Review
The Third Literary Dining Mystery
Bramblewood, North Carolina is getting into the holiday spirit and what better way than to celebrate with the classic A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Personal chef and caterer Allie Catt is helping out at a special event at the Amber Lantern, an inn owned by her best friend's mom, with food Dickens described in the classic itself. To make the event even more special Erwin Scroggie has lent his cherished first edition of the novella to Noeline to display. But when a dead body is found and the book has vanished Allie knows she has to help her boyfriend, Detective Zach Armstrong, crack the case, whether he appreciates her help or not.
A festive atmosphere imbues A CLASSIC CASE OF MURDER despite theft and murder. Holiday decorations, winter weather, and Dickensian dressed characters bring to mind Christmases of long ago and an added coziness.
My favorite aspect of the third Literary Dining Mystery is the ties to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Not only does the plot include a first edition of the novella and a bust of Dickens himself, but other nods to the classic story are included. Every chapter starts with a quote from the novella and historical facts about the book and Dickens himself are woven through the storyline. There's even the character of Erwin Scroggie, a curmudgeonly moneylender who was once happy and jovial until the young woman he loved left him. Sound familiar? He even has a nephew named Freddie who has a sickly child.
I also enjoyed the mystery itself with multiple suspects who avidly accuse one another of the crime and the way that Allie was able to sift through motives, clues, and personalities to figure out how the crime occurred as well as who did it!
Get in the holiday spirit with A CLASSIC CASE OF MURDER where delicious dishes combine with books and murder, all with a Dickensian twist!
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A Classic Case of Murder (A Literary Dining Mystery) by Daryl Wood Gerber
About A Classic Case of Murder
Cozy Mystery 3rd in Series
Setting – North Carolina
Publisher: Kensington Cozies
Publication Date: October 27, 2026
Print Length: 320 pages
Personal chef and caterer Allie Catt combines her love of fiction with her love of food in the scenic North Carolina mountains—but amid her latest themed event, based on Dickens’s beloved classic, A Christmas Carol, a rare-book expert’s goose is cooked…
In the charming town of Bramblewood, not far from Asheville, Allie’s preparing for a special seasonal soiree: a literary-themed dinner party that’s a tribute to Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. It’ll take place at the Amber Lantern, the quaint inn recently opened by her best friend’s mother, Noeline—and the holiday spirit has even led a Scroogelike local businessman to lend his prized first edition of the nineteenth-century novella for the event.
With the voices of carolers ringing in the air and the community theater staging a special performance, it looks like it will be a happy Christmas—until the priceless book disappears and someone murders the expert who authenticated it. And if the police have their way, Allie’s lawyer friend Freddy will be dragged away in chains like Marley’s ghost…
The crime has also cast a shadow over Noeline’s fledgling business, so Allie feels doubly obliged to find the real killer among the gathered guests and local visitors—and put an end to this nightmare. It’s time to investigate them all, every one . . .
About Daryl Wood Gerber
Daryl Wood Gerber is the Agatha Award-winning and nationally bestselling author of the Literary Dining Mysteries, Aroma Wellness Mysteries, Fairy Garden Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she penned the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes suspense novels, including the well-received Accidental Murder, The Son’s Secret, Girl on the Run, and the popular Aspen Adams trilogy. Daryl has published a standalone Christmas romance, Hope for the Holidays, a mystery anthology, and a children’s illustrated rhyming book. Fun Tidbit: as an actress, Daryl appeared in “Murder, She Wrote.” She loves to cook, garden, read, and walk her frisky Goldendoodle. Also she has been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. You can learn more on her website: https://darylwoodgerber.com
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