A Quirky Holiday Mystery Review: The Knives Before Christmas by J. Kent Holloway

Read time: 3 minutes

📚 Read as an ARC ebook
📃 240 pages
⏱ ~3 hours
🏷️ Publisher: Keylight Books
✨ Genre: Cozy Mystery
💌 Note: NetGalley sent me an ARC for review.

Book Blurb

In the quirky town of Christmas, Florida, Thomas Nast runs a holiday emporium out of his sentient Victorian home, complete with a wall-dwelling alligator named Tinsel and a mostly invisible elf named Peppermint. He’s also Santa-in-Training, a mantle passed down through mentorship. When a dead man in a Santa suit turns up in his shop, stabbed with a pocketknife identical to one Tom gifted his closest friends, suspicion swirls fast. With his assistant Trixie accused of the murder, Tom digs into the town’s messy secrets, discovering danger, motives, and mayhem. And Santas-in-Training? They’re not immortal.

Let’s talk about the book:

What starts as a holly-jolly mystery quickly unwarps into something more inventive. The concept of Santa being an inherited role passed down through mentorship, feels fresh and surprisingly heartfelt. It gives the story this myth-meets-cozy vibe, like someone mixed Hallmark with a dash of folklore and a sprinkle of “wait, there’s an alligator in the wall?”

The humor sparks amid the sleuthing, and the Florida-based Christmas setting gives just the right dose of ironic warmth oa murder mystery drenched in snowflake spirit. Holloway leans into the absurd in all the right ways, like a sentient house, an invisible elf named Peppermint, and a gator named Tinsel somhow blend into a world that actually works. It’s fun. It’s fast. It’s cheeky.

That said, the storytelling occasionally stumbles. The choice to summarize dialogue with lines like “then he explained about this” pulls the reader out of the moment. Instead of sitting in the room watching these oddballs banter, you suddenly feel like someone’s recapping what you just missed. It’s a small issue in an otherwise vivid narrative, but it does interrupt the flow in spots.

Still, the humor lands, the mystery keeps twisting, and that cliffhanger? Oh, it’s a good one. It practically jingles with the promise of book two.

Would I recommend it?

A quirky, funny, and heartwarming holiday whodunit that mixes murder and magic, just in time for adding some Christmas magic. Add this to your Holiday TBR RIGHT NOW!!!!

Oh for Christmas’ sakes,

Check out these books too:

• Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen by Vicki Delany
  A Christmas-themed tourist town, quirky locals, murder during the holidays — the classic “festive cozy mystery” energy.
• A Christmas Candy Killing by Christina Romeril
  Twin sisters, a sweets shop, a small town drowning in holiday spirit, and a twisty murder that disrupts all the festive cheer.
• The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay
  A vintage Christmas mystery with sharp humor, eccentric characters, and a locked-room vibe perfect for seasonal whodunit fans.
• Twas the Knife Before Christmas by Jacqueline Frost
  A deliciously festive cozy in a Christmas-obsessed town where holiday cheer meets a sharp mystery.
• Slay Bells (A Christmas Village Mystery) by T.C. Wescott
  Set in a Christmas-themed town with magical ambiance, whimsical suspects, and a cozy mystery wrapped in garlands and glitter.

Holiday Murder, Florida Style! What would you do if Santa was real?

Ever wondered what would happen if the local Santa is actually a real one in training? Share your real-life Christmas magic stories below. Let’s share some Christmas spirit around.

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