📱📖 Read on Kobo (ebook ARC by NetGalley)
📃 320 pages | ⏱ Duration: 4 hours
Genre: Cozy Mystery
🏷️ Publisher name: Kensington Cozies
Expected publication: October 27, 2026
Book blurb
Personal chef and caterer Allie Catt loves pairing fiction with food, and in the mountain town of Bramblewood, North Carolina, she is planning a dinner party inspired by Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. The event takes place at the Amber Lantern, the new inn run by her best friend’s mother, Noeline, and a local businessman has lent his prized first edition for the occasion. Then the book vanishes and the expert who authenticated it is murdered. With her lawyer friend Freddy under police suspicion and the inn’s future at risk, Allie sets out to find the killer among the guests.
Let’s talk about the book
Allie Catt’s third outing is a comfortable read for anyone who loves mysteries with a literary flavor. Allie is a personal chef and caterer who builds dinner parties around classic novels, and this time the theme is Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. The setup is a seasonal soiree at the Amber Lantern, a cozy inn in the mountain town of Bramblewood, North Carolina. Then a priceless first edition disappears and the rare-book expert who authenticated it turns up dead. It’s a good premise for a holiday mystery.
What I enjoyed most was how fully Gerber commits to the Christmas theme. The carolers, the community theater production, and the festive atmosphere all give the book a warm, wintry feel that suits the season. Having a Scrooge-like local businessman as an actual character at the dinner was a clever touch. It’s an inventive way to bring Dickens into the story, and it adds some fun tension to the evening.
The characters are another real strength. Allie, her friends, and the townspeople of Bramblewood feel like people you’ve known for a while, and the suspects each have enough personality to keep you second-guessing your theory. Allie’s loyalty to her friends and her feeling of responsibility toward the inn’s future give her investigation real stakes beyond solving the puzzle.
Why 4 stars then?
My one complaint is the pacing. The middle of the book slows down, and I found my attention drifting a little before the mystery picked back up. It’s a minor issue, and the payoff was worth the wait.
As a lifelong lover of bookish references, I had a wonderful time spotting the literary nods throughout. Dickens is the star, of course, but I also caught allusions to other classics, and I was delighted to find a little Easter egg for fans of Rhys Bowen’s Her Royal Spyness mysteries. Moments like that make the book feel written by someone who loves reading as much as her readers do, and they add to the fun for anyone who likes to play literary detective alongside the amateur sleuth.
Would I recommend it?
I read A Classic Case of Murder as an ARC by NetGalley, and it’s a Dickens tribute that suits the holiday season nicely. The middle drags a little, but the payoff made up for it. If you like culinary mysteries or bookish cozies, add this one to your TBR. It publishes October 27, 2026, so mark the date in your calendar. Readers who have been with Allie since the start will feel right at home.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Continue the Literary Journey:
- Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle
If you liked the rare-book angle here, this first Bibliophile Mystery has a bookbinder sleuth and a murder tied to a valuable old volume.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- Murder in the Mystery Suite by Ellery Adams
A book-lover’s retreat, themed rooms, and a murder, which makes it a natural next stop for anyone who enjoyed the bookish setting of the Amber Lantern.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke
Allie’s food-and-mystery mix has a long line of cousins, and this first Hannah Swensen mystery is one of the best known.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
For another murder at a holiday gathering, go back to the classic version, with a houseful of suspects and a very unhappy Christmas.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
- Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen
Since the Easter egg for this series made you smile, here’s where it all starts, with a penniless royal who keeps stumbling over bodies.
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert | OpenLibrary | Litsy
Which Classic Would You Cook For?
If you could build a dinner party around any classic novel, which one would you pick? And what’s on the menu? Tell me in the comments. Bonus points if you’ve already read the Literary Dining Mysteries and have a favorite so far.
Book Links block
Want to purchase this or any of your favorite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider purchasing using the sites below. These sites work with independent local bookstore owners to fulfill your book orders. #SupportLocal
Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | Booktrovert
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