Leafing Through Pages – A Killer Christmas (Murder, She Wrote # 59)

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Stars: 3 / 5

Recommendation: Pleasantly nostalgic, but was pretty close to Jon Land’s last book Murder in Season (#52), at least when it came to the season. Definitely had more focus on Christmas festivities rather than murder, yet we get to see a murder solved.

A Killer Christmas is the 59th novel in the long-running Murder She Wrote series co-written by Terrie Farley Moran & fictional writer Jessica Fletcher. It was first published on October of 2024.

This is my take on the series of books written by a plethora of authors and Jessica Fletcher (fictional author) based on the 80 and 90s popular American crime drama television series Murder, She Wrote. These books are ghost written by Donald Bain and fictional author Jessica Fletcher for the first 43 books until 2015. Then Donald Bain wrote these with Renee Paley Bain and Jon Land for four more books. After Donald Bain passed away in 2017, Jon Land alone took the baton and continued with Jessica Fletcher for 5 more books until 2020. Starting 2021 the series was picked by Terrie Farley Moran again pairing with the fictional writer Jessica Fletcher. As of October 2024, 59 books have been written in this series. They are mostly written in first person narration.

Although a Christmas mystery, this book release four months earlier. Perhaps it was supposed to be done in 2024, but on account of Angela Lansbury passing away and settling of her estate might have delayed it. This is the last book I have written by Terrie Farley Moran so far. We know she is releasing in 2025 two more. Looking forward to read them.

In this installment, We are in Jessica’s hometown, Cabot Cove and their realtor Eve Simpson finds a buyer during the holiday season for the Old Jarvis Homestead: Boston Tycoon John Bragdon. However Kenny Jarvis, missing heir, reappears and stops his siter from selling, Kenny threatens the buyer’s wife Rose Marie, who gets murdered shortly and Kenny is a suspect. Jessica Fletcher naturally comes to Kenny’s aid and works on solving the mystery – who is naughty and who is nice.

In the last book I was wondering who else the author would dedicate the book she had completed her family. Well, she dedicates this book to all the readers and viewers of both the TV show and the books.

I didn’t remember that Dr. Seth Hazlitt was married to a lady named Ruth who had passed away and never appears in the TV shows. I thought he was a committed bachelor. Apparently I remembered wrong.

Still amazes me how Jessica tolerates Eve Simpson and gets roped into her adventures, all to Eve’s benefits. Somewhere around Chapter 17 I thought the killer was very obvious. However, just like how J.B. Fletcher has red herrings in her books, looks like Terrie also adopted that.

In all this hoopla, Jessica is extremely busy with completing a book as well as be part of Christmas Committee , volunteering for two different events. I wonder how she manages all that stuff.

As mentioned before in my previous books, I am comparing Terrie’s writing to Nora Roberts writing after 2008. Nora Roberts novels changed the pace from being strong and deep for her characters in her books or plot prior to 2009, since 2009 her book have become more placid, serene and although deep less complex in both plot and her characters. I feel the same thing with Terrie Moran. As much as these are cozy mysteries, Donald Bain’s books are a little more filled with complexity to the plot and characters, while Terrie’s are more serene.

Pleasantly nostalgic, but was pretty close to Jon Land’s last book Murder in Season (#52), at least when it came to the season. Definitely had more focus on Christmas festivities rather than murder, yet we get to see a murder solved.

Spoiler Alerts:

1. Grammatical / Character / Plot / Geographical / Historical / Mythological Errors:
   1. In book #54, Debonair in Death, we had seen that Walter Hendon had resigned as the Harbormaster and Pierce Collymore was appointed as one. In #57 Fit For Murder, Pierce was also a fire chief. Now in this book, Walter is back to being Harbormaster. So what about Pierce? Who is the fire chief then? Is it still Richard Mann or Pierce Collymore? Looks like its Pierce Collymore as fire chief.

1. Plot Reveals:
   1. Characters we see here: Albert Pellecchia, a character who returns to Cabot Cove; Kayla, Coreen’s friend working part-time at Charles Department Store; John Bragdon, founder and president of Bragdon Public Relations Group (BPRD); Krista Jarvis, owns the Jarvis place; Kenny Jarvis, her brother declared dead but reappears; Jason Clabaugh, in charge of North Pole float; Linda Kocal, mayor’s aide; Kendell Jones, a farmer; Mike Cabresse, a contractor; Tessa Canaday, works for JBT Marketing; Nora Griffin, John’s director of communications; Chloe Fontaine, vice president of BPRG; Michael “Mike” Keady, company treasurer; Edward, Doris Ann’s library aide;  Lorna Mason, treasurer of Friends of the Library; Shane, one of the waiter at Hill House; Margo Linwood, assistant manager at Hill House; Judson Broadhurst, president of JBT Marketing; Benny Wright, works for JBT Marketing; Eli Miller, choirmaster of Temple Beth El choir; Lisa Butler, a doctor;

1. Sub Plots:
   1. Friends of Jessica Fletcher: Dr. Seth Hazlitt; George Sutherland, senior inspector with Scotland Yard, formerly with British Special Air Service; Morton “Mort” Metzger, Cabot Cove Sherriff and his second wife Maureen; Eve Simpson, realtor friend with Cabot Cove Realty called Simpson Realty; Ethan Cragg, Cabot Cove’s chief town elder; Susan Shevlin, travel agent and her husband Jim, Current Mayor of Cabot Cove; Charlene Sassi, baker;
   2. Literary contacts and friends: Harry McGraw, her private eye friend; Matt Miller, her literary agent & his wife Susan; Paulette, Matt’s assistant; her British Publisher Griffin Semple, son of her original publisher Archibald Semple; Herb Mason, her accountant; Nancy Pollard, Jessica’s new publisher as of #55;
   3. Other Cabot Cove characters: Josh, the mailman; Jed Richardson, bush pilot and owner of Jed’s Flying Service, and his wife Alicia, His brother Harvey, owns the local Gas-and-Go; Mara, owns Mara’s Luncheonette, as of #54, Mara has branched out into NH and VT; Hank Weathers, a homeless war vet; Seamus McGilray, manager of Hill House Hotel per the 51st book / Thomas Wilkerson per the 47th book; Professor Donskoy; Roberta Dougherty, bookstore owner; Richard Koser, photographer, and his wife MaryJane; Barbara DePaoli, Chamber of Commerce’s secretary; Anthon Colarusso, dentist; Beth and Peter Mullin, owners of Old Thyme Floral; Sam Davis, investment advisor; Jack Decker, publisher of Cabot Cove’s monthly magazine; Peter Eder, Cabot Cove’s symphony orchestra; Bob Daros, owns Heritage Fuel; Tim Purdy, treasurer of chamber of commerce and historian and president of  Cabot Cove’s historical society, and investment advisor, and his wife Ellen; Pat Hitchcock, Cabot Cove’s popular nurse and teacher?; Joseph “Joe” Turco, an attorney; Lean, Joe’s assistant; Marcia Davis, costume designer; David and Jim Raneri, owners of Charles Department Store; Ralph Mackin, town attorney; Ed and Joan Lerner, retirees; Brenda Brody, copy editor of Cabot Cove Insider; Doug Treyz, dentist, and his wife Tina; Jack and Marilou Decker, publishers of Cabot Cove Insider; Peter and Roberta Walters, owners of the radio station; Horace Teller, publisher of Cabot Cove News; Doris Sitar, assistant manager at Cabot Cove Savings Bank; Dmitri, owner of local taxi company; Phil Wick, field manager of the phone company; John St. Clair, professor of business law at Cabot Cove Community College; Dr. Jennifer “Jenny” Countryman, Seth’s partner; Reginald “Reggie” Weems, insurance agent; Richard Jenkins & Sal Marterella, city council members; Jack Wilson, the Veterinarian, and his wife Tobe; Daniel “Dan” Andrews, editor of Cabot Cove Gazette; Maniram Chatterjee & his wife Hita, jewelry shop owners; Sanford Teller, public relations agency; Lee, postmistress; Loretta Spiegel, owns beauty salon; Barnaby Longshoot; Brad Crandall; SeaBasket, a supermarket; Father Donald Barnes; Becky Thayer, owner of Cabot Cove Catering; Doris Ann Smith, library director; Ansell Hodges, homeless veteran; Clara, Seth’s longtime receptionist; Carl Cragg, Ethan’s cousin and Building inspector; Demetri Cassis and his cousin Nick, Cabot Cove Taxi Service; Ideal Molloy, Jessica’s long time neighbor; Lavinia Wahl, another friend; Maeve O’Bannon, Jessica’s another neighbor; Dr. Gregory Leung, Cabot Cove Community Hospital Deputy Administrator; Rosie Santangelo, teaches arts and crafts; Pierce Collymore, Fire chief; Sally Thomson, sales associate at Charles Department Store; Margo Linwood, front desk at Hill House; Edward, Library aide; John Martinez, a library patron; Lorna Mason, Library Committee treasurer; Nancy, a newish committee member; Joseph, maitre d’ at Hill House; Coreen Wilson, Loretta’s longtime assistant; Asa Cabot, Clara Wizzenhut, descendants of Cabot Cove Founders; Hillard “Hilly” Davis, a rambunctious neighbor;
   4. Sheriff Metzger’s staff & other law enforcement: Deputy Andy Jenks / Broom/ Bloom??; Deputy Jack; Rookie Wendell Watson and his mother Gloria; Deputy Harold; Deputy Jerry; Deputy Evan; Deputy Chip; Alfred Gillo, medical examiner; Judge Kaplan; Marie Poutre, dispatcher; Officer Edgar; Gladys, a civilian dispatcher; Deputy Billy Simms; NYPD lieutenant with Major Case Squad Artie Gelber; Deputy Muldoon; Deputy Floyd McCallum
   5. Jessica Fletcher’s family: Grady Fletcher, nephew that she and her late-husband Frank raise, his wife Donna and child Frank. Grady plans to open his own accounting firm in book #52.
   6. From the 9th book, Murder on the QE2: Mary Ward has been a prominent character in this book. Will she resurface again?
   7. From the 10th book, Murder in Moscow:
      1. There is still no resolution as to who or how Ward Wenington was killed in D.C. and why Vladislav “Vlady” Staritova was killed in Russia. What was the connection?
      2. Alexandra Kozhina disappears at the end of the plot. And will she surface in another book?
   8. From the 30th book:
      1. Tom Craig offers Michael Haggerty a book deal to write about his escapades as an undercover British spy.
      2. There is no closure as to who actually kills the person in the first murder.
      3. Will Jennifer Kahn, the alleged jewel thief, walk away free since they could only find circumstantial evidence against her and nothing concrete?
   9. From the 37th book: If I ever try the sidecar recipe I will have to post it again referring the 37th book.  But Angela Lansbury did print a cookbook based on the food items shared either in the episodes or by characters of the series.
   10. From the 47th book:
       1. Mort jokes that Jessica is a magnet for murder; and Jessica quips that can she use that as a title. We know that this title has never been done so far in her books or the fictional ones she wrote on the TV show. May be a future book?
       2. Again we don’t see the criminal Armand Dejong’s body found. So did he succumb to the injuries caused by fire or escape?
   11. From the 48th book, Manuscript for Murder:
       1. We come to know that Mort was in Vietnam that we had never heard either on TV show or the earlier books.
   12. From the 51st book, The Murder of Twelve:
       1. Author Land gives considerable mystery to Seamus McGilray’s character. I wonder if he resurfaces in a future book.
       2. Towards the end of the book, Mort jokes that Jessica should run for mayor. Hmm…something to look forward to I suppose.
   13. From the 54th book, Debonair in Death: Deputy Andy’s full name become Andy Broom vs Andy Jenkins.