Marcia Banks has managed to make a home in tiny rural Mayfair for herself and her fledgling business of training service dogs. Along the way, she's won over her neighbors and won the heart of Will, now the town's newest police detective. Marcia suggests forming a Chamber of Commerce charged with attracting tourists to Mayfair, which has been slowly fading since the town's only attraction, the alligator farm, closed down. But she's completely unprepared when her neighbors not only embrace the idea, but decide the perfect solution is an ice rink. In central Florida. Enthusiasm is high, and construction soon starts. But all comes to a halt when a skeleton is discovered. As Will investigates the thirty-year-old murder, Marcia's neighbors share jigsaw pieces of their history that begin to take shocking shape.
Like every good cozy mystery writer, Kassandra Lamb plays fair with her readers. We have all the clues as soon as Marcia does, giving us the chance to solve the mystery along with her. But the extra element that Kassandra brings to her books-- her background as a practicing psychotherapist--is, I believe, what turns Marcia and her friends from characters into quirky, three-dimensional people. Because in this little novella, what Marcia is really putting together is the lifetime of connections between her neighbors. With those in place, Marcia and Will hope to reunite a shattered family in time for a traditional Christmas. Well, as traditional as it gets in on a former alligator farm in the middle of Florida, anyway. A Mayfair Christmas is a quick sweet read with everything you could ask for while waiting in long holiday lines or wrapped in a quilt by the fire. Old friends, new mysteries, alligators, ice tea sweet enough to remove several layers of tooth enamel, eccentric neighbors, lots of humor, and a terrific dog--all wait to welcome you to a Florida style Christmas. Barb Taub, author of the award-winning Null City fantasy series.
