Saturday, October 11, 2014

Review: Real Elves (An Emily Castles Short Mystery #3) by Helen Smith


About the Book

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: September 2014
Publisher: Unlimited Books
Format: E-Book


Synopsis from Goodreads:

In a department store in London, a little girl called Sophie visits Santa’s magical forest with her grandfather. As they emerge from the forest, Sophie’s grandfather reports her missing… but the little girl’s right there. Is she a ghost, a twin, an alien abductee—or is there some simpler explanation? Twenty-six-year-old amateur sleuth Emily Castles has fifteen minutes to figure out the puzzle before the police are called and Christmas is ruined.

REAL ELVES is a standalone story set in London. It first appeared in the anthology Naughty or Nice in aid of Kids Need to Read. The Emily Castles mysteries can be read in any order.

Helen Smith has created a great little cozy series with the charming Emily Castles Criminal Element.

My Review

What a sweet, cute holiday story. It’s kind of “fantasy” meets “cozy mystery”. Real Elves is a short story which gives readers a chance to re-visit Emily Castles and be drawn into her enchanting, magical holiday. If you’ve never read an Emily Castle book, there are two previous short stories but you don’t need to read them to enjoy this one. However, I think you’ll want to once you read this one. You can read this book in one sitting. In fact, you can read them all in one sitting.

This is a book that leaves you with those warm fuzzy feelings and perfect for Christmas. Helen Smith captured the atmosphere and portrayed the characters to perfection.



FTC Disclosure: The author provided me with a copy of this book to review. This did not influence my thoughts and opinions in any way. All opinions expressed are my own.

4 comments:

  1. Hmm, now I'm curious about the little gir. I may have to pick up the story and find out.

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  2. Yvonne, this cozy-fantasy sounds terrific! I enjoyed your wonderful review. It sounds perfect for pre-holiday reading.

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  3. Good review! A fantasy-cozy - how perfect for me! I've been meaning to read the Emily Castles series - I even own two of them. This short story might be a good place to start, as I am so swamped with ARCs right now.

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