Review: Snow Place for Murder by Diane Kelly

About the Book

Genre

Cozy Mystery

Format

E-ARC

Publisher

St. Martin’s

Release Date

October 24, 2023

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The third in the charming and engrossing Mountain Lodge mystery series by Diane Kelly, in Snow Place for Murder, the weather at the Mountaintop Lodge is truly frightful…

International resort developer Nigel Goodwin has traveled all the way from London, England to Misty Murphy’s little corner of North Carolina and bought out the Mountaintop Lodge for the week prior to Christmas. Their intention? To pitch an exclusive new resort concept to wealthy American investors.

But locals are at odds over the idea, and when a group comes to the lodge to express their worries to Mr. Goodwin and the potential investors, a blizzard hits Beech Mountain. Like the weather outside, things quickly get frosty, and Misty has to call local police to intervene. Handyman Rocky Crowder plows the lodge’s drive and, in an attempt to regain a jovial holiday atmosphere, smooths the snow pile into a makeshift sledding hill for the guests to enjoy.

Misty’s boys have finished their exams and are “home” from college for the winter break, planning to spend most of their time snowboarding at the ski resort. While taking a few runs down Rocky’s sledding hill, they discover a funny-looking, nose-shaped rock. Only it’s not a rock. It’s the frozen nose of Nigel Goodwin, who’s found dead and buried under the mound of snow.

Who put the developer on ice and why?

My Review

It’s almost Christmas and Misty Murphy is getting her Mountaintop Lodge ready.  The week before the holiday, her lodge is booked by a resort developer, Nigel Goodwin, for a conference.  Misty is quite happy with the business and even happier to have her two teenage sons available to help out.  

The big problem is the developer is planning for a new resort near her own lodge and the town is not happy about it.  When a blizzard hits the town, not only is the weather chilly but so are the people’s attitudes.  Even the potential investors aren’t very happy.  

When Nigel is found dead, Misty fears that someone in her lodge is a murderer.  She, along with her trusty handyman Rocky, set out to find a killer.

This is the third book in the series and it’s quickly becoming a favorite of mine.  The characters are well-rounded and the story moves along at a fast pace.  With each book, we get to know Misty and her family better.  

I, also, love the setting. The author did a good job of transporting me to North Carolina during a blizzard.  I felt as if I was actually there.  Oh - and there was a cute cat, Yeti.  Yeti had her own very short POV chapters letting us know how she felt about everyone.  It was really a charming addition to the story.  

This is a captivating mystery that kept me guessing until the end.  I thought the culprit was someone else, which makes this mystery even more fun for me.  Although this is the third book, the mystery is contained in this book.  It’s not necessary to read the first two, but I think you would want to for the character growth aspect. 

I look forward to visiting the Mountaintop Lodge again very soon.

For reading challenges:

Literary Escapes Reading Challenge 2023 (North Carolina)

FTC Disclosure: I voluntarily reviewed a free Advance Reader Copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.  All opinions expressed are my own.