• Murder in Christmas River

  • Christmas River Cozy Series, Book 1
  • By: Meg Muldoon
  • Narrated by: Randye Kaye
  • Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (138 ratings)

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Murder in Christmas River

By: Meg Muldoon
Narrated by: Randye Kaye
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Publisher's summary

Cinnamon Peters is one tough cookie.

Every year at Christmas River's annual Gingerbread Junction Competition, pie baker extraordinaire Cinnamon aims to win, taking down any competitor who gets in her way. But when she finds a dead body in the woods behind her pie shop just days before the big competition, Cinnamon realizes that there's much more to worry about than cookies, frosting, and gumdrops.

Someone's out to bring Cinnamon down. And they're playing dirty.

Only Cinnamon and a mysterious stranger who walks into her life one snowy evening can figure out the mystery.

But can they solve it before Cinnamon's chances of gingerbread competition glory crumble?

©2012 Meg Muldoon (P)2016 Tantor

What listeners say about Murder in Christmas River

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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    59
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Performance
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Story
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Being a prime murder suspect

In Murder in Christmas River by Meg Muldoon, Cinnamon Peters has been burned by life but fights to keep going, especially by entering the annual gingerbread mansion contest at her home in Christmas River and fighting to win. Then one night in early December, she sees a scraggly Australian shepherd come to her back door and feeds him scraps, but it takes her over a week of trying to gain his trust to get him to stick around. Then late one night, she sees the dog, whom she has named Huckleberry, come toward her, with a man who is very drunk following behind. He said that he felt the dog leading him to her. Recognizing the name as Daniel, the man who broke her heart as a teenager after kissing her and then disappearing upon the murder of his brother, she is curious that he doesn't recognize her. Cinnamon gives Daniel a ride home, surprising him when she says goodbye to him by name. Then a couple nights later, Huckleberry returns, but this time Cinnamon realizes he wants her to follow him, and he leads her through the snow to find a pile of snow with a hand sticking out.

Daniel shows up for their prearranged date as Cinnamon is calling the police, taking her home since the woman is in shock. The next day he lets her know that the dead man is the longtime judge of the gingerbread house contest, a man who has been especially hard on Cinnamon, and he has been murdered. As he starts to question her further, Cinnamon wonders why he is asking such things and knows so many details about the case. He admits that he just left the police force in Fresno, California as a former lieutenant, to move back to his hometown of Christmas River, Oregon. So now he is helping the sheriff. And it soon becomes apparent that this sheriff thinks that Cinnamon committed the crime. Thus, she must try to clear her name, while at the same time working hard to win the contest and trying to rekindle a relationship with Daniel.

This book was enjoyable, but it is rather light on details. There are not many twists to the mystery plot, and I thought the solution rather weak. Probably the strongest detail of the book is the character and behavior of Huckleberry, the dog. He has a believable personality that endears him to us. The other characters in the book have less definition to them. The romance plot works fairly well, but it too seems a little thin.

I did enjoy the narration of Randye Kaye, who does a good job of helping us to relate to the book. I liked that part of the book.

Murder in Christmas River is a nice, gentle book. It is ideal for those who want to relax and not think too hard. But I wish it had more depth to it. So I give it three stars.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good one.

Good listen..The characters are solid. The narrator did an excellent job. I really like the theme.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Cozy murder romance.

It started out a little weird. I almost stopped. I’m glad I kept listening as it made sense. It is a good book. NO fowl words, No sex and still awesome.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Review

It was enjoyable and I didn’t see the plot of the killer coming and I loved the characters, overall great first book of a series.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Predictable Little Cozy Christmas Mystery

Spoiler Alert: Every year I listen to a couple of "cozy Christmas mysteries" just to get into the season. This one, I knew who the killer was as soon as she showed up in the story. Everything was very typical. The sheriff is a bumbler. The wannabe boyfriend/cop/lost love solves the case with a confession that would never stand up in court, the little dog gets a loving home, and they all live happily ever after. The story wraps up fast and clumsy. If you're into the genre, it's not bad, but there are better.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great cozy....

Clean cozy with good plot....Loved the Christmas theme and enjoyed the romance as well

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • SO
  • 12-30-22

Was a nice change

Narrator seemed in a hurry to get through the reading. She has a lot of talent. Had really nice variety of voices - no trouble in who was speaking. I needed her to pause more. I would get lost in the rhythm and have to rewind to get the story.
Narrator - you’re great, but please pause between sections, emotions, and turns in the story. Listen to how people talk, I’m sure you pause when you speak as well. Now incorporate that into your reading - storytelling - and you’ll be fabulous.

Story was nice, want to read more.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of my favorites!

Love the Christmas River series by Meg Muldoon, and was thrilled to find the audio book! Randye did an excellent performance changing voices slightly but enough to distinguish each character. Can't wait to listen to more of this series!

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Murder in Christmas River

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

If this story was more about murder and not about romance, I would have given it a higher rating.

What was most disappointing about Meg Muldoon’s story?

The fact that between the prologue where the murder occurs and when Cinnamon finally comes across the body is fifteen long chapters of wishy washy romance. After discovery of the murder, it goes back to romance again. It was confusing at first that she calls her grandfather by his first name.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Murder in Christmas River?

The phrases, "he said," "I said," "she said," I asked," etc. were used far too much. They don't have to be used after every sentence while two people are having a conversation.

Any additional comments?

This story drags on. Too descriptive.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I enjoyed the premise the characters and the book.

I enjoyed the whole book. From beginning to end it was delicious. I would enjoy more mysteries from this pie shop

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