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Countdown to Christmas 17 - Murder!

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What about a whodunit for holiday reading ? Who would have thought our much loved fruitcake could possibly be the centre of sinister murder mysteries? Here are three  of the many titles, I confess, I have not read, but all sound quite intriguing, especially when you love fruitcake.
"The Fruitcake Murders"  by Ace Collins, according to the reviews, employs witty dialogue, historical accuracy and characters with spiritual sensibilities .... want  to read on? .... Set in December, 1946, feisty Chicago reporter, Tiffany Clayton is  determined to get the  scoop on the murders of three men. This is likely to be a sensational newspaper story for Tiffany, as one of the victims is none other than the District Attorney and wait for it... the murder weapon is a fruitcake! What each of the three murder cases have in common is the same lethal weapon -  20 year old fruitcake in  unopened tins made by a company no longer in business. The rest of the story is as advertised - murder, mayhem  and mystery.
The cover of "Antiques Fruitcake" puzzled me - why a Pekinese dog, and that fruit cake shaped like a skull? Ah... yes, it is a murder, and one of the suspects owns a savvy shih tzu ( ok, close to a Pekinese!)   You could be forgiven for thinking that the plot sounds like a Miss Marple classic...  During the dress rehearsal for a small town festive Christmas play, the unpopular star, Madeline de Morlaye kicks the bucket on stage after a bite of prop fruitcake! The list of Madeline's enemies, and thus murder suspects is as long as Santa's " Naughty or Nice" list. Amateur sleuths prop mistress and ex diva director attempt to solve this this fruitcake fatality before they lose the rest of the cast.  And if this wasn't enough - a tasty fruitcake recipe is included!
Cleaning lady/private detective, Callahan Garrity is the central character of many murder mysteries written by Mary Kay Andrews who also adds her own personal recipe for fruitcake. Fatal Fruitcake is a short story where the protagonist tracks down the source of the killer fruitcake.  I can only guess that "Fatal Fruitcake" is a sequel to  "Killer Fudge", another short story in this author's series.
Later in this series, I will explore some other "fruitcake" literature, but I know you will be looking for these fun titles ( all are published as e- books) - one of these could be the perfect Christmas gift for a reader who enjoys a quirky mystery.

Tomorrow - A little bit sad, but some negative connotations of "Christmas cake"
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