Outstanding, delightful entertainment, complex mystery! That is what a cozy mystery should be.
I am pretty new to the Tish Tarragon mystery series but I fell in love with it immediately. The books in the series are the epitome of cozy mysteries, but Amy Patricia Meade always addresses serious issues as she entertains us with an outstanding mystery with some great twists. The Christmas Fair Killer continues the calm-in-disaster feel of the earlier books but the feeling that things are under control adds rather than detracts from the drama as events unfold. Tish sends out a vibe that draws people to talk to her which makes her the perfect support for Sheriff Reade. I have known people like that so it isn't hard for me to accept that people reveal secrets to her that they might not reveal to anyone else. I am fascinated by the interaction among Tish's friends. That is one of the elements that hooked me; characters have to be the central factor in any book for me to love it as I do the books in this series. The only negative is that I might gain weight just drooling over the food served throughout the stories. I guess we all have to live a little dangerously.
I requested and was thrilled to receive and ARC via NetGalley and offer my appreciation to them and to Servern House Publishing for allowing me to read and share my delight in The Christmas Fair Killer.

A TISH TARRAGON MYSTERY 

It's almost Christmas and the Hobson Glen Holiday Fair is upon us. Tish and crew are serving up delicious food and selling it like crazy. They are also catering the Williamsburg Theatre Group which is performing several shows a day.

Tish is at her finest creating memorable themed dishes. Very clever. To save time, Tish delivers the meals to the actors and ends up meeting a tight crew who have known and worked with each other forever. Well, not all of them have. And of course, that's the one that Tish finds dead in her trailer. 

Jenny Inkpen is not what she seems. Even her name is fake. But the look of fear and horror on her dead face is not fake. Someone hated her and wanted her dead. As Tish digs, politely, of course, she and her motley crew of friends find that everything isn't as chummy as they claim to be. Secrets are behind every door and now they are seeing a ghost?

Severn House is one of my favorite publishers and their authors are some of my favorite authors. Ms. Meade is one of those and I absolutely love her characters! And this one has an ending that left me in tears and wanting to email her and ask what is up with that?

I'll have to wait to find out. 

NetGalley/ August 4th, 2020 by Severn House Publishers

Tish Tarragon and her crew have a booth at the annual Christmas fair and is catering breakfast for the theater group performing there as well. When Tish finds the star of the show dead in here trailer, Tish is on the case to help the local sheriff. As the young woman’s character comes to life as Tish talks to the theater troupe, she finds the young woman wasn’t quite who everyone thought she was. But who would hold enough of a grudge to kill the young woman, and will they strike out at Tish as she investigates?

While I wasn’t as fond if this entry as the first two, it’s still a decent installment in the series...and who doesn’t love a little Christmas cheer throughout the year? As a graduate of William & Mary, this entry made me long for First Night celebrations and snow!

This was one of those books I wanted to love, but the characters just didn't draw me in. While the author had a range of interesting characters and a plot that should have kept you turning the page, it just didn't. I think the reason for this was the dialogue and how everyone responded to Tish, it was all a little too perfectly contrived.

As an idea, the story is a good one, and if you're not as fussy about your characters as me, you'll probably love it. If you're already a fan, the last chapter is the winner for character development, and could change the direction of what you'd expect for the next book.

I would like to start by saying thank you to the publisher Severn House for the ARC of this book. This is a new author to me but I like cozy mysteries and as this had a literary and culinary theme, I was sold. I am so glad I found both the book and the author. The premise of the book is that the body of a young actress is found in a trailer for visiting Thespians at a Christmas Fair. The main character, Tish Tarragon has been hired to cater for the cast and crew of the production and, on finding the body, is catapulted into solving a murder. There is intrigue and red herrings aplenty and of course all those involved have a backs Tory and secrets to hide. All this, taken together, leads to a well written story which made me want to keep reading. There were laugh out loud moments. So, why four stars instead of five. For me, it was a little slow to get going and I felt much of the first chapter was taken up with describing the literary name for various sandwiches and melas. I would have liked the storyline to start a little quicker. However, that may just be me and it soon picked up and the book rattled along. A great read which I thoroughly enjoyed.