Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen discussion Chapters 1-7

[Mark Pghfan]

Well, here we are with our December discussion! First of all, those of us looking for a book steeped with Christmassy atmosphere, this is certainly it. The action takes place in the town of Rudolph, New York, on the south shore of Lake Ontario. (This is apparently necessary to ensure that there will be snow throughout.) Our protagonist is Merry Wilkinson. (Yes, Merry!) Her mother is a former opera singer and her father, Noel, is the local Santa Claus. We enter the story while there is a Christmas Parade going on and Merry, who owns a business called Santa Claus's Treasures, has a float in it. Mishaps ensue but the presence of an English travel writer livens up the community, as he tries to capture the holiday focus the town has. Pretty early on, a body is found by Merry and her pup, Mattie.

[Tina]

Yippeee! LOL First day of Dec. starts us off quite nicely! Thank you for that, Pghfan! Kind of like the first day of Christmas, Parlor style.

I've my spanking new copy of Rest Ye close by and will be breaking it out tonight! Glad to hear there will be snow in The Parlor this winter tide!

A quick Off Yet On Topic - Come on, PI's. Let's rock this place with all things winter holiday-ish. There are several related threads to share, tell, reminisce, plan, dream, scheme. It is the most wonderful time of the year. Enjoy much!!

Now back to and staying on topic. Take it away Pghfan and his Merry (Merry is good) band of PI's!

[Tina]

Off to a good start. Well, not so much Merry's parade participation but--

Well, that town sounds great. Christmas all year through. I could live there quite happily...so long I was able to escape to the real world once in awhile. ;-)

[Allison]

I could absolutely live there! And I dream of running a Christmas store...wonderful idea for a cosy mystery.

[Tina]

It is, Allison. Maybe we should head out there and check out some real estate. At least have our PI holiday party at a mansion on the outside of town.

[Mark Pghfan]

I wonder if having Christmas all year long would kind of take away the "sparkle" that we love so much about it?

Anyway, there does seem to be at least one nasty person in town, the woman who is Merry's competitor, who sells the apparently chintzy holiday stuff and is after the visiting English travel writer.

[J]

Does Officer Candy remind anyone of Det. Kenner from The Diva series?

[Tina]

That could be, Pghfan but then I'm always feeling empty when I have to finally take down the tree, the lights etc. Maybe half year would work. In time for Valentine's Day and the chocolate, all things red.


Pghfan, the woman who follows Pearce around? And then the bakery friend. There seems to be a little something there. (I've got to keep my characters and their biz's straight ;-) But it's nice - multi layered and Christmassy.

[Tina]

J, she does. Luv your Snoopy BTW! He's all ready for Christmas. (My posts are messing up again. boooo)




J wrote: "Does Officer Candy remind anyone of Det. Kenner from The Diva series?"

[Tina]

Mini spoiler - Kyle's going to get his heart broken. Jackie seems too young and "popular" to settle with one beau.






Spoiler alert - I was so focused on all the Christmas doo dads that I didn't see incident coming until the dog walk. Poor vic. Was just doing things that person was suppose to be doing. And maybe flirt a little. I thought vic would be someone like the mayor for sneaking those extra cookies. lol

[J]

Tina it says right on the back cover and all the synopses who the victim is.
I just started Chapter 8 and without giving anything away I knew immediately "it" was a fake.

[Jill]

Goodreads hasn't been sending me my emails saying people have posted I'm getting behind on my post!

[Tina]

J, lately I've been avoiding synops and back covers. I read minimal to see if story hints at what I want. If it does, I go in. Sometimes they tell too much and spoil the tale. Part of the mystery for me is discovering vic, clues etc. along with the protag.

Did you get to catch Plum Pudding? I finally did. I liked it a lot.

[Mark Pghfan]

I looked for Plum Pudding but didn't find it on my TV dish.

[Mark Pghfan]

I'll start part two Tuesday, but continue the discussion here till we're all caught up.

[Tina]

Pghfan, Plum will probably surface somewhere in the future.

Tues. sounds good. I should be at that point and more by then. Thanks for hosting!

[Jill]

My copy still hasn't come in. So I'll start the side read soon if that's ok with everyone and then as soon as it gets here, (Library told me I should have it this week....We all know how dependable my library is...lol) I'll catch up with everyone

[J]

Pgh- if you get the Hallmark Movie Channel you can probably get it on demand.
Tina-I dvr'd it but haven't watched yet. Did you at one point say something about a discussion?

[Mark Pghfan]

I get Hallmark but not Hallmark Movie. Oh, well.

[J]

That's probably why you couldn't find it on your dish. It was on Hallmark Movie Channel. I know it doesn't come with most packages - I had to pay extra to get it on mine- but I wanted MSW And Diagnosis Murder.

[Tina]

Yeah, J. We sort of started a chat on it on another thread but a proper thread would be better. If it's posted, maybe they'll come. I'll do it.


J wrote: "Pgh- if you get the Hallmark Movie Channel you can probably get it on demand.
Tina-I dvr'd it but haven't watched yet. Did you at one point say something about a discussion?"

[Tina]

Pghfan, would it be on YouTube or maybe now on HM website? Not sure 'bout computer to TV screen but if it's on monitor that'll be better than not. Then again, perhaps you already did all this.


Pghfan wrote: "I get Hallmark but not Hallmark Movie. Oh, well."

[Tina]

Spoiler -







Someone laced one of Vicky's cookies to point the blame on her? I'm thinking Betty Thatcher who was hounding Nigel. Maybe she felt jilted and thought to fix his wagon.

[Mark Pghfan]

I agree that it is getting hard to keep all the characters straight. And who is good and who is bad. Most of the men seem to be pretty good. Certainly Merry's Dad/Santa is great. Her two "suitors" Alan and Russ, also seem to be good so far. Alan quiet but Russ not so much. Betty (I keep reading Becky Thatcher!) not good at all, as well as the original police woman on the murder scene. Sue Anne, the mayoral candidate also seems not too likable. Merry's Mom is nice but pretty eccentric.

[Mark Pghfan]

Started the thread for the second part, so have a look!

[J]

Pgh I thought the same thing the first time I read Betty's name - only I misread it as Becky Thatcher and wondered how many others would pick up the reference...which turned out not to be a reference after all!

[Tina]

Hmmm. I didn't give Candy (cop) or Sue Anne much thought but yes, it could be either. Also, there's Kyle and perhaps someone from the other town trying to make Rudolph look bad sending business to them. No shortage of suspects; they keep coming. ;-)

[Allison]

I didn't like Candy at all. For a cop she sure has a huge chip on her shoulder. Can't imagine her dealing with peples issues/emotions fairly on a daily basis. Guess it's a good thing she's in a Cmas town where people probably get along most of the time.

I disliked Sue-Anne (I got her mixed up with the Detective who's name I can't remember). I liked the Detective lady.

[Tina]

Candy and Sue Anne give Power Gals a bad name, Allison.