Winter 2025 TBR Recap

Brook and Sarah discuss the mysteries they read and enjoyed during the 2025 winter break.

Discussed and mentioned

Brook’s picks

Screamish (2025) Eryn Scott

Hickory Dickory Dock (1955) Agatha Christie

The Perfect Murder (2025) Amanda McKinney

The Shakespeare Fraud (2016) Ted Story

Sarah’s picks

The Mistletoe Mystery (2024) Nita Prose

The Antique Hunters Death on the Red Sea (2025) CL Miller

Midwinter Murder: Fireside Tales from the Queen of Mystery (2020) Agatha Christie

The Christmas Appeal (2023) Janice Hallett

For more information

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Transcript

This transcript is generated by a computer and there may be some mis-spellings and strange punctuation. We try to catch these before posting, but some things slip through.

Sarah	Welcome to Clued in Mystery. I’m Sarah.
Brook	And I’m Brook, and we both love mystery.
Sarah	Hi, Brook.
Brook	Hi, Sarah. Wow, I am so excited to be back recording again. It’s 2026.
Sarah	It is 2026 and today we are going to talk about what we read over the holiday break. This is the second episode of this season. The first one was what we loved in 2025, which I hope everybody has a chance to listen to. And now we get to talk about what we loved reading over the last couple of weeks.
Brook	That’s right. What’s kept us busy over our recording break?
Sarah	The first of the books that I wanted to talk about is The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose. And this is one of, there were a few books on my list that were Christmas themed, holiday themed, and this is one of them. And this one revisits Molly Gray at the holidays. And, you know, she’s got a bit of a mystery going on.
Sarah	It was a really sweet story, but I did feel it was a little light on the mystery. It’s it’s a mystery without murder, which is nice at the holidays. It was a little bit light on the mystery, which um I would actually say is a trend for this series. So the first couple of books were were more of an investigation. And I think there’s only officially three books in the series. And the third one I i found was not as much of a mystery as as the other two. And I would say that that’s the same for this one.
Brook	Well, the first one on my list was Screamish by Eryn Scott. And this, it was a 2025 release in her new Black Cat Investigations series. And I will say that your comments were kind of similar to what I’ll say here. I think it was a great start to the series. And this is very different from any of her other work. And this main character is considered a Black Cat personality. So think like Wednesday Adams or maybe Mabel Mora. And the book was cozy without being super cute, which I think a lot of readers would like. But same as you said, Sarah, the mystery wasn’t very complicated and the investigation was rather simple. And I’m thinking since it’s a series starter and this is the first case that Queenie went on, there’s a good chance that the stakes and the twists will ramp up. And I think that, you know, the series holds a lot of possibility.
Sarah	Oh, that’s good, Brook. that I remember when you were talking about it, it sounded like a book that I wanted to read, and I i still do, so that’s good.
Brook	Mm-hmm.
Sarah	um The next one that I read and enjoyed over the holidays is The Antique Hunter’s Death on the Red Sea by C.L. Miller, and this was the second book in the series um where… a woman who is estranged from a family friend um learns of his death and learns that she’s meant to be taking over his business. He’s an antique, um, antiques dealer, but on the side was doing these investigations and that’s what she gets involved in.
Sarah	So I really enjoyed this. I think I actually enjoyed it more than the first book in the series. Um, there is a multi-book book, mystery arc as well as the mystery in this book and the um that multi-book mystery arc hasn’t really been resolved but I, I, I don’t know if you could read each of these as standalone there is you know some um explanation at the beginning to remind readers if it’s been a while since they’ve read the first book or if they haven’t read the first book to kind of catch them up.
Sarah	But I feel like this is probably a series that people want to read in order and from the beginning.
Brook	Oh, that’s great to hear, Sarah, because I have read book one, but I’m really glad to hear that you um enjoyed book two, maybe even more. And I love the multi-book arcs. So I’ll continue that series for sure.
Brook	The next one I’ll mention is my Agatha Christie pick for break. And this was Hickory Dickory Dock. And this was just so good. This was just delightful Poirot, you know, at its best. And there’s this layered investigation. A, of course, large cast of characters and it’s makes it really complicated as expected. So, I really enjoyed it. It always leaves me wondering after I read these, like, how in the world did she do this? Because they’re so good and so complicated. So um once again, I had that feeling.
Brook	I will mention that I read this as an ebook and many, many times the other Christie’s we’ve done either as you know, for our show or for a read along or whatever we’re doing. Many times I listen as an audio book and I really liked, and I think it’s because of that, um that Golden Age language bridge and pacing and all those things are just different than our contemporary reads. And I found it really helpful to be reading with my eyes and not my ears. So I’m going to remember that and get eBooks or paperbacks more often when we do Golden Age, because I think I just get drawn into this story and, and follow the plot lines a little, a little more easily.
Sarah	That is really interesting. When I talk about um the Christmas Appeal, I have an observation about reading versus listening, but I’ll save that for when I get to that book.
Sarah	But what I wanted to talk about next was the Christie read that I did, and that was Midwinter Murder, Fireside Tales from the Queen of Mystery. And so this is a collection of short stories, and it’s always such a treat to read her short stories. This collection includes stories featuring Tommy and Tuppence, Harley Quin, Miss Marple, Parker Pyne, and it does include one of my favorite short stories of hers, “The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding”, or in this book, it’s “The Christmas Adventure”. But like I said, so much fun to read Christie at Christmas.
Brook	Yes, that sounds perfect for you, Sarah. You love short stories. You really like Parker Pyne and you really have discovered that you like Tommy and Tuppence. So what a great little package for you this Christmas.
Brook	So next I’ll talk about The Perfect Murder by Amanda McKinney. This was also a 2025 release. And you might recall that this one was about a bestselling mystery author who’s just hit a bestseller, but then things start to go haywire in her life and a murder that happens in her town is eerily similar to something that she’s writing.
Brook	On the outside, this one seemed like it would be a really perfect read for me, but in fact, it really just didn’t work. um I think the first part that I found difficult to get through was that there are three points of view and each of them are told from the first person past tense. um And so I had a really difficult time keeping straight whose story I was in. I think it helps if you have multiple points of view that aside from your main character, the other ones are told in third person because then you’re hearing their name and it it kind of keeps straight in your head which storyline you’re in. So, anyhow, I, I was confused a lot of the time, but then once I worked that out, I just still couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to buy into the big reveal that happens.
Brook	And so even though there are a lot of great reviews for this one online, I think this goes to show that not all mysteries are for all mystery lovers.
Sarah	Oh, that’s really interesting, Brook. And I’m glad that you shared that it just wasn’t for you because sometimes that’s what happens, right? um I think I still might try and and give it a read because it does sound like an interesting premise. And we, you and I don’t always agree on what works for ourselves.
Brook	That’s absolutely right. And I would love to hear your take on it, Sarah. That would be really fun to to talk about together.
Sarah	So the final book that I read over the holidays was The Christmas Appeal. And this was released 2023 by Janice Hallett. And it revisits the characters that were in her first book, The Appeal. um And I absolutely loved this. It was funny, so much so that I couldn’t read it in the middle of the night because I didn’t want to disturb my husband because I would laugh out loud.
Sarah	I have only listened to her other books. So, you know, Brook, you were talking about listening versus versus reading. um i i read this one as a digital ah book and it was really interesting to do that. You know, I could um much more easily go back a few pages to see what had, you know, been shared or what was the, the, metadata. So if if people aren’t familiar with Janice Hallett’s books, they often, and The Appeal books particularly, are ah text messages and emails.
Sarah	And so it it includes all of that header information, the two from subject line, the date that it was sent. So, you know, I think you’re meant to be like the investigators in the in the case, trying to piece all of this together. So I don’t know how I would read her next books, whether I would listen or um read or maybe both. I’m not sure. But I do know that I will read more by Janice Hallett.
Brook	I had the same experience with um the Hallett that I’ve read that I feel like in ways it’s easier to read. a physical copy because as you said, you can refer back and all these and and see all the details. um But they’re so funny and the narration is wonderful in the audiobooks too. So I think you’re onto to something, just a little bit of both.
Brook	Well, my last mention was my favorite read of the break, and this was The Shakespeare Fraud by Ted Story. And this is a 2016 book. And I will mention that there are many books that to take on this subject. So this is definitely not the only book that you can read about this historical mystery. And it might not even be the best. But one thing I liked about um Ted Story’s version is he is somebody who has worked in the theater. And so he comes at this from the idea of somebody who has performed a lot of Shakespeare plays and basically just been absorbed in the world of theater. And I really enjoyed that part.
Brook	But I was fascinated to learn of this potential Tudor-era propaganda conspiracy, and because it would have come right on the heels of the Richard III conspiracy, also by Tudors, that was posed in The Daughter of Time that we read by Josephine Tey.
Brook	And so the facts and the history laid out by the author make it really hard to deny that we’ve probably been sold a bill of goods when it comes to the identity of William Shakespeare, and um I highly recommend it.
Sarah	Oh, that’s good, Brook, because that of all of the books that you mentioned, I think was the one that I was most interested to hear what your your take was.
Brook	Yeah, it would be fun to discuss this topic together, Sarah. And as I said, there are several books and probably even some more well-known books that take on this subject. So, whether you read this one or another one, we might have to have a little chat about who Bill Shakespeare really was.
Sarah	Oh, that sounds like a fantastic idea.
Sarah	Well, Brook, I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed most of what you read over the break. Why don’t we share a little bit about what we’re planning to share with listeners over the next couple of episodes?
Brook	Yes. Let’s talk about some of the upcoming plans. So um I think everyone will be thrilled to know that there is another episode of Clued in Conundrums coming. ah Tom Mead, Trixie Silvertale, and Sara Rosett are joining us again for another game where we pose a mystery scenario to them. And then these three experienced mystery authors come up with the background and the solution for us. And it’s a lot of fun.
Sarah	Yeah, these, I mean, it was so fun to do that the the first time. And um I am so pleased that we’ve got another episode with them. And I’m sure we will do in future other episodes with maybe some other some other guests.
Sarah	We’ve also got another watch along that we’re going to be doing. um We will talk about the first episode of Seven Dials, which is an based on an Agatha Christie story. And that’s coming out in later in January. So we’ll share our thoughts on the first episode on our regular feed. And then our newsletter subscribers will get our thoughts on episodes two and three. And I’m really looking forward to that.
Brook	I am too. So everyone make sure you go out and subscribe to the Clued in Chronicle. It’s our semi-monthly newsletter and there’s so many extras available there.
Sarah	We should also mention, Brook, we have an interview lined up with Mikhl Yashinsky, who translated and short stories from Yiddish into English, and these feature the Yiddish Sherlock Holmes. So that will be a lot of fun, I think.
Brook	I’m really looking forward to that interview, Sarah. I think that, uh, he is going to be so interesting to speak with.
Sarah	And then, of course, we will have a What Would You Do? We’ll have a profile of a Golden Age author, profile of a modern great, and some additional episodes all lined up.
Brook	That’s right. We have our plan laid out for season 12 and we hope that you’ll join us. But for today, thanks for being here on Clued in Mystery. I’m Brook.
Sarah	And I’m Sarah and we both love mystery.