A Carol for a Corpse-Claudia Bishop

A Carol for a Corpse
Claudia Bishop
Berkley, Nov 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780425218341

The Inn at Hemlock Falls in Upstate New York is owned by twosisters, Meg Quilliam who is a three star chef and Sara Quilliam-McBride runs the hotel. Since the opening of a nearby upscale resort, business has been bad and the siblings fear they may have to shut their hotel down. The bank is working with them by sending over an efficiency expert to find ways of improving service while reducing costs.

They also sign a deal with L’Apertif magazine who will feature their jams and jellies and televise a show they are producing four times a year. They will tape the cooking show Good Taste at the inn and it will last a month for each taping. Lydia Kingsfield is the star of the magazine and the show and her husband Zeke, who is even more obnoxious than his odious wife is a notorious larger than life business man who has cheated many people out of their money with his unethical ventures. His body is found at the Inn’s ski run; it looks as if he was killed by negligence, but Quill believes otherwise. She sets out to prove murder occurred, but finds half the State had a motive to want Zeke dead.

A CAROL FOR A CORPSE is a charming cozy that puts readers in the holiday spirit due in large part to the vivid picturesque descriptions of Christmas décor, the mouthwatering food, the feeling of good will, but especially the Scrooge attitude of Quill. She is ruthless when it comes to keeping her cherished sister safe and is passionate about the inn. Thus she needs no more motives to investigate the death of Zeke than the possible harm to Meg or the loss of the inn, as she rejects the negligence ruling. Fans of the series will enjoy the freshness in the story line due to a couple of interesting surprises, making this a merry Yuletide amateur sleuth.

Harriet Klausner