"Death and Papa Noel" by Ian Moore

In a small town in France, transplanted Englishman Richard Ainsworth operates a bed-and-breakfast inn. It’s Christmas, and there are no guests, so he’s looking forward to a long holiday of binging on his favorite movies. 

His plans are not only upset but incinerated with the arrival of Valerie d’Orcay, a private detective who is currently on a most unusual mission. She’s representing a dead person, attempting to identify who perpetrated the murder. And she’s enticed a group of suspects to meet at Richard’s B&B to play a mystery game, with clues scattered around the town. Richard himself gets to play Papa Noel, or Father Christmas, at least until he realizes that the costume is about three sizes too small. Her goal: determine who killed her client.

 

Ian Moore

It's a generally unlikeable group, and no one divulges their real name. Instead, they use the name assigned to them by d’Orcay, Like Madame Rouge and Monsieur Vert (the detective has a penchant for using colors for the names of suspects). And then the mayhem and the comedy begin.

 

Death and Papa Noel by British author Ian Moore is that story of 

mayhem, comedy, murder, and flushing out the killer. It’s funny, but in the British sense of the word. Quite a few of the lines sound like a comedy sketch, and that reflects Moore’s career as a comedian. The story is novella in length, a rather quick and rather fun read.

 

Moore has published several short mysteries in this series, including Death and Croissants, Death and Fromage, and Death at the Chateau, as well as The Man Who Didn’t Burn, the first in the Juge Lombard thriller series. Moore is also a standup comedian and chutney maker. He lives in France.

Some Monday Readings

 

Writing Tempest: John Haley’s Soundbite Wins the Title – Chris Mackowski at Emerging Civil War.

 

A Word About (Book) Dedications – Sophie Masson at Writer Unboxed.

 

Magnetic – artwork by Sonja Benskin Mesher.

 

Church Visits and Garden Walks – James Stevens Curl at The Critic Magazine reviews A History of English Churches in 100 Objects by Matthew Byrne.

 

Things Worth Remembering: ‘A Time for Choosing’ – Douglas Murray at The Free Press.