Luke Swanson

Seems fitting that I'm reviewing this book on the anniversary of the first publishing of the original, A Christmas Carol... This is an excellent holiday season mystery - pick it up! I love a good mystery and this one is just that. Be transported to a small, mountain town, where everyone knows everyone. For the last 35 years, there has been a live performance of A Christmas Carol, put on by local theatre enthusiasts. With a new director and some pizzazz added it looks to be an incredible performance until a murder scheme is uncovered by our very shy main character. Will there be a 36th performance next year? Will this year's run even finish? Will she solve the mystery in time to save someone's real life? Cozy up on the couch and find out!… (más)

Curtains on a Christmas Carol by Luke Swanson takes place during a community theater performance of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. Teena, playing the ghost of Christmas Present needs to solve a mystery while still playing her part on stage.

This Christmas cozy turned out to be more entertaining than I was expecting. The idiosyncrasies of a community theater crowd and the strong connections that they can establish are right on target. A Christmas Carol is one of my favorite stories of all time, no matter the season, and the author did it justice here. All the cozy elements, along with the food, decorations, cold weather, and caroling are included too.

As for the mystery, it was pretty clear from the start who the villain was, but there were a few twists and turns to try and keep the reader guessing. It was fun to follow Teena around as she tried to figure it out.

Overall, this was a quick, charming story, perfect for getting ready for the holidays. Thank you to Librarything and the author for the advance copy.… (más)

Tim Hamlet is the identical twin brother of THE Hamlet of Shakespeare fame. Tim gave up royal life to become a playwright in London. However, after the death of his father his twin loses his mind and his new step-father and uncle sends someone to convince him to return home. And that is as far as I got. I really wanted to like this book because Hamlet is my favorite Shakespear work and I was looking foward to a reimigination of his work however I could not get into the story. I found it difficult to read, especially the dialoge. The humor in it was also not for me.… (más)