Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for A Christmas Conundrum: A Liz Adams Mystery by Stacy Wilder. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
A Christmas Conundrum: A Liz Adams Mystery
by Stacy Wilder
A Christmas Conundrum: A Liz Adams Mystery
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – South Carolina
Wild Hawk Press (November 1, 2023)
Hardcover : 90 pages
ISBN-13 : 979-8985426687
Paperback : 90 pages
Nancy Drew meets How the Grinch Stole Christmas in this delightful cozy mystery set in Charleston, SC.
Who’s stealing the holiday decorations? They’re disappearing like Christmas cookies from PeggyLou Designs, and Lou’s newly launched event planning service is in trouble. He implores his neighbor and friend, Private Investigator Liz Adams, to bring the thief to justice.
The clock is ticking. It’s only ten days until the mayor’s big holiday celebration. The party that will make or break Lou’s business.
Liz’s mom, Babs, steps in to help, and the investigation becomes complicated. Suddenly the holidays are not all mistletoe and merriment when Bab’s life is threatened. Will Liz and her lie-detecting Labrador retriever, Duke, discover the perpetrator before it’s too late?
Experience Charleston in the city’s full Christmas glory in this fun fast-paced holiday story.
My review of Christmas Conundrum
A Christmas Conundrum by Stacy Wilder is the first book I’ve read in the Liz Adams mystery series. It’s a fun, short Christmas cozy mystery surrounding a theft rather than a murder, and it can be read as a stand-alone.
It’s almost Christmas, and Christmas decorations are going missing. No, not everyone’s decorations, but Liz’s friend Lou’s decorations are. Plus, they’re really expensive, unique decorations that he’s storing at a secure storage facility! Since Lou has just recently added event planning to his design business, this is a disaster…especially since the decorations are for the mayor’s holiday party!
I enjoyed getting to know a little bit about the characters from the series. Liz’s mom, Babs, is especially delightful. I think that readers of the series who already are familiar with the main characters would get more from the book, and since it’s a short read, there’s not much room for character development in this one book. Since this is the 9th book in the series, long-time readers will be much more familiar with the main characters.
The plot is fast moving, and with Liz on the job, the case is quickly solved. I think that Liz Adams readers and Christmas cozy lovers will enjoy this short, Christmas mystery book!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
Author Guest Post: For the Love of Labs
Private Investigator Liz Adams’ sidekick is a truth sniffing Labrador Retriever, Duke. The character is modeled after our own Lab, Eve. Although she can’t detect when people are lying, she’s a communicator. She howls the words “I love you” for her breakfast in the morning.
Eve is a doll, and December is the month that we adopted her from Texas Sporting Breed Rescue (TSBR) ten years ago. I donate a portion of the proceeds from my books to causes that help homeless people and homeless pets, including TSBR.
Here is an (edited) excerpt from a story that ran in the Houston Chronicle in December of 2014 about our trip to pick Eve up. The article was titled “Love actually. In Houston.” by Maggie Galehouse and featured Christmas love stories.
“Our family has a passion for Labrador retrievers. Last September, we lost our 13-year-old Labrador, Buddy, to old age. We were heartbroken. Two months later, we lost our 10-year-old Labrador, Rudy, to inoperable cancer.”
The silence in the Edick house was deafening.
“No booming barks, no swish of tails, no click of nails on tile floors,” Stacy recalls. “For the first time in 27 years, we were without a dog in the house. On top of that, we were recent empty-nesters. Our only son moved to Michigan just a few months prior.”
After much deliberation, the couple, decided to adopt a 10-month-old female Labrador retriever named Eve from Texas Sporting Breed Rescue in Dallas.
“We corresponded with her foster, Skyped with her and picked a weekend to fly to Dallas,” Stacy notes. “Unfortunately, we picked the weekend of the bad ice storms. … Our plan was to rent a car and drive home with her. Conditions seemed to be improving, so we decided to go.”
After a precarious ride to Eve’s foster home in Frisco, the couple loaded her into their SUV and began a seven-hour journey home to Houston.
Eve was an angel the entire trip.
“I rode with her in the back seat, and when she put her head on my husband’s shoulder as he was tensely navigating the icy roads, she had our hearts,” Stacy recalls. “We adopted her in December 2013. She was our 2013 Christmas adventure, our 2013 Christmas present and is our Christmas ‘Eve.’ “
She continues to be our Christmas Eve. I include stories about all our Labs and their antics over the years in my monthly newsletter. To sign up go to www.storystacy.com.
About Stacy Wilder
Stacy Wilder has traveled to six out of seven continents Books have shaped her life and her travels. Her love of mysteries began with Nancy Drew.
A Christmas Conundrum is the third book in the riveting Liz Adams Mystery series. In addition to mysteries, Stacy writes children’s stories, short stories, and poetry. She and her husband live in Houston, Texas, with a totally spoiled Labrador retriever, Eve.
Author Links
Website www.storystacy.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/wilderstacy
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/authorstacywilder/
YouTube https://youtu.be/VR7kKOxAsjU?si=_jaX1EuELeFKEMqQ
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/stacy-wilder
Purchase Links – Amazon E-book – Amazon Paperback – Amazon Hardback – Barnes and Noble – Bookshop.org
Enter the Giveaway
A Christmas Conundrum TOUR PARTICIPANTS
December 12 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT
December 12 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT
December 12 – Diane’s Book Journal – SPOTLIGHT
December 13 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER GUEST POST
December 13 – Christa Reads and Writes – SPOTLIGHT
December 14 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT
December 14 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 15 – Books to the Ceiling – SPOTLIGHT*
December 15 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
December 16 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT
December 16 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
December 17 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT
December 17 – The Mystery Section – AUTHOR GUEST POST
December 18 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 18 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT WITH PLAYLIST
December 19 – Literary Gold – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
December 20 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, AUTHOR GUEST POST
December 20 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
December 21 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
December 21 – Novels Alive – REVIEW
December 22 – Angel’s Book Nook – RECIPE
December 22 – Baroness Book Trove – REVIEW
December 23 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
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Thank you Christy!
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping!
Sounds like a great read. Adding to my TBR list.
Thank you!
This looks like a cute read
Thanks Lisa!