What do you think?
Rate this book
A Comfort Food Mystery #5
It's a Wonderful Knife
All Trixie Matkowski wants for Christmas is a break—just not the broken leg she got after slipping on some ice. With Sandy Harbor alive in the hustle and bustle of the season, it’s the busiest time of the year at Trixie’s Silver Bullet Diner. There are millions of things to do, including cater the town’s annual Christmas pageant and community dinner with some delicious holiday comfort food.
But the festivities turn into a bit of a turkey after Liz Fellows, the director of the pageant, is found with Trixie’s butcher knife in her back. Now Trixie must help the police arrest the scary gentleman—or lady—guilty of the crime if she hopes to get herself off the naughty list.
But the festivities turn into a bit of a turkey after Liz Fellows, the director of the pageant, is found with Trixie’s butcher knife in her back. Now Trixie must help the police arrest the scary gentleman—or lady—guilty of the crime if she hopes to get herself off the naughty list.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 2, 2016
35 people are currently reading
455 people want to read
About the author
Christine Wenger
49 books128 followersChristine Wenger has worked in the criminal justice field for many years. She has a master's degree in probation, parole administration & sociology from Fordham University, but the knowledge gained from such studies certainly has not prepared her for what she loves to do--write romance! A native central New Yorker, she enjoys watching bull riding & rodeo with her favorite cowboy, her husband Jim.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
August 31, 2023
I enjoyed the characters in this five book cozy series. For some reason, this last story did not hold my interest like previous stories did. However, I would still recommend the Comfort Food Mysteries to cozy mystery fans.
February 13, 2017
About 2.5 stars, but rounding up to 3. These really aren't bad mysteries, if I could just get past ACB and her stupid name. The character totally sets my teeth on edge. Appears this is the last in this series, which is fine. I won't feel like I have to read any more.
January 30, 2016
IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE serves up a heaping helping of mystery with a side of fun!
I really adore this series. The characters, the setting, everything about it appeals to me.
Protagonist, Trixie Matkowski isn’t perfect, but she’s real. She’s good and kind, but also plucky and feisty. I always have a great time when I visit with her and the townsfolk of Sandy Harbor. Indeed, author Christine Wenger makes me feel a part of the Comfort Food Mysteries when I read them.
The author’s creativity leads the reader through an amazing mystery, filled with twists and turns. She had me second guessing myself more than once all the way to the action abundant reveal.
IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE, and the other four titles in the comfort Food Mysteries are comfort reads that will leave you hungry for more!
Thirteen delicious recipes, and an excerpt from DO OR DINER, the first book in this series, can all be found at the back of the book.
I really adore this series. The characters, the setting, everything about it appeals to me.
Protagonist, Trixie Matkowski isn’t perfect, but she’s real. She’s good and kind, but also plucky and feisty. I always have a great time when I visit with her and the townsfolk of Sandy Harbor. Indeed, author Christine Wenger makes me feel a part of the Comfort Food Mysteries when I read them.
The author’s creativity leads the reader through an amazing mystery, filled with twists and turns. She had me second guessing myself more than once all the way to the action abundant reveal.
IT’S A WONDERFUL KNIFE, and the other four titles in the comfort Food Mysteries are comfort reads that will leave you hungry for more!
Thirteen delicious recipes, and an excerpt from DO OR DINER, the first book in this series, can all be found at the back of the book.
September 23, 2016
Dollycas’s Thoughts
This book is set at Christmas time in Sandy Harbor, but I read this book at the perfect time for me. I needed to laugh and laugh hard and Christine Wenger delivered just the right package to allow me to do just that.
Trixie Matkowski loves Christmas, the decorating, the food and the traditions. She has rituals she follows every year. This year just as she is getting read to start her decorating routine. she falls and falls hard on the ice. Instead of hanging all the bright and shiny holiday things, she is in the blinding light of the emergency room getting a huge cast on her leg.
Her friends Antoinette Chloe Brown (ACB) and Deputy Ty Brisco call in reinforcements to not only handle the decorating but Trixie’s Silver Bullet Diner and all the catering jobs she has scheduled. Everything seems to be under control until Christmas Pageant Director Liz Fellows is found in the church kitchen with Trixie’s knife in her back. At least the fine deputy doesn’t suspect Trixie but he knows a pair of crutches isn’t going to keep her from meddling in his investigation.
Hilarity ensues in this fantastic addition to this series. I found myself reading out loud several passages to anyone that would listen. When Trixie and ACB make up their mind to do something, snow, wind, or a measly broken leg will not stop them from doing exactly what Ty told them not to do.
This story is my favorite one in this series. The plot was not only full of surprising mystery twists it brings us many surprising characters. It also brings a moment that I have been waiting for since book one!
I loved, loved, LOVED! this story! I cannot believe the publisher pulled the plug on this series. The characters are fabulous, the mysteries are fun and well developed. Sandy Harbor is the perfect small town. Please Christine, don’t leave us hanging! I hope you have the option to self publish more in this series or find a new publisher to see what a treasure they are.
You can read Christmas stories any time of year, winter, summer, spring or fall. And you will fall hard for the characters and want to read all 5 of these books. Then you will be with me hoping and praying for book #6!!
This book is set at Christmas time in Sandy Harbor, but I read this book at the perfect time for me. I needed to laugh and laugh hard and Christine Wenger delivered just the right package to allow me to do just that.
Trixie Matkowski loves Christmas, the decorating, the food and the traditions. She has rituals she follows every year. This year just as she is getting read to start her decorating routine. she falls and falls hard on the ice. Instead of hanging all the bright and shiny holiday things, she is in the blinding light of the emergency room getting a huge cast on her leg.
Her friends Antoinette Chloe Brown (ACB) and Deputy Ty Brisco call in reinforcements to not only handle the decorating but Trixie’s Silver Bullet Diner and all the catering jobs she has scheduled. Everything seems to be under control until Christmas Pageant Director Liz Fellows is found in the church kitchen with Trixie’s knife in her back. At least the fine deputy doesn’t suspect Trixie but he knows a pair of crutches isn’t going to keep her from meddling in his investigation.
Hilarity ensues in this fantastic addition to this series. I found myself reading out loud several passages to anyone that would listen. When Trixie and ACB make up their mind to do something, snow, wind, or a measly broken leg will not stop them from doing exactly what Ty told them not to do.
This story is my favorite one in this series. The plot was not only full of surprising mystery twists it brings us many surprising characters. It also brings a moment that I have been waiting for since book one!
I loved, loved, LOVED! this story! I cannot believe the publisher pulled the plug on this series. The characters are fabulous, the mysteries are fun and well developed. Sandy Harbor is the perfect small town. Please Christine, don’t leave us hanging! I hope you have the option to self publish more in this series or find a new publisher to see what a treasure they are.
You can read Christmas stories any time of year, winter, summer, spring or fall. And you will fall hard for the characters and want to read all 5 of these books. Then you will be with me hoping and praying for book #6!!
February 10, 2017
The second book of my snow day is book 5 in the A Comfort Food Mystery Series by Christine Wenger, It’s a Wonderful Knife. In this outing, our sleuth Trixie is almost out of commission right from the beginning from an accident, but she doesn’t let that keep her from investigating the death of one of the locals who was in the middle of organizing the town’s Christmas pageant. Lots of snow, Christmas cheer, family feelings, clues, suspects, and glimpses of small town life unfold on the pages of this mystery. We get to meet a few more of Trixie’s family members and even some of Ty’s. ACB features prominently in this book as she did in the fourth book.
A fun, fast paced cozy read, with a bonus Holiday theme! Unfortunately, it is my understanding that this series has been cancelled by the publisher, however the author may be considering self-publishing. Crossed-fingers!
A fun, fast paced cozy read, with a bonus Holiday theme! Unfortunately, it is my understanding that this series has been cancelled by the publisher, however the author may be considering self-publishing. Crossed-fingers!
October 29, 2019
It's A Wonderful Knife by Christine Wenger is an entertaining Christmas-themed cozy mystery set in fictional Sandy Harbor, New York. Once again, Silver Bullet Diner owner and resident snoop, Trixie Matkowski, and her faithful sidekick & BFF, Antoinette Chloe Brown, attempt to solve a puzzle: Who murdered church secretary & Christmas pageant director, Liz Fellows, in the church hall's kitchen with Trixie's carving knife? Trixie is not going to let a broken ankle and a few broken ribs slow down her investigation! To paraphrase another reviewer, it's as if Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz turned into amateur sleuths.
One question: How could Judge "Glennie" Frazier and ACB be King and Queen of Grange 345's New Year's Eve Gala in 1959? (Page 102) ACB didn't even graduate from high school until 1989!
Sadly, this seems to be the last of Wenger's Comfort Food Mysteries. I found them to be enjoyable reads full of humor, eccentric characters, and intriguing mysteries.
One question: How could Judge "Glennie" Frazier and ACB be King and Queen of Grange 345's New Year's Eve Gala in 1959? (Page 102) ACB didn't even graduate from high school until 1989!
Sadly, this seems to be the last of Wenger's Comfort Food Mysteries. I found them to be enjoyable reads full of humor, eccentric characters, and intriguing mysteries.
December 26, 2019
A wacky, feel-good dramedy about an old fashioned Christmas gone awry. There's MC Trixie with her diner & BFF ACB (Antoinette Chloe Brown) and a crazy cast of thousands -- all ready, willing and able to help our hapless heroine regain her spirit of Christmas, put on the town Christmas pageant and catch the murderer! Good food, family traditions and wonderful friendships abound. There're even a few romances thrown in for good measure...
March 18, 2023
Loved It!
I absolutely love this series. I'm not sure why I haven't read it already, but I'm always excited to find a new author and series.
Trixie and ACB are wonderful characters who make this book a holiday delight.
Investigating a murder during the holidays, dealing with a broken foot, are just a couple of the things Trixie is dealing with.
I hope other readers enjoy It's a Wonderful Knife as much as I did.
I absolutely love this series. I'm not sure why I haven't read it already, but I'm always excited to find a new author and series.
Trixie and ACB are wonderful characters who make this book a holiday delight.
Investigating a murder during the holidays, dealing with a broken foot, are just a couple of the things Trixie is dealing with.
I hope other readers enjoy It's a Wonderful Knife as much as I did.
August 26, 2025
I always like reading these cosy mysteries as they make reading fun. They are light and breezy and entertaining as well as enjoyable. Having read some of the other books in this series I am enjoying the crazy and unique, quirky and fun characters as well as the story itself.
As always there is a murder and the mystery of who dunnit! But it also includes the story of the town and it's people and this one had a festive them which I liked as well. A fun and easy book to read adn one I had a lot of fun with.
It's a Wonderful Knife
Christine Wenger
As always there is a murder and the mystery of who dunnit! But it also includes the story of the town and it's people and this one had a festive them which I liked as well. A fun and easy book to read adn one I had a lot of fun with.
It's a Wonderful Knife
Christine Wenger
July 16, 2016
English comment below.
Altro che comford food, ci sono i comford books! E questa serie ne fa parte. Ho preso il primo per caso, ma dal secondo ero affezionata ai suoi personaggi: Trixie, la protagonista, mi piace e vorrei mangiare nel suo diner; mi sono innamorata di Ty, il cowboy texano che è a capo del locale ufficio distaccato dello sceriffo, e di Blondie, la cagna che i due hanno in comune; al quinto libro riesco pure a sopportare ACB, l'amica fuori di testa di Trixie (in inverno e con la neve gira in scamiciati e infradito: già questo dice tutto!).
In questo libro Trixie si rompe una gamba la notte del Giorno del Ringraziamento. Amici e parenti accorrono ad aiutarla, visto che fino a Natale è impegnata col catering di varie occasioni. Non aiuta che al primo di questi eventi Trixie trovi una donna assassinata col coltello che la stessa Trixie stava usando fino a poco prima. Non è considerata un sospetto (già dato, per fortuna: non amo i libri in cui la protagonista è il principale sospetto di un crimine), ma si sente in colpa perché è stato usato un coltello che lei aveva lasciato incustodito, così lei e ACB iniziano a indagare, suscitando le (giuste) ire di Ty. Oltretutto le due sono un po' maldestre...
Il libro si svolge in piena atmosfera natalizia: sarebbe stato bello leggerlo in quel periodo, ma è appena uscito e quindi accontentiamoci.
Aggiornamento. Anche questa serie è stata soppressa, ma forse l'autrice, che ne detiene i diritti, continuerà con l'autoproduzione.
Other than comford food, there are comford books! And this series is part of it. I took the first by chance, but by the second I was loyal to his characters: I like Trixie, the main character, and I would eat in his diner; I love Ty, the cowboy from Texas who is head of the local branch office of sheriff, and Blondie, the dog that the two have in common; the fifth book I can even bear ACB, the of friend Trixie out of the head (in the winter and the snow turns in mu-mu and flip-flop: that in itself says it all!).
In this book Trixie breaks his leg on the night of Thanksgiving. Friends and relatives rush to help her, since until Christmas is engaged with the catering of various occasions. It does not help that the first of these events Trixie find a murdered woman with the same knife that Trixie was using until recently. It is not considered a suspect (already given, thank goodness: I do not like books where the protagonist is the main suspect of a crime), but she feel guilty because a knife that she had left unattended has been used, so she and ACB begin to investigate, arousing the (right) Ty ire. Besides, the two are a little 'clumsy ...
The book takes place in full Christmas spirit: it would have been nice to read at that time, but it just came out and then be content.
Update. This series has been suppressed, but perhaps the author, which holds the rights, will continue with the self-publishing.
Altro che comford food, ci sono i comford books! E questa serie ne fa parte. Ho preso il primo per caso, ma dal secondo ero affezionata ai suoi personaggi: Trixie, la protagonista, mi piace e vorrei mangiare nel suo diner; mi sono innamorata di Ty, il cowboy texano che è a capo del locale ufficio distaccato dello sceriffo, e di Blondie, la cagna che i due hanno in comune; al quinto libro riesco pure a sopportare ACB, l'amica fuori di testa di Trixie (in inverno e con la neve gira in scamiciati e infradito: già questo dice tutto!).
In questo libro Trixie si rompe una gamba la notte del Giorno del Ringraziamento. Amici e parenti accorrono ad aiutarla, visto che fino a Natale è impegnata col catering di varie occasioni. Non aiuta che al primo di questi eventi Trixie trovi una donna assassinata col coltello che la stessa Trixie stava usando fino a poco prima. Non è considerata un sospetto (già dato, per fortuna: non amo i libri in cui la protagonista è il principale sospetto di un crimine), ma si sente in colpa perché è stato usato un coltello che lei aveva lasciato incustodito, così lei e ACB iniziano a indagare, suscitando le (giuste) ire di Ty. Oltretutto le due sono un po' maldestre...
Il libro si svolge in piena atmosfera natalizia: sarebbe stato bello leggerlo in quel periodo, ma è appena uscito e quindi accontentiamoci.
Aggiornamento. Anche questa serie è stata soppressa, ma forse l'autrice, che ne detiene i diritti, continuerà con l'autoproduzione.
Other than comford food, there are comford books! And this series is part of it. I took the first by chance, but by the second I was loyal to his characters: I like Trixie, the main character, and I would eat in his diner; I love Ty, the cowboy from Texas who is head of the local branch office of sheriff, and Blondie, the dog that the two have in common; the fifth book I can even bear ACB, the of friend Trixie out of the head (in the winter and the snow turns in mu-mu and flip-flop: that in itself says it all!).
In this book Trixie breaks his leg on the night of Thanksgiving. Friends and relatives rush to help her, since until Christmas is engaged with the catering of various occasions. It does not help that the first of these events Trixie find a murdered woman with the same knife that Trixie was using until recently. It is not considered a suspect (already given, thank goodness: I do not like books where the protagonist is the main suspect of a crime), but she feel guilty because a knife that she had left unattended has been used, so she and ACB begin to investigate, arousing the (right) Ty ire. Besides, the two are a little 'clumsy ...
The book takes place in full Christmas spirit: it would have been nice to read at that time, but it just came out and then be content.
Update. This series has been suppressed, but perhaps the author, which holds the rights, will continue with the self-publishing.
April 29, 2016
I just love all the characters in this series. I am intrigued by all of them. A fast paced book that keeps you wondering what will happen next. Even with a broken leg Trixie still manages to get herself in trouble and ACB is nearby helping her. I loved every minute of the book and hated to see it end. I also loved the cover of the book. It makes you want to go and eat at the Silver Bullet.
June 23, 2016
I have sorta been in a reading funk lately. But I really enjoy this this book. And I really like this series. The book does have a good flow to it. This story was more like a 3.5 read for me. I hope there will be another book in this series if not I can live with how this book ended.
June 3, 2024
I love these Comfort food mysteries!!!! All Trixie Matkowski wants for Christmas is a break- just not the broken leg she gets after slipping on some ice. It's the busiest time of year at Trixie's Silver Bullet Dinner. There are a million things to do including catering the towns annual Christmas pageant and community dinner with some holiday comfort food. But the festivities turn into a bit of a turkey after Liz Fellows the director of the pageant is found with Trixie's butcher knife in her back. Now Trixie must help the police arrest the scary gentleman or lady guilty of the crime if she hopes to get herself off the naughty list.
December 26, 2019
A very cute Christmas mystery.
November 21, 2024
review to come
March 8, 2025
Why I don’t trust pastors
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2016
It's Christmas time and Trixie, as always, is in a world of trouble. She has a broken leg and can't enjoy the holiday season in her usual festiveness and things just continually go from bad to worse. She is constantly surprised by new guests and holiday cheer brought on by others. Despite this, she's too distracted pissing off her pseudo-boyfriend Ty by snooping into a murder, something Ty, and the rest of the world, sees as police business.
The first books in this series were a lot of fun, but they have since become incredibly redundant. Not only are things mentioned multiple times in one books, but repeatedly throughout the series (Trixie's endless debt to Aunt Stella, the wonder of "The Big House," her charitability in hiring Ray despite his charted past, etc.) and it gets incredibly boring and frustrating. Ty's constant anger with Trixie and her careless shenanigans have essentially run their course for me. There is also something that really annoys me about referring to a character by an acronym, using "ACB" just makes for poor writing.
The mystery was fine and relatively easy to figure out. I think that's what initially drew me to this series. Many cozies have such random killers/villians that never have a part until the big reveal. That's not the case here, you can always put the pieces together and figure out the who-done-it and I like that. The setting was festive. And, for the most part, I enjoy the characters. Really, I think the writing is just really poor. The author spends so much time repeating things we already know, that the mysteries become thin.
The first books in this series were a lot of fun, but they have since become incredibly redundant. Not only are things mentioned multiple times in one books, but repeatedly throughout the series (Trixie's endless debt to Aunt Stella, the wonder of "The Big House," her charitability in hiring Ray despite his charted past, etc.) and it gets incredibly boring and frustrating. Ty's constant anger with Trixie and her careless shenanigans have essentially run their course for me. There is also something that really annoys me about referring to a character by an acronym, using "ACB" just makes for poor writing.
The mystery was fine and relatively easy to figure out. I think that's what initially drew me to this series. Many cozies have such random killers/villians that never have a part until the big reveal. That's not the case here, you can always put the pieces together and figure out the who-done-it and I like that. The setting was festive. And, for the most part, I enjoy the characters. Really, I think the writing is just really poor. The author spends so much time repeating things we already know, that the mysteries become thin.
December 1, 2016
It's a Wonderful Knife is the 5th book, and the worst, in the otherwise satisfying Comfort Food Mystery series by Christine Wenger.
As a reader/fan of the series (and one of the two cozy one's I read) I should have known that this was "toast" when this Christmas themed mystery was released in February! I held onto it for the holiday season, and am so disappointment. The author clearly does not know what to do with her characters, after developing relationships and more since the first installment.
Furthermore, the author did not even try in this one. One of the overused cliche' fictional "bad people" is the answer to the "who done it," and if you have half a care, or have read any other modern book with this type in it, you will know instantly who it is. The clues that are meant to be questions marks only make it more obvious. I for one, could not stand moving through the characters, cooking, making appointments, getting into comedic sticky situations, by knowing the solution throughout the book. Revemove the mystery and you have an otherwise awful story.
No wonder the publishers did not even want to release this Christmas mystery at Christmas!
As a reader/fan of the series (and one of the two cozy one's I read) I should have known that this was "toast" when this Christmas themed mystery was released in February! I held onto it for the holiday season, and am so disappointment. The author clearly does not know what to do with her characters, after developing relationships and more since the first installment.
Furthermore, the author did not even try in this one. One of the overused cliche' fictional "bad people" is the answer to the "who done it," and if you have half a care, or have read any other modern book with this type in it, you will know instantly who it is. The clues that are meant to be questions marks only make it more obvious. I for one, could not stand moving through the characters, cooking, making appointments, getting into comedic sticky situations, by knowing the solution throughout the book. Revemove the mystery and you have an otherwise awful story.
No wonder the publishers did not even want to release this Christmas mystery at Christmas!
January 30, 2021
This was not my favorite. Trixie's favorite holiday is Christmas and just as Thanksgiving ends and she's ready to start celebrating, she breaks her ankle. Many friends step in to help her and she pushes forward with a busy schedule. A couple of days later while she's hobbling to help feed the citizens who came to audition for a Christmas play, the director is killed. Trixie can't help but get involved with Antoinette Chloe (ACB) in solving the murder even if it means she gets on the wrong side of Ty (the police detective involved who also happens to make her pulse race). The ladies were a little too involved in trying to solve the crime (breaking in to places, keeping evidence...) and I had a hard time not picturing the protagonist as far older than what I think she was supposed to be. The book felt like is was written 20 years ago instead of 4.
May 18, 2016
Set in upstate New York at Christmas time, this would be a fun December read snuggled by the fire with tea. It's the story of the murder of the person running the Christmas Pageant (as it is very loosely called) who is murdered. The lead for the series becomes the acting director. Think of Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz run a Christmas Pageant and add in a little Columbo for the investigation. It was a fun, light read.
January 9, 2022
Not at all realistic, the cop was inept and the main character did many things that no one in their right mind would do - stealing evidence, hiding evidence. Overall very predictable on the murderer.
October 24, 2024
Absolutely horrible. Awful storytelling and plot lines. Characters weren’t fleshed out enough making them impossible to resonate with. A lesson in how not to write a novel.
July 25, 2019
Trixie is always so busy...cooking, catering and volunteering in her newly adopted town in New York. She is not less busy in this #5, and what seems like the conclusion, for this comfort food mystery series.
It's Christmas time in Sandy Harbor and Trixie has broken her leg and a few ribs but can't seem to slow down with all of her antics as a murderer is loose in her town once again.
One question...has this author ever had a broken leg? Well, this reader has. And my own experience taught me that even if you are only casted (which I wasn't...I had a soft boot until my surgery) the pain can be insurmountable. From recliner to bathroom may be as far as you can go for at least the first week without passing out from the pain. Now, I realize this is fiction. So, if you can get past the fact that Trixie can be so busy within hours of breaking a leg and cracking some ribs...well, read on. And this reader did read on. Trixie is quite the character and I always enjoy her spunk. (But author, maybe next time, the broken leg is just enough. Trixie's not a super hero.)
I have read each book in this series and I found all of them very enjoyable!
Although I have one negative for this book, I found it to be a great cozy mystery series. I will be looking for more books written by Christine Wenger. I am sorry that this is the end of Trixie.
It's Christmas time in Sandy Harbor and Trixie has broken her leg and a few ribs but can't seem to slow down with all of her antics as a murderer is loose in her town once again.
One question...has this author ever had a broken leg? Well, this reader has. And my own experience taught me that even if you are only casted (which I wasn't...I had a soft boot until my surgery) the pain can be insurmountable. From recliner to bathroom may be as far as you can go for at least the first week without passing out from the pain. Now, I realize this is fiction. So, if you can get past the fact that Trixie can be so busy within hours of breaking a leg and cracking some ribs...well, read on. And this reader did read on. Trixie is quite the character and I always enjoy her spunk. (But author, maybe next time, the broken leg is just enough. Trixie's not a super hero.)
I have read each book in this series and I found all of them very enjoyable!
Although I have one negative for this book, I found it to be a great cozy mystery series. I will be looking for more books written by Christine Wenger. I am sorry that this is the end of Trixie.
July 15, 2021
I forgot what its like to be some what new to a town were you only visited in the summer. But after reading Book #2 It's a Wonderful Knife in the (A Comfort Food Mystery Series ) and right before Thanksgiving to start to think about Christmas; but what nobody wanted the season of Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas is a dead body. And why was the dead body found in the Church Kitchen with the knife that was used to carve the Hams and Turkey for the Christmas Pageant and the people who wanted to try out for the parts.It will be up to Trixie and BFF ACB and the gang from the diner her Aunt and friends and Mom and Dad to help out with the decorations the cooking while she and ACB look for clues and trying to stay one foot in front of Deputy Sheriff Ty Wallis. But it seems that they end up getting into trouble and put in jail. So what's a woman to do to solve this crime and still get that handsome sexy hot Deputy Sheriff Ty Wallis why solve the crime and still go to the Police Ball.
September 30, 2021
Just after Thanksgiving and at a time when Trixie is at her busiest, she falls and breaks her leg. There are several catered events and wedding receptions besides Holiday parties scheduled. The first and most extensive is a series of food buffets for the Community theater group while they rehearse. A new director has taken over this year and not everyone is happy. When she turns up dead with one of Trixie's knives in her it doesn't look good. Despite Trixie's physical restrictions she goes sleuthing. I live not too far from the setting of this series, so familiarity kept me going for more. But this is the last book in the series and it seems like a good place to end.
January 7, 2024
Coziest of cozy mysteries with every element of this genre present: attractive single woman, recovering from divorce, inherits diner from her aunt in Sandy Harbor (upstate NY), loyal girlfriend is always there to help her, boyfriend is a deputy sheriff who begs her to stay out of police business, and friends and family are supportive, but a murder mars the Christmas festivities. Investigating the case involves stealing and concealing evidence, burglarizing residences of suspects, and confronting the killer with no backup. Nothing dangerous or suspenseful happens, and all's well that ends well. Not enjoyable unless you are a true fan of this genre.
May 28, 2021
Trixie has a busy Christmas season planned but an unfortunate slip on the ice results in a broken leg. Friends and family arrive to help her with the decorating and with all the catering . Determined to still be involved, Trixie goes to the rehearsal for the annual Christmas pageant but is shocked to find the director of the pageant with a knife in her back. Trixie and her best friend, ACB set out to bring a killer to justice and joy back to the holiday season.
A wonderful cast of characters and a really fun book.
A wonderful cast of characters and a really fun book.
January 10, 2025
First book I've read by this author and it's ridiculous. Too cutesy, and I couldn't tell how old our heroine is supposed to be - she reads as someone in her 50s or 60s, but I'm guessing she's supposed to be much younger.
I stopped reading at the point where someone is murdered and our 'heroine' and her best friend decide to steal the victim's personal belongings (handbag and laptop) from the crime scene (that has a police presence) and vow to 'beat the police to solving the murder'. Um, why? There's no indication the police are incompetent or corrupt or any other reason....
I stopped reading at the point where someone is murdered and our 'heroine' and her best friend decide to steal the victim's personal belongings (handbag and laptop) from the crime scene (that has a police presence) and vow to 'beat the police to solving the murder'. Um, why? There's no indication the police are incompetent or corrupt or any other reason....
January 30, 2021
I hadn't read any of Wenger's books....Even though this was a definite cozy and a bit mindless, it fit my needs at the moment! I actually started liking the characters even though I didn't have any background as I hadn't read the previous books. It was heartwarming in a strange way...probably the Christmas theme. I had ordered this to read over the holidays but just got around to it. If you are looking for "light" I would head to a Wenger book.
January 18, 2024
Wish there was more in this series
I'm going to miss Trixie, Ty and the other charcters in this series. I'll really miss ACB. I wish there were more in this series, but this was a great way to end the series. The mystery was interesting but it was truly the characters that made this book. Hopefully everyone in Sandy Harbor are happy and living murder free now.
I'm going to miss Trixie, Ty and the other charcters in this series. I'll really miss ACB. I wish there were more in this series, but this was a great way to end the series. The mystery was interesting but it was truly the characters that made this book. Hopefully everyone in Sandy Harbor are happy and living murder free now.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews