Cozy Mystery Review: Murder Under the Mistletoe | Sherry Lynn | A Mainely Murder Mystery #2

Sherry Lynn’s Murder Under the Mistletoe features a grinch-y murder mystery with a dash of holiday cheer and maybe even some romance! Another festive read for those looking for a light and breezy holiday mystery.

About the Book | Murder Under the Mistletoe

In a fresh new Maine-set holiday cozy, landscaper Kinsley Clark must root out a killer before she becomes the prime suspect.

Landscape artist and owner of SeaScapes, Kinsley Clark has been re-hired to decorate the town of Harborside for the upcoming holiday season and boat parade. Using the local elements found in Maine, Kinsley creates kissing balls—the town’s official mistletoe—to hang downtown and along the wharf. Kinsley is also responsible for Harborside’s official “lobster-stacked” Christmas tree, located beside the local marina, where the annual Harborside Boat Parade & Fireworks Display takes place.

When local alderman Chris Chesterfield—dressed up as the Grinch, right down to the green face paint—falls off the pier and into the icy Atlantic the night of the annual kickoff event, the town is in shock. But all eyes turn to Kinsley and her beautiful decorations when it becomes evident that Chris didn’t fall after all—and that he was looking to replace SeaScapes with a different decorating team. Kinsley, along with bestie, Becca, and Pete, the owner of the Blue Lobstah, must unearth the truth before Kinsley takes the fall. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

Review | Murder Under the Mistletoe

This Christmas cozy mystery takes the reader to the seaside setting of Harborside, Maine where the holidays are falling on the cozy town nestled on the Atlantic coast. I could practically feel the cold, salty air on my face reading it!

Kinsley Clark is a landscape artist and owner of SeaScapes, a landscaping business that she runs from the cottage behind the Salty Breeze Inn owned by her Aunt Tilly. Kinsley is gathering her friends around to help her make the annual kissing balls the decorate Harborside just in time for the holidays. Kissing Balls are clusters of evergreen branches tied together with twine and decorated with other holiday items such as bows or pinecones. While they were originally meant to bring good will to those who walk under them, they are also sometimes thought to symbolize romantic love.

Kinsley’s best friend Becca joins her part time during her slow season to help with with the kissing balls and holiday decorations Harborside hired Kinsley to create. In addition, her crush Pete—who owns the Blue Lobstah Pub—is helping. Kinsley and Pete are flirting around the idea of a romantic relationship but aren’t ready to address it yet (particularly since Pete’s busy work schedule keeps leading him to send mixed signals). But perhaps a perfect moment under a kissing ball could help? Only time will tell!

Meanwhile, the owner of the local flower shop donated the holly branches for the kissing balls. Her husband, Chris, is a town Alderman and is generally considered quite grumpy (even abrasive) around town. When he tells Kinsley off for charging the town for the kissing balls, Kinsley defends her business but also worries that maybe she took advantage of Mallory’s generosity by accepting the donated items. Still, Chris is pushing to get the town to hire a different company for their year-round decorating, which would put a huge dent in Kinsley’s business.

When it’s time for the annual boat parade and fireworks to kick off, Chris is dressed (rather appropriately) as the Grinch—green face and all! But when it is discovered that someone has pushed Chris into the icy water to his death, Kinsley suddenly has a motive for murder. Fortunately for Kinsley, Chris had many enemies and she’s not the only one with a motive (not to mention Kinsley has an alibi for the murder). When one of the bartenders at Pete’s pub and Kinsley’s friend Raven is arrested for the murder, Kinsey and Becca are determined to help solve the case.

The setting was delightful and I loved learning about kissing balls, which is a holiday decoration I recognized but didn’t know the history of. Harborside is a charming town and I could picture how lovely it must be, particularly over the holidays. Kinsley and Becca were a fun duo to read about, and Kinsley is heavily embedded in the middle of a will-they-won’t-they storyline with Pete throughout the book.

There were plenty of suspects that made sense for the murder, which kept the mystery interesting. The resolution was entertaining though not overly groundbreaking. I liked that Kinsley’s brother Kyle was around in this mystery. He had recently come home on leave from the Air Force where he was stationed overseas. Kinsley’s parents died in an accident on a military base when Kinsley and Kyle were children, so this was a touching “home for the holidays” storyline that added some much-needed depth to Kinsley as a character.

This fell on the very light side of cozy mysteries and I enjoyed it. I do think that the series needs a bit more in the next book to really pop. This is a lovely Christmas cozy mystery in a fun series that is still in its early books.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.

About the Author | Sherry Lynn

Sherry Lynn spent countless summers on the coast of Maine, knowing she’d one day return to write about the magical location from her youth. Curious by nature, sleuthing became the perfect fit for her, and she has written multiple cozy mystery series under several pseudonyms. (Check out the Handcrafted Mystery series under Holly Quinn and the Lakeside Library Series under Holly Danvers.) Currently, Sherry lives in the Midwest with her husband, but she dreams about one day retiring oceanside with a good book in her hand.