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Posted on Wed, Dec 29, 2010 : 6 a.m.

Cozy Corner: 'Mistletoe and Mayhem' a special Pennyfoot Hotel mystery

By Lisa Allmendinger

Mistletoe and Mayhem
A Special Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery
By Kate Kingsbury
Paperback, 292 pages, $14
www.doreenrobertshight.com

The staff of the Pennyfoot Country Club hopes that this year, Father Christmas will bring good tidings and break from a streak of bad luck that has plagued the hotel, its staff and guests in previous years.

“For all who entered the Pennyfoot’s walls in December did so at the risk of falling prey to the infamous Christmas curse,” but this year, owner Cecily Sinclair Baxter was determined that only the best of Edwardian Christmases will be in store for her staff and guests.

“Mistletoe and Mayhem” by Kate Kingsbury is the sixth in a special Pennyfoot Hotel Christmas series, and it’s the first one I’ve read — but it won't be my last. Set in a little town called Badgers End, on England’s southeast coast, the Pennyfoot is decked with holly and adorned with a “kissing ball.”

MistletoeandMayhem.jpg

Although kissing under the mistletoe is a centuries-old tradition, at the Pennyfoot, people who are spied kissing under it keep turning up dead, and it’s up to Cecily to figure out who the killer is before more deaths and additional fears ruin the Christmas holidays.

And, then there’s this slight problem: “The possibility existed of an insane murderer intent on wiping out the entire Pennyfoot staff.”

Meanwhile, there’s also a longstanding feud between the owners of hotel and the local inspector.

“Inspector Cranshaw had long ago formed the opinion that the Pennyfoot was a den of iniquity and should be shut down forever. Anytime he had reason to investigate a crime on or near the premises, it raised the possibility of him getting his wish.”

Ironically, I finished reading this book on Christmas Eve, the date that this story ends, so I thought I’d offer readers a bonus Cozy Corner review this week.

And because the acknowledgement page said the author hoped that this wouldn’t be the last special Pennyfoot book, I headed to her website to see why. On it, she explains that her publisher has terminated further books in two of her other series and she wasn’t certain of the fate of Pennyfoot holiday books. But there’s good news, Kingsbury is working on “Herald of Death” for 2011, and she gave a sneak peak at Cecily’s next adventure. Goody, something fun to look forward to next Christmas.

Plus, if you like “Mistletoe and Mayhem,” there are five previous special holiday Pennyfoot books, as well as 12 titles in the Pennyfoot Hotel series to hunt down before next year’s installment hits the book stores.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. Her Cozy Corner mystery reviews run each Wednesday.