Killer Christmas by Harper Lin

eBook Novella

Yes, I know, it's been a little more than a month since Christmas has come and gone, but Killer Christmas by Harper Lin was one of the holiday reads that I didn't get around to reading last December.

Killer Christmas by Harper Lin is a 122 page novella that I download for free to my Kindle from Amazon. It's the first read in the Emma Wild Holiday Mystery Series.

The following is my unbiased review of Killer Christmas by Harper Lin.

I specifically chose to read Killer Christmas by Harper Lin for three main reasons:

1. Last year, I read Macaron Murder by Harper Lin and really enjoyed reading it, so wanted to try reading another novella by the same author.

2. I love reading cozy mystery novels/novellas and most holiday themed type of reads, so this was another reason for me to read this novella.

3. I was able to download Killer Christmas for free... Who doesn't like receiving free books?

The Pros for Killer Christmas are as follows:

1. Holiday themed cozy mystery novella.
2. A short quick read.
3. Recipes included at the end of the novella.
4. Plot twists and turns.
5. First novella in the series.

The Cons  for Killer Christmas are as follows:

1. I didn't like the cliffhanger ending... I don't like it when authors use cliffhangers as I feel like it is a blatant gimmick to get readers to buy the next book in the series. If an author's writing is any good, then a reader will readily buy the next book in the series in a heartbeat without having to use a cliffhanger at the end of a novel.

2. Okay, I get it when leading characters (aka amateur sleuths) in cozy mystery novels/novellas do some dumb things in order do accomplish their sleuthing... It's a pretty much a standard feature for leading characters in cozy mystery novels/novellas to find themselves in a pickle... However, I have an issue with the following two things from this novella:

A. When is it ever a good idea for a law enforcement officer to illegally enter a home without a warrant??

B. If the leading character has illegally entered the home of a homicide suspect and the law enforcement officer knows this and is there witnessing the fact that the leading character is in a homicide suspect's home illegally, then why is the leading character not arrested for breaking and entering?

3. Yes, there were a few plot twists and turns in Killer Christmas, which is great... But, the twists and turns weren't flushed out very well, in my opinion. It was pretty easy to figure out who the real killer was. I also thought the reason the killer did the killing was kind of on the weak side.

4. The leading character of Emma Wild talks about being heartbroken twice in her life. Yet she seems let her guard down and not have an issue with letting the first person who broke her heart back into her life so easily... I'm not saying she shouldn't have let the person back into her life, but she seemed do so rather easily after claiming to be pretty hurt by the person's actions in the first place. Not too realistic if you ask me. 

5. A few other annoyances in this novella were also irksome. But the above 4 items were the most annoying to me.

The following is a summary of Killer Christmas by Harper Lin from Amazon's website:

After breaking up with hunky movie star Nick Doyle, Grammy Award-winning singer Emma Wild returns to her hometown for Christmas to get away from it all. In Hartfield, a small town in Ontario, Canada, she gets caught up in a murder case after a fan's drink is poisoned at the Chocoholic Cafe, owned by Emma's sister Mirabelle.

Who is the killer and was the drink originally intended for Emma? To add to the chaos, Sterling Matthews is the detective on the case. He'd shattered her heart nine years ago and inspired all her hit singles, but now they must work together to find the murderer before the murderer finds Emma.

I'm giving  Killer Christmas by Harper Lin a rating of 3.5 stars out of 10 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!