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The Holidays Can Be Murder..

Good day, everyone!
I hope you’re all staying safe and keeping warm on this fine, freezing morning!

If you get the time and find you’d rather be reading about murder than romance for the holidays, today’s book may be just what you’re looking for. A religious cult. Murder. Mystery. And some pretty interesting information about the Twelve Days of Christmas that I didn’t know before.
It may not have been a five star read but it certainly wasn’t boring.

I hope you enjoy the read and that all your Christmas wishes come true.. within reason.

(Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. Any purchases made through my links may earn me a small commission at no cost to you.) 

Twelve Days by Paul Williams

Publication date: November 18, 2019
Pages: 290
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Holiday Fiction
Standalone

First line: Castello di Rocca stood on the edge of a chasm.

Three and a Half Stars

Characters: Frustrating.
Storyline: Predictable.
Pace: Steady.
Writing: Intelligent.
Cover: 3.5/5

POVs
One: Rafe

A suspicious invitation

A dodgy invitation.
A remote castle.
Twelve Days to die..

The past comes back to haunt our main character when the cult pastor who ruled his childhood issues an invitation to reunite during the holidays in a creepy, isolated castle.

Rafe left the congregation at Joyful Resurrection years ago, fed up with the head games. He moved on, became an author, renounced God and adopted reason. Only one thing compels him to accept the reverend’s invitation. Suzanne. He loved her once, they all did, but does she hold that same power over him still?

But they haven’t gathered for a walk down memory lane and he’s not the only one who’s there for closure—or Suzanne—and when people start dying, Rafe can’t help but think that she’s somehow involved..

With no phones and a brutal snowstorm raging outside they’re forced to stick together.. but the killer could be anyone and he/she/they won’t stop until everyone has paid for their sins.

I would have enjoyed this more had it not been so predictable.
Then again.. you have to do a lot to make murder mystery like this stand out these days—there are so many of them.

I’ll begin by saying that none of the characters were likable, believable—yes, but not likable.
Not surprising with murder mysteries but typically there’s at least one personality that stands out and I didn’t feel like any of these did.

The main character is supposedly an author and a very controversial one with this group too since he basically attacks their beliefs and dismisses the existence of God. Not good. But during his time in the castle he takes on the role of amateur detective and this created an almost ‘Scooby Doo’ like feel for me—though not nearly as entertaining.

And while they may not be the nicest or most lovable people.. they do all have distinct personalities and, when you have a group of characters like this, that’s no small thing. I liked that they were all suspicious, even our main character, it makes you second guess yourself. But I also felt like that is all that really carried the story.

The book is filled with religious references about the Twelve Days of Christmas, a lot of which is surprisingly interesting information, and each death has some horrific connection to this. There was a lot of work put into this aspect and, for me, it paid off.

The pace and atmosphere stayed about even, only really picking up near the end, but the ‘intensity’ just wasn’t there for me.

Do I recommend this book? Yes.
This may not have been one of the more exciting reads of the year but it was enjoyable enough that I look forward to reading more from the author. Fans of ‘whodunit’ mysteries like They Did Bad Things by Lauren A. Forry, Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight, and The Island House by Amanda Brittany will enjoy this.

Thanks so much for checking out my post
I hope you’re all staying safe and have an absolutely splendid holiday!

What are you reading this beautiful Christmas day?

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