Mistletoe and Mayhem - Spotlight

Kate Kingsbury wrote the wonderful Penneyfoot Hotel Mystery series. The series ended back in 1999 with Maid to Murder. Since then, however, Kate has brought the staff back for several Christmas mysteries through the years. In 2010 we had Mistletoe and Mayhem, and that is the book I'd like to talk about today!

From the back cover:

This Christmas holiday, guests and staff alike are coming together under the kissing bough in the entryway of the Pennyfoot ballroom...only to fall victim to a cold-blooded killer. 

As friends, family, and guest gather at the Pennyfoot to share the joys of the season, Cecily Sinclair Baxter and her staff are hustling and bustling more than ever. Cecily's dear friend Madeline arrives with her new baby and adds a kissing bough to the festive decorations. Cecily gets in the spirit by kissing the precious baby beneath the bough, believing that the holiday couldn't be off to a better start.

But after a footman, last spotted kissing the new maid under the bough, turns up dead, the downstairs staff is convinced a serial killer is spending the holidays at the Pennyfoot-perhaps the mysterious guest known only as J. Mortimer. When Madeline's baby disappears, Cecily has her hands full desperately trying to find the child. If she doesn't catch this killer in time, everyone's cheer will quickly turn to fear...