Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves
April Claus is getting an early gift for her second Christmas in Santaland. Her dear friend, Claire, is visiting from Oregon, and April hopes to show off her adoptive country at its cozy, glittering best. But when the annual ice sculpture contest is derailed by a kamikaze drone-deer, it’s just the first in a series of un-festive events.
Drone-deer, created by inventor elf Blinky Brightlow, are none too popular with the genuine, flesh-and-hoof kind, who are currently on strike. With no reindeer games to keep them in shape, Nick worries they may get too chunky to pull his sleigh come Christmas. Now Blinky is missing, his girlfriend, Juniper, is under suspicion, and between rogue reindeer and conniving elves, all of Santaland seems to have gone sugarplum-crazy. Add a dash of murder to the mix, and suddenly April is battling not just to clear Juniper’s name but to save herself from being put on ice, permanently.
The Details
Series: A Mrs. Clause Mystrery – Book #3
Author: Liz Ireland
Genre/Category: Cozy – Holiday
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
ISBN: 1496737814
Page Count: 304
Rating: 
The Review
I really have come to like April (aka Mrs. Claus); she is strong-willed, compassionate, and a loyal friend. What more could you want from a character or a real-life person? The newest addition in the “A Mrs. Clause Mystery” series is Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves. This story is a head-scratcher in a good way. With evil elves, drones, and those who are wrapped up in themselves to extremes, this story will keep you jumping.
April’s best friend, Claire, is visiting Santaland for the first time and is stunned by everything. No more so than the fact that when April said Nick, her husband, was Santa, she actually meant the real Santa! But Santaland is just like everywhere else, almost. It has good and bad people, crazy inventors of drive-bombing drones that look like maniacal reindeer, and relationships that just don’t work out. But Claire never thought it would also have murder issues.
Just when no one thought things could get any crazier during the build-up to Christmas, someone decides to ruin the ice-sculpture contest and then kill an elf and put the blame on April’s friend Juniper. Juniper is more concerned about her new boyfriend, who has gone missing and is the inventor of the drone reindeer that has caused the real-life reindeer to go on strike just before the holidays. Unfortunately for her, Juniper is about the only suspect the police are looking at, and it is up to April to clear her name before Christmas.
Suspects come out of the woodwork while April investigates. She uncovers evidence and spies on potential killers, sometimes with Claire’s help and sometimes alone. The motive for the killing doesn’t make sense; not even the drones can be blamed, so why would someone kill what appears to be an innocent elf? It doesn’t take long for April to discover a secret or two and get herself in trouble. The killer takes notice, and April is on a direct path to destruction.
The motive for murder is one as old as time, but murder in Santaland is rare, making everyone jumpy. I found this story intriguing and filled with characters and situations that were believable and made me happy. Between crazy inventors, drones, a bleak future of mechanical reindeer and elves, an avalanche that shouldn’t have happened, and April still the same accident-prone person she has always been, readers will delight in this story and wish Christmas was already here. Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves is a fun holiday must-read!
The Author
Elizabeth Bass writes women’s fiction under her own name and as Liz Freeland beginning with Murder in Greenwich Village. She also wrote many romances under the pseudonym Liz Ireland and the new SantaLand Mysteries series.
Elizabeth grew up outside a very small town in East Texas. The first loves in her life were animals and Humphrey Bogart. Had it not been for a father who kept the house full of books and some tireless elementary school teachers, she could have happily remained an illiterate rabbit caretaker addicted to black-and-white films on the late late show.
Liz lives in Victoria, British Columbia, where she writes, does freelance edits, and still manages to find time for an old movie on most days.
More books in this series readers will want to check out include Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings or the fun Mrs. Claus and The Halloween Homicide.
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