Mrs. Claus and the Trouble with Turkeys

by Liz Ireland

Overview

It’s year-round Christmas cheer in this creative and witty mystery series featuring a unique heroine who’s married to the real-life Santa Claus and living in the North Pole. In Santaland, it’s beginning to look a lot like…Thanksgiving…and in between the festivities, April Claus must track down a killer hiding amid a parade of suspects…

At Castle Kringle, the elves are excitedly arranging their first ever Thanksgiving day feast. April’s husband, Nick—the real Santa—has some misgivings, since it’s tough to get ready for Christmas when everyone is obsessed with helium balloons and pie recipes. Chaos erupts when Gobbles, the live turkey imported for the castle feast, is bird-napped. That crime is quickly overshadowed at a pre-Thanksgiving potluck when Nick’s cousin, Elspeth, face-plants into her mashed potatoes—dead.

Someone poisoned Elspeth, and April believes Constable Crinkle is hauling the wrong suspect off to jail. An ominous message, written in what seems to be blood and urging April to stop investigating, only convinces her more. But who’s really to blame? Where is Gobbles the turkey? And can April solve a double helping of mystery in time for everyone to sit down to a non-deadly dinner together?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496737830
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	09/26/2023
Series:	A Mrs. Claus Mystery , #4
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	93,494
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Liz Ireland is the author of many works of women's fiction, romance, and mystery. She also writes under the names Elizabeth Bass and Liz Freeland. Like her character April Claus, Liz spends too much time in concert bands. Originally from the United States, she now lives on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. She’s currently working on the next Mrs. Claus mystery. Visit her at LizIreland.Wordpress.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Mrs. Claus Mystery series:

“Ireland’s third ‘Mrs. Claus’ title is a fresh take on a Christmas cozy. It’s a delightful mix of humor, technology, and murder in an unconventional mystery.” —Library Journal on Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves

“Ireland’s bizarre series conceit works, a tribute to her deft juggling of sleuthing and satire. Fans of Leigh Perry’s Family Skeleton mysteries will be tickled.” —Publishers Weekly on Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves
 
“Entertaining…Fans of offbeat, humorous cozies will clamor for more.” —Publishers Weekly on Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide
 
“Multiple plot twists, quirky characters, plenty of humor, and the lovingly described, magical Santaland distinguish this entertaining cozy.” —Booklist on Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide
 
“Brings the Christmas cozy to dizzying new heights of cuteness.” —Kirkus Reviews on Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide
 
“Exceptional...This fun, well-plotted mystery is the perfect holiday entertainment.” —Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW for Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings
 
“A funny mix of mystery, the holidays and a crime noir story, this will be perfect with some hot chocolate.” —The Parkersburg News and Sentinel
 
“The perfect cozy mystery read for the Christmas season!” —Fresh Fiction
 
“Put on an extra sweater while reading this tale of the land of ice and snow, where ice sculptures never melt. The descriptions are so good, readers will long for a mug of hot chocolate and a few Christmas cookies.” —Kings River Life Magazine

From the Publisher

07/01/2023

April Claus has been married and living at the North Pole with Nick Claus (a.k.a. Santa Claus) for over two years, but there are times she's still nostalgic for her Oregon home and U.S. customs, which leads to Santaland celebrating its first Thanksgiving with a parade, the seasonal arrival of Santa Claus, pilgrim costumes, and food. When Gobbles, the live turkey who's going to be eaten for dinner at Castle Kringle, is stolen from his cage, April puts up posters and looks for a birdnapper. That's still important but put on the back burner when Nick's cousin Elspeth falls face-first in the mashed potatoes during the pre-Thanksgiving dinner and utters two words, "April" and "look." Now some blame April for Elspeth's death, and she's even put in comfortable custody until the coroner says it wasn't her dish that poisoned the woman. Once she's released, April has her hands full, with a jewel-thief elf on the loose and Gobbles still missing—and April is beginning to suspect that Nick's tightwad brother killed Elspeth. VERDICT With a chaotic chase scene set in the middle of the Thanksgiving parade, the sequel to Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves is an absurd cozy for those who enjoy Tamara Berry's books or holiday mysteries.—Lesa Holstine

Library Journal

2023-07-13
Holidays are a special challenge when you’re married to Santa.

April Claus had to put up with a lot when she agreed to marry Nick, the current incumbent in a long line of Santa Clauses. Winters at the North Pole are brutal, and the wrangling among the elves, snowmen, and reindeer can get on anyone’s nerves. So when elves Jingles and Butterbean suggest bringing a Thanksgiving festival to Santaland, April looks forward to a little touch of home. Of course, she encounters one challenge after another getting Santalanders with the program. For Sparkletoe’s Thanksgiving Parade to march down Festival Boulevard in Christmastown, there has to be a marching band, but the only Thanksgiving song she can think to teach its members is “Over the River and Through the Woods,” which they play on repeat but not always on key. The reindeer quarrel over who’ll get to pull Santa’s sleigh, with patricians Comet and Dasher locking horns with humbler deer, like April’s sister-in-law Lucia’s pet Quasar. The local grocery can’t get enough frozen turkeys, creating long waiting lists on which April, never the most organized of housekeepers, finds herself at the very end. And to top it off, Gobbles, who was supposed be the main course at the festive meal at Castle Kringle, has now vanished. But these holiday hassles fade into the background when Nick’s cousin, Elspeth Claus, is poisoned at a family dinner and April’s deviled eggs seem to be to blame. Constable Crinkles is reluctant to arrest Mrs. Claus, and to be fair, there’s no place to put her, since the constabulary is filled to the brim with papier-mâché doughnut holes destined for the police department’s parade float. But if April doesn’t find the real culprit soon, she fears she will never be able to play bass drum in the Santaland orchestra again.

A bonanza for whimsy fans everywhere.

Kirkus Reviews