If you're a fan of cozy mystery novels, this anthology is the perfect way to get into the holiday spirit! With three stories in one, you'll get a triple dose of murder, intrigue, and holiday cheer.

In "Christmas Card Murder," Lucy Stone is caught up in the midst of holiday renovations when she discovers an old Christmas card with a nasty message inside. She sets out to solve the mystery of the decades-old crime, determined to get to the bottom of it before Santa arrives.

In "Death of a Christmas Carol," the Island Times Christmas soiree takes a dark turn when Hayley Powell, Mona Barnes, and Rosana Moretti receive a threatening Christmas card from the town flirt, Carol Waterman. When they find Carol's body under her tree, the ladies must work together to solve the murder.

Finally, in "Death of a Christmas Card Crafter," the body of the beloved art teacher and annual Christmas card designer, Karma Karling, is found on the first day of the Holiday Craft Fair. Pamela Paterson and the Knit and Nibble crew must swap their crafting for sleuthing to put the Christmas killer on ice.

Each of the three stories is well-written and keeps you guessing until the very end. They're the perfect blend of holiday cheer and mystery, and they'll keep you entertained from start to finish. If you're looking for a cozy holiday read, this anthology is an excellent choice.

Christmas Card Murder contains three cozy mystery novellas by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Peggy Ehrhart. I like to read holiday themed stories as it gets closer to the holiday. Christmas Card Murder by Leslie Meier has Lucy Stone finally getting something she has dreamed of for years—a master bathroom. It is about time. While removing a wall, Bill finds a Christmas card with a nasty message. Lucy begins digging into the past to learn who received the card and the reason for the message. Also, a murderer is up for parole, and it has the community up in arms. I love visiting Tinker’s Cove, Maine. I like Lucy Stone who is a hardworking mother, wife, and reporter. The mystery was different and there was suspense in the story as well. There is also humor and warmth. Death of a Christmas Carol by Lee Hollis has the newspapers Christmas party taking a downturn when they receive a nasty missive from Carol Waterman, the town flirt who later turns up dead. Hayley sets out to bag the guilty party before Santa comes to town. This was a humorous story that fans of the series will enjoy. The mystery was simple, but it suited the length of the novella. Peggy Ehrhart gives us Death of a Christmas Card Crafter which has Pamela and her knitting group searching for the individual who killed the high school’s art teacher. There are nice characters in this series. I enjoy the descriptions of the yarn and their projects. I did find the pacing to be on the sluggish side. The mystery was different. The whodunit took a backseat to eating, the detailed descriptions of the character’s clothing, knitting, and the endless conversations. The resolution was drawn out and it felt like it came out of left field. These novellas are best read by those who are familiar with the series. I enjoyed learning more about Christmas cards and their history in Christmas Card Murder. You can read one or all three of these holiday cozy mysteries.

Christmas Card Murder by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Peggy Ehrhart

The book Christmas Card Murder is a compilation of three novellas. The first one is also called Christmas Card Murder, and it’s written by Leslie Meier. It is an acceptable cozy mystery about a writer for a small town Maine newspaper who discovers a Christmas card with a hateful, mysterious message during a remodeling project. When a snowstorm brings more than snow, the main character Lucy finds herself in danger. With themes regarding the effectiveness of our criminal justice system, DNA evidence, and reasonable doubt, this mystery’s last few chapters have a very serious tone and the conclusion provides mixed outcomes for the characters. This story is more thought provoking than fun. 3/5

Death of a Christmas Carol
As I began the second novella, I sensed a theme. Also set in Maine, Death of a Christmas Carol’s plot is centered around a Christmas card. This card is addressed to three friends and includes a threat. The sender of the card is a flirtatious woman who has had conflicts with all the ladies. Is the card a joke or is someone’s husband unfaithful? Lee Hollis’ tale is about female bonding, marital happiness, and murder. Embedded are some short stories by the main character who is a writer for the local newspaper and some of her favorite seasonal recipes. 4/5

Death of a Christmas Card Crafter
Karma Karling was Penny’s favorite teacher in high school. A talented artist, she created a new card each Christmas season based on the “12 Days of Christmas.” Clearly the last in the series, this year’s card features 12 drummer boys—but there are thirteen depicted. Could that be a clue to Karma’s untimely death? Bettina and Pamela, both knitters, make it their business to discover the murderer while absolving a fellow knitter.

All of the novellas in this trio appear to be part of each author’s series. I enjoyed this novella the most—partly because, of the three, this is the only series that I have been following. I credit this one as having the best descriptive passages, the most interesting plot, and a surprise ending that was truly unexpected. 5/5

All of these novellas work as a stand-alone, but the author of Death of a Christmas Card Crafter excels in pulling the reader into the story while giving back information that makes the characters more appealing. Peggy Ehrhart’s book includes directions for knitting doll clothes using only the knit stitch and recipes for an intensely chocolate cake and a quick bread featuring dried fruits.

I would like to extend my thanks to NetGalley and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Mystery

Publication: October 27, 2020—Kensington

Memorable Lines:

Christmas Card Murder—She knew that kids frequently didn’t realize that their actions had consequences; this was something most people learned the hard way.
Death of a Christmas Carol—“I got him to talk by threatening not to make him dinner. He’d make a terrible spy. He’d give up the nation’s secrets for a box of Hamburger Helper.”

Death of a Christmas Card Crafter—The spicy pine scent carried all the way to the sidewalk, and its evocation of a season that should be happy seemed an incongruous contradiction to the crime-scene tape and the uniformed officer.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. It took me a minute to get into the story but once I did I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read and review.

I'm a sucker for holiday cozies and these short stories were perfect to pick up and read in front of the fire. I love Leslie Meier's characters in Tinker's Cove. This is my first introduction to Lee Hollis and Peggy Ehrhart, but it definitely won't be the last that I read from them.

Thanks to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

This book includes 3 short Christmas stories from different authors but are all part of a series. For the most part, I followed along ok, but occasionally I felt there was more back story that I wasn't privy to and it affected the way the stories developed for me. All three stories were of the cozy mystery variety and had things in common such as journalists, Christmas cards, recipes, and of course murders.

My favorite of all of them was the second story Death of a Christmas Carol. It was humorous and I liked the plot and characters. I couldn't wait to finish it. This story helped bump my rating from 2 to 3 stars. I will likely read more of this author's work.

My least favorite was the last story Death of A Christmas Card. It was slow, boring, and I couldn't wait for it to be over. I felt no connection to the characters and not much back story was explained, such as what happened to Pamela's husband and why does she call him by his full name? It was weird.

This is not a book I would necessarily recommend to my friends, but it was enjoyable enough.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to read this book because I am new to the cozy mystery genre and I love anything Christmas related. I've read books by Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis before, although Peggy Ehrhart is a new to me author.

Leslie's story capture me right away. I always enjoy reading about Lucy's family and the fact that they found a nasty Christmas card in the walls of their house really surprised me. I enjoyed following Lucy's path as she worked to uncover who lived in their house before them, and what that person might have done to upset others.

Lee's story made me laugh. I really enjoy the Hayley Powell series from what I've read and all of the different characters in Bar Harbor crack me up. There were some genuine laugh out loud moments and I like how there were basically two mysteries that had to be solved.

Peggy's story didn't grip me as much, but I think that could be because I'm unfamiliar with her series. I'd like to read more though because I love reading about crafts, and the characters in this story all spent a lot of time at a craft show.

Did I solve all of the mysteries myself? Not quite. But I enjoyed these stories and found myself enjoying the Christmas atmosphere.

3 stars.

This book includes three novellas, each centering on a Christmas card. All three are cozy and light, just right for reading by the fire as the holidays approach. But they also include clever clues and complicated relationships.

The book also includes recipes -- I haven't tried them, but they sound good, and just right for a Christmas party!

I enjoyed the Peggy Ehrhart story in this collection of Christmas mysteries. I read the Knit and Nibble series so I was glad to have a small piece of the series, until the next book comes out. I took a chance and read the Leslie Meier story. It was good but I don't follow that series so I didn't enjoy it as much as the Peggy Ehrhart story. Same for the Lee Hollis story. I'm glad for the introduction to those two other authors.

These stories were pretty fun. I will admit that I prefer full length cozies, but the stories wrapped up nicely, and I enjoyed trying to figure out "who dun it!"

Great Christmas read from great authors. Very festive and enjoyable stories. I love these holiday compilations.

Three in one as Kensington brought together three of their best selling authors to produce this holiday offering. (Actually four authors as Lee Hollis is the pen name for a brother sister writing team.) Each writer offers a nifty story using a Christmas card as the 'what if' idea for her sleuths.
Leslie Meier asks What if an old Christmas card with a nasty message is found in her home. Can a cold case be resolved? Lee Hollis' tale features a dead body that used a Christmas card to boast she would steal someone's husband. Peggy Ehrhart's Knit and Nibble crew are on hand to find the murder of a beloved art teacher and Christmas card designer. In a year filled with angst from the pandemic, these stories offer a large portion of warmth sprinkled with a dash of murder.

Recommended for readers of cozy mysteries of all ages.

Full disclosure: I received this ARC from netgalley and Kensington in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for this opportunity

I only read Christmas Card Murder by Leslie Meier and Death of a Christmas Carol by Lee Hollis so I will only be reviewing these two stories.

Leslie Meier give us a mystery that is well written, well developed, has a few twists, turns, a couple of red herrings, and lots of clues. The characters are also well written, well developed, quirky, and likeable which makes them seem lifelike and realistic. I enjoyed following Lucy as she goes about finding out the truth behind the card. I also enjoyed how the mystery revolving the Christmas card was resolved, and how it gave one character a very happy ending.

Lee Hollis gives us a mystery that is well written, well developed, has a couple of characters, plenty of clues, a few red herrings, and a couple of twists and turns. The characters are lifelike, well written, well developed, and believable which makes them seem very realistic. I enjoyed following Hayley as she went about finding out who the killer was and what their motive behind the crime was. I was surprised by the two big reveals that happened at the end of the story.

The book contains 3 different Christmas cozies. Each mystery is well-written with no shortage of red herrings or suspects. The stories each have a different twist on a Christmas whodunnit.

The first story, Christmas Card Murder, is a Lucy Stone Mystery of which I have read several books in the series. I was happy to see Lucy finally getting something in her home life that she really wants. The mystery is fun and interesting, as I have come to expect from Author Leslie Meier.

The second story, Death of a Christmas Carol, was written by a new to me author. This was a humorous, fast-paced novella. The characters are entertaining, and you want to know more about them.

The last story, Death of a Christmas Card Crafter, is written by another new to me author. The characters were interesting, and the mystery is full of twists and turns.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way have I been influenced by anyone.

This is a fun collection of shorter stories that revolve around a Christmas theme. Just perfect for the times when you want something shorter and entertaining to read. Good stories by good authors.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I only read the first story in this book and was extremely disappointed. Leslie Meier is an author that I follow. The story that she wrote for this book is basically annoying. She teases with references to two incidents and then only solves one, and that one is solved very quickly and way too easily and not realistically. The other incident just ends very sadly and with no closure.
I don’t know if I will bother with the other two stories in this book.

CHRISTMAS CARD MURDER by Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Peggy Ehrhart was just recently published and contains a collection of three stories by these authors: Christmas Card Murder; Death of a Christmas Carol; and Death of a Christmas Card Crafter. As I often do (guilty pleasure), I enjoyed escaping reality for a bit with the Lucy Stone story which involved a threatening message on an old Christmas card found during a house renovation. Frankly, though, I gave up in the midst of Death of a Christmas Carol after a human character "barked" for about the tenth time; who says that? Ratings on amazon and GoodReads are more positive for this set of stories so maybe I missed a clever play on words instead of the editor missing a chance to improve the writing? 2.5 stars

This was a great book, I have been reading Leslie Meier for years, And being able to read a story by her and others was a real treat, I loved this book! it didn't disappoint at all!..

The combination of Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, and Peggy Ehrhart makes for a compelling collection. Meier is one of my faves and serves up a Lucy Stone classic centered around an old Christmas card to a previous owner of her home. Hollis also delivers with a whodunit about a woman who sent several other women a Christmas car saying she was going to run off with one of their husbands. Then she turns up dead. I hadn’t read Ehrhart before but her story about a person who designs Christmas cards ending up death at a craft fair was a fun one.

Rating: 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for the review ebook. All opinions are my own.

This book has multiple short stories in it that are filled with holiday cheer and murder. These christmas stories are so fun and filled with so many twists and turns. The characters are great as well as the descriptions in the books. These stories are a little more serious then the usual cozy mysteries, but they're really great still. All the descriptions of food in these books made me super hungry, haha. If you're a fan of quick mystery books, I recommend checking this out!