Murder Goes Mumming by Charlotte MacLeod (writing as Alisa Craig)

In early October I was a little rough on the first book in the Rhys series, A Pint of Murder, since I was slammed with a spoiler before I even started to read it ... but now I look back at it with delight. In this second installment, Murder Goes Mumming, we get to learn ooooh so much more about our dear hero, Madoc Rhys of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We learned a lot about his sweetheart Janet in the first book so it was nice for him to finally get more of a backstory, too. (And the fact that there's a good reason for the delay? Yeah ... MacLeod was a freaking master.)

Madoc has some time off for Christmas and is thrilled to be able to spend it with Janet. His mother wrangles the two of them an invitation to a holiday house-party at Graylings, home of the Condrycke family. The family is a bit, well, nuts. There's cantankerous old Granny who refuses to be seen because her dentures have gone missing. There's Aunt Addie who speaks without thinking which gets interesting since she also appears to be a bit psychic. There's the head of the house, Squire, and his various children and their spouses and their children and Janet's ex-boyfriend (awwwwwkward). There's the household staff, as well, but we really don't get to see much of any of them aside from Ludovic, the butler.

Of course there's a giant snow storm coming in that's so bad that Madoc and Janet get helicoptered in thanks to the RCMP ... and no one can get out for at least a few days since the estate is in the middle of nowhere (aren't they all?). No worries, though, since the family has a schedule full of activities planned and keep things interesting with jokes and pranks and a lot of food and alcohol ... and murder. 

I seriously love Charlotte MacLeod. Madoc and Janet are absolutely darling. She uses phrases like "dollar to doughnuts." The supporting cast is a hoot and I hope that at least some of them are seen again. The solution to the mystery at hand wasn't completely obvious nor was it completely shocking when revealed. She writes bits like this:

Fa la la, indeed!