Mrs. Holloway’s Christmas Pudding by Jennifer Ashley – a Review

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Description:
When Cook Kat Holloway is blamed when a dinner guest mysteriously takes ill after eating one of her meals, she sets out to prove she had nothing to do with the gentleman’s sickness. She discovers a whole host of people who might wish to do away with the man, and she and her friends—Daniel McAdam, Lady Cynthia, Mr. Thanos, and various members of the household staff—begin to hunt for the would-be killer.

Simultaneously tasked with crafting the perfect Christmas feast, including the pièce de résistance, the Christmas plum pudding, Kat frantically works to finish all, fearing she’ll have to choose between stopping a murderer and cherishing her few precious Christmas moments with her daughter.

Review:

Mrs. Holloway’s Christmas Pudding by Jennifer Ashley is a wonderful Christmas novella in her fantastic Kat Holloway Mysteries series. Refresher: This series takes place in Victorian, England, centered around our heroine Kat Holloway, who is a cook extraordinaire, as well as a great detective.  Kat is smart, savvy, independent, loyal and is very protective of her below the stairs staff. This was a very enjoyable and quick Christmas treat for us to read.

The story starts off when a guest becomes ill after eating one of Kat Holloway’s dinners, and the mistress of the house blames her. Kat is determined to prove that her meal had nothing to do with the man taking ill, with her friends defending her.  As always, Kat begins to investigate a number of people who may have poisoned the man, with help from Daniel, Cynthia, Thanos, Tess, James.  The hunt is on, as each of them finds ways to get information from those in his household, as well as his family. 

What follows is a wonderful suspenseful mystery, with Kat having to discover who was the poisoner, and her going to the victim’s house to reveal the real person behind the attempt to kill him.  Surprisingly, I never guessed who the culprit was.  The twisty plot was well done, with a number of suspects.

Once again, Jennifer Ashley gives us a fun short Christmas story revolving around our heroine, Kat Holloway.  Mrs. Holloway’s Christmas Pudding was very well written by Ashley. If you enjoy Victorian stories, with a mystery theme, a Downton Abbey background, two very good leading characters and great secondary characters, you should be reading this series.

Reviewed by Barb

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