Lowcountry Boughs of Holly

 

Tis the season for people to be picking up Christmas reads! I tend to not flock to seasonally based books (movies are another thing, which was a new obsession last year) only in that season.  If it sounds good, I'll pick it up in April, or July, most of the time right after the season/holiday, because I will not conform.  I don't like being told what to do, even when no one gives a poop.  Okay, okay, I'm a rebel who follows rules.  But only the rules I've determined are okay.

I started reading Lowcountry Boughs of Holly by Susan Boyer, two days before Christmas.  And then underestimated the amount of stuff I had to do, because I was certain I'd wrap it up by Christmas.  Alas, I finished it the day after Christmas!

It is the 10th book in the Liza Talbot series.  I haven't read all of them, but the ones I've picked up I've enjoyed! They are cozy mysteries set in South Carolina.  Liz is a private investigator with her husband Nate, and she gets a little help from her deceased childhood best friend.  These books are not meant to be serious!

In this Christmas time based book, Liz and Nate are investigating the death of a Santa Clause following the annual Santa Boat Parade.  They are led back to past characters (but I don't remember them and I'm not sure if I read the book they were in, however this didn't make the book hard to follow) and boy, were they entertaining! Rich people drama!

There is a wayward reindeer, delicious descriptions of Liz's Momma's food, and actions packed with the help of some mysterious powers to be! If you are looking for a light read or a series to get started on, the Liz Talbot series is for you!

Does your town have any holiday traditions? Do you enjoy reading books set in the South?

Description: It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but Private Investigator Liz Talbot is struggling to feel festive. She hasn’t seen her best friend, Colleen, in weeks and fears she may never see her again in this life. Meanwhile Nate, Liz’s husband and partner, is spending money like he prints it in the attic on a mysterious family Christmas celebration. Liz’s nerves are shot, and she hasn’t even decked a single hall. But there’s simply no time to fret.

On a morning beach run, Liz spots a wooden rowboat run aground with Santa inside. Did Old Saint Nick have too much eggnog at the boat parade? No indeedy—Santa’s been shot. And he’s none other than C.C. Bounetheau, patriarch of one of Charleston’s wealthiest families.

Liz and Nate already unwrapped quite a few family secrets while searching for the Bounetheau’s missing granddaughter last year—enough to make them swear to steer forever clear of the entire clan. But as Mr. Bounetheau’s body is found in Stella Maris, and Liz and Nate are the police chief’s on-call detectives, they’re on the case.

With no shortage of suspects, Liz and Nate dash to find a killer who may be working his or her way down a naughty list.

Spend Christmas in the Lowcountry with the Talbot family and their friends in Susan M. Boyer’s latest Southern charmer, Lowcountry Boughs of Holly. Tis the season for merry mayhem!

I received this book for free from the author.  All thoughts and opinions are my own!