Nutcracker Conspiracy

Deck the Halls and Hide the Evidence--Before the Nutcracker Stroll Unwraps a Scandal
Married life in Candy Cane Hollow comes with monogrammed stationery and a calendar full of cheer. This week it's the annual Nutcracker Stroll: my sister August is running the show, The Cracking Curio has window displays taller than me, and cocoa-and-cinnamon air on every doorstep.
Then Ambrose Pearce, the town's fiercest Nutcracker collector, doesn't answer her door. I find her body among her antique figures and the Stroll turns from festive to fearful. Chief Superintendent Wiggles takes charge, but something's off. Ambrose had been warning people about stolen Nutcrackers and a theft ring working the region, and now her rivals would rather talk tinsel than truth.
With Mrs. Claus steadying the town, Nick juggling Santa training, and Gilbert the house-elf spotting details everyone else misses, I follow a trail of cracked bases, swapped labels, and collectors with gothic tastes and very neat alibis. If a ring is stealing our history, I'm not letting them hide behind twinkle lights.
We need answers before "Open" signs flip to "Closed" for the Stroll.
Nutcracker Conspiracy is the eighth book in the Candy Cane Hollow Christmas Cozy Mystery series, a warm, magical, and clean holiday whodunit for fans of Hallmark-style cozies and anyone who wishes they could spend Christmas in Santa's own hometown.
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Praise for the Candy Cane Hollow Christmas Cozy Mystery series:
5 out of 5 stars "This Christmas cozy mystery series is by far the best I've ever read!"
5 out of 5 stars "Great characters and story lines. A definite read for any fan of cozy mysteries."
5 out of 5 stars "It's all things cozy, cute and Christmas perfection."
5 out of 5 stars "Simple and full of the type of Christmas magic that helps you escape your everyday problems."
5 out of 5 stars "A delight to read... built on all the wonderful coziness of Christmas Corpse."
5 out of 5 stars "Magical setting... the mystery was good and not easily solved."
5 out of 5 stars "So much fun, couldn't put it down... keeps you guessing."
5 out of 5 stars "Another fun book in this delightful series... Couldn't put it down."
5 out of 5 stars "What a delightful story... It is full of Christmas magic!"
5 out of 5 stars "This was an easy-to-read Christmas murder mystery... a happy ending."
5 out of 5 stars "This was a great read... The small-town feeling sounded wonderful year-round."

ONE PENNY A STORY, I called across the playground.
Entirely unusual, given how shy I was (and still am), for me to be shouting anything across a playground.
But there I was, a double-sided sheet of narrow ruled paper (I've always been kind of particular about the paper I like. Back then, narrow ruled. Now, grid.) in my hand, selling stories I hadn't yet wrote.
Every line featured a different title. I'd lay on my bed the night before thinking of them all, probably singing along to Boyzone songs as I did [hey, don't judge... I see you over there like you never thought you were destined to marry a boy band singer...].
My school friends could buy a Mona original for one penny. One penny!
They'd pick the title they liked, hand over their sweaty penny, and I'd write the story for them.
And I've never grown out of writing stories.
Now, I write cozy mystery stories from my den in the Peak District, and when I'm not writing them, I'm reading them.