Not A Creature Was Stirring by Christina Freeburn

Not a Creature was Stirring is the first book in Christina Freeburn’s Merry and Bright Handcrafted Mystery series.

Merry Winters loves three things – Christmas, crafting and her family. She’s on her way to Morgantown to attend the craft show in her newly-purchased RV. The RV was sold to her by her step-daughter Cassie; Ex step-daughter as Merry and Samuel divorced recently.

Something’s rotting in the RV. Cassie must have left some food to rot, thinks Merry. But as she opens the Dinette cover, she finds Samuel dead body. Merry is the main suspect in this murder case. Ex-wife, recently divorced, Samuel made Merry’s life hell after marriage and Samuel married soon after the divorce – all these reasons point to one person who would want to take revenge on Samuel. And that person is Merry, or at least, the police thinks so.

Cassie is now posting updates on The Facebook saying that Merry killed her father. Merry has to solve this case and find the real culprit before she’s locked up in prison for life.

The story is a perfect blend of Christmas, family, love, revenge, and murder. With so many twists and turns and whatnot, the story is engaging and exciting until the very end!

The names of the characters are unique. Merry is named so after she was found in a large stocking on the steps of a church. Then there is Bright, Merry’s crafting partner who, though lives far away, cares for Merry. In fact, Bright is always there for Merry, like a 3 am friend. Grace and her son Abraham also play an important role in the story. Abraham’s learning disabilities and Grace’s struggle as a single parent, Merry’s struggles as a single parent and not-so-lucky-in-love is well described in the story.

Ebenezer, the cute little guinea pig brings oodles of charm to the story. Speaking of names, Merry’s son’s name is Scotland. It was a bit funny as Scotland is a police officer.

Merry’s ex-husband, (husband #1) Brett Calloway, makes an appearance halfway through the story. The kids – Raleigh and Scotland inform Brett that their mother is taken to the police station by Detective Grayson for questioning. Brett being a lawyer decides to be Merry’s attorney. Detective Grayson was an ass! Like seriously! The guy goes to assisted living and accuses Merry’s mother of killing Samuel! The poor old woman suffers from Dementia, she can hardly remember the date and there he is, accusing her of committing a crime! How dare he!

The twist in the story is when the lottery results are declared. What has the lottery got to do with all this murder business? Well… I can’t tell you that and spoil the suspense now, can I?

The identity of the perp was someone who was not in Merry’s suspect list. This is what I like about a good mystery. Make a list of suspects and snoop around. The perp is someone whom you never expected it to be. The story gets really exciting (or should I say gripping?) in the end when Merry comes face to face with the murderer.

The author’s writing style was something that I really liked. Freeburn’s story-telling skills are praiseworthy. The inclusion of crafting in a cozy mystery was something that caught my attention. (So far) I have only read cozies that have an element of baking in them so this was my first cozy mystery read with crafting in it. I really enjoyed reading this book and I am looking forward to reading more of Merry and Bright’s adventures.

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There’s a giveaway for this tour. If you like to win a print copy + book tote, then do participate in the Giveaway.

Giveaway Details here.

Thank you, Lori Caswell, from Escape With Dollycas for giving me an opportunity to be a part of this blog tour.

Thank you, Henery Press and Edelweiss+, for the ARC.