will too!