THE MISTLETOE MYSTERY

This (ultimately) merry little Christmas novella finds Molly Gray, star of the Maid mystery series, harboring yuletide suspicions.

It’s almost Christmas, and narrator Molly, head maid at the Regency Grand Hotel—geographic location unspecified—is initially enjoying the holiday ramp-up with Juan Manuel, her equally cash-strapped live-in boyfriend and the hotel’s pastry chef: They’ve purchased a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, he's stocked their reusable Advent calendar with gewgaws, and so on. But Molly is put off her eggnog when a hot blond living in their apartment building knocks at their door, seeking help unclogging her toilet. “Juan seemed to know her,” Molly thinks. “In fact, she seemed familiar with him, too. But how can that be if she recently moved into the building?” Molly tracks what she considers other examples of Juan’s suspicious behavior as she counts down the days to the hotel staff holiday party, where she hopes not to relive a past Secret Santa–related drama. Readers’ appreciation for this novella will depend on their tolerance for sentimentality and their patience with protagonists who can’t see what’s right in front of them. Some of Molly’s muddlement is explained away by her long-standing problem reading social cues—“Little Miss Literal,” a colleague dubs her—which Prose handles with unshowy sensitivity. Perhaps inadvertently, and certainly endearingly, Molly recalls another frequently befogged maid of letters: Amelia Bedelia. While Prose tips her Santa hat to “The Gift of the Magi,” O. Henry’s holiday classic likewise centered on two frugal young lovers, she brings original plot points to the Christmas table.

Tailor-made for the cozy-mystery lover’s Christmas stocking.