A Christmas Puzzle

What a lovely Christmas surprise this was! Picking up after Book 3, we follow Thea and her family at Christmastime... but it isn't all merriment for Thea.

After a year of excitement and danger, a quiet Christmas at Astermore feels a bit foreign. Thea misses her friends — a certain inspector in particular — and feels isolated being thrown back into her familial role. Uncertain of where her relationship with Leslie stands, she doesn't know how to ward off her family's not-so-subtle hints of marrying her off. Meanwhile, little Mercury has been sneaking out of the room. After one of his adventures, he brings Thea a key. A seasoned sleuth at this point, she sees this as a new mystery.

As always, I enjoyed visiting Thea's world. This one has a slightly different vibe than the other books with the absence of some key characters from the rest of the series, but it was interesting getting a glimpse of what Thea was like before they entered her life. There are some appearances from some of the minor characters from past installments which was also fun to see. I'll be on the edge of my seat until the next book!

A huge thanks to the author for sending me a free digital ARC of the book! I will also be purchasing a physical copy.