Murder for the Holidays

Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings, Liz Ireland
This is first in a series taking place at the North Pole and featuring April Claus. April, formerly an innkeeper in Oregon (she still owns the inn), met and fell in love with one of her guests, Nick Kringle, who'd come to her inn to decompress. They marry and it's only then April discovers she has married...Santa Claus! Nick became the official Santa after the death of his father and of his oldest brother Chris, who died in a hunting accident.

It's now April's first Christmas as the official Mrs. Claus (although most people think of Pamela, Nick's mother, as "Mrs. Claus") and December is a harried jumble of activities. But things have gone sour at one of the first Christmas activities: an elf named Giblet Hollyberry, who was already angry at Nick when he lost an ice-sculpting contest and accused him of killing Chris, is murdered by a black widow spider in his stocking. Next a snowman (snowmen in Santaland are alive) is melted to death...and again Nick is the suspect when his custom-made coat button is found in the remains. April doesn't trust Constable Crinkle, the affable police officer, to hunt down the real killer, and even with dark detective Jake (not Jack!) Frost on the case, she knows she'll have to do some sleuthing to get Nick cleared.

Ireland does some fun world-building here, with the Santa family heirarchy (Lucia is actually the eldest, but the Santa title officially goes to the oldest boy) and family squabbles, the "Santaland" geography, the elf community, the idea of reindeer dynasties as well as Santa dynasties, the relationship between the in-laws being the same as in ordinary families, all mixed up with a cozy mystery, a misfit and coddled reindeer named Quasar, and an intelligent protagonist who's a little bit in over her head. Lots of interesting characters, including Jake Frost, although most of them lightly sketched, including Nick, which is frustrating.

Trouble is, I twigged to the murderer early on, and I think most people will, too, plus April is kind of a stock cozy character: perky red-haired inn-owning good-looking young woman. If you buy into the whole fantasy, it's fun. Otherwise, you may find it confusing—there are so many characters—or dull.