I'm pleased to welcome both Charlie Kingsley and Emily Hildebrandt to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Charlie in the Charlie Kingsley Mystery series and Emily in the Redemption Detective Agency Mystery series, both penned by Michele Pariza Wacek. Sometimes they each appear in each other's mysteries and such is the case in A MYSTERIOUS CHRISTMAS COLLECTION.
Charlie Kingsley: I’m so glad we can sit down together. Would you like some tea? Oh, wait, you’re more of a coffee gal, aren’t you?
Emily Hildebrandt: I definitely prefer coffee over tea. No offense as I know you make a lot of teas.
CK: None taken. I prefer tea but I drink coffee as well, especially when I’m in the middle of a case and haven’t had much sleep.
EH: Nothing beats coffee then.
CK: Exactly. So, we’re finally in a mystery together.
EH: Yes, and it’s about time. As you can imagine, I’ve heard so much about you.
CK: I hope it was good.
EH: Are you serious? You’re everyone’s inspiration! All I hear is good things!
CK: Well…err…look, I’m sure it’s not like that. It’s just because The Redemption Detective Agency is a spin off from the Charlie Kingsley Mysteries, that’s all.
EH: I think there’s more than that going on. But yes, I’m sure Mildred and Aunt Tilde both appearing in one of your earlier Charlie Kingsley Mysteries definitely had something to do with it. How was it working with both of them?
CK: It was…interesting. Mildred was sure her next door neighbor was a vampire. I was a little worried she was going to show up on his doorstep with a stake.
EH: What, you mean she didn’t do that?
CK: It was touch and go for awhile. And Tilde is definitely very enthusiastic at the idea of being a detective. I know Pat isn’t exactly sold on the idea of Tilde owning a detective agency, but I don’t think it’s such a bad idea. There are an awful lot of unsolved cases in Redemption, it’s probably a good thing to have someone willing to look at them.
EH: Well, I suspect we’re not going to have the same touch you do with our cases, but hopefully we’ll still make you proud.
CK: Don’t be silly. You already make me proud. I’m just thrilled Michele finally started listening to me and went down the cozy mystery path, otherwise all this would have been missed!
Check out not one but TWO Christmas cozy mysteries in A MYSTERIOUS CHRISTMAS COLLECTION, one from Charlie Kingsley Mysteries (Secret Santa Murder) and one from The Redemption Detective Agency (The Mysterious Case of the Dead Elf).
************************************************************************
Review
Short Stories from
The Charlie Kingsley Mystery Series and The Redemption Detective Agency Mystery Series
A MYSTERIOUS CHRISTMAS COLLECTION is comprised of two short stories, Secret Santa Murder and The Mysterious Case of the Dead Elf. The former is part of the Charlie Kingsley Mystery series while the latter is from the Redemption Detective Agency series, but both have their characters crossing over.
In Secret Santa Murder Charlie is invited to a Christmas pot luck and Secret Santa exchange-except the majority pf people invited had to cancel at the last minute and Pat, the hostess, has filled the party with people not normally invited to parties. When one of the guests drops dead it's up to Officer Brandon Wyle to start the investigation, with Charlie's help, of course.
The Redemption Detective Agency has a new case in The Mysterious Case of the Dead Elf. Although an adult, Mindy is scared of Santa.When she was a little girl an elf dropped dead in front of the crowd while she was seeing Santa. Since then she can't bear the thought of visiting Santa, but doesn't want to deprive her own daughter of that joy. Though officials declared the death an accident, rumors persist that it was murder. Will Emily and the gang be able to solve this cold case and bring back holiday joy?
I really enjoyed both of these quick reads, while I'm up to date in the Redemption Detective Agency series I haven't read any of the Charlie Kingsley mysteries. Even with no prior knowledge I was able to jump right in and appreciate everything going on-so feel free to start here even if you are unfamiliar with these series! I now intend to go back and read Charlie's stories. I was already a huge fan of the Redemption Detective Agency and this short story cemented that love. Though short, there's depth to both of these stories and with humor and a hint of romance, a fine mystery in each.
You get two for one with A MYSTERIOUS CHRISTMAS COLLECTION, two delightful short mysteries bringing characters from two series together in a great holiday collection.
**************************************************************************
A Mysterious Christmas Collection: A Charlie Kingsley/Redemption Detective Agency Crossover Christmas Cozy Mystery Anthology by Michele Pariza Wacek
About A Mysterious Christmas Collection
Cozy Mysteries
Setting - Wisconsin
Publisher: Love-Based Publishing
Publication Date: November 19, 2025
In this charming Christmas cozy mystery collection, you get not one but TWO Christmas mysteries--one from the Charlie Kingsley Mystery series (Secret Santa Murder) and one from The Redemption Detective Agency (The Mysterious Case of the Dead Elf).
Even better, the characters in both series will make a crossover appearance in the other mystery.
Here's a peek of each story:
Secret Santa Murder: A Secret Santa party goes off the rails when a guest is murdered after opening their gift. Can Charlie get to the bottom of who did it in this locked door mystery?
The Mysterious Case of the Dead Elf: Emily and the gang take on a case to help a young mother get over her childhood Christmas trauma. Can they go back in time and solve the mystery of a dead elf to save Christmas before it's too late?
Includes TWO Christmas cookie family recipes!The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries
The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries is funny, clean & twisty cozy series takes place in the 1990s in Redemption, Wisconsin. They're perfect if you enjoy small town cozy mysteries with quirky characters, pets, tea, culinary, a touch of romance, 1990s nostalgia and loads of fun. If you like books by Agatha Christie, Louise Penny and Maddie Day, you'll love these books.
The Charlie Kingsley Mysteries is a continuing series with books that are standalone and can be read in any order.
The Redemption Detective Agency
A spin off from the Charlie Kingsley Mystery series. This cozy romcom mystery series also takes place in the 1990s and features a fish out of water amateur sleuth, pet detectives, a cast of silver sleuths (some you'll recognize from the main series), cold cases and a hefty dose of romance. Think The Thursday Murder Club meets Bridget Jones's Diary, but in small town Wisconsin. Also great for fans for The Golden Girls (if they started solving mysteries), Only Murders in the Building (without a podcast and takes place in Wisconsin) and Murder She Wrote.
All the books are clean, twisty and funny. They can be read in any order but to get the best experience, I would recommend starting with Book 1, The Mysterious Case of the Missing Motive.
About Michele Pariza Wacek
A USA Today Bestselling, award-winning author, Michele taught herself to read at 3 years old because she wanted to write stories so badly. It took some time (and some detours) but she does spend much of her time writing stories now. Mystery stories, to be exact. They're clean and twisty, and range from psychological thrillers to cozies, with a dash of romance and supernatural thrown into the mix. If that wasn't enough, she posts lots of fun things on her blog, including short stories, puzzles, recipes and more, at MPWNovels.com.
Michele grew up in Wisconsin, (hence why all her books take place there), and still visits regularly, but she herself escaped the cold and now lives in the mountains of Prescott, Arizona with her husband and southern squirrel hunter Cassie.
When she's not writing, she's usually reading, hanging out with her dog, or watching the Food Network and imagining she's an awesome cook. (Spoiler alert, she's not. Luckily for the whole family, Mr. PW is in charge of the cooking.)
Author Links:
Website https://MPWNovels.com
Facebook https://Facebook.com/michelepwauthor
Instagram https://instagram.com/themichelepw
Purchase Link - Amazon
No comments:
Post a Comment