Book 103, 2022

Strangle All the Way: A Christmas Mystery by Clare Kauter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Stayed up a tad too late last night to finish reading Strangle All the Way by Clare Kauter. This is part of the "Charlie Davies" series of cozy mysteries set in Australia. The main character is Charlie Davies, and the narrative is in her first-person pov.

It's nearly Christmas, but in this part of the world, it's the hottest time of the year...and Charlie's air conditioner is broken. The repairman whom she hired to fix it, and whom she subsequently argued with, has turned up dead on her doorstep, strangled with a strand of Christmas lights. Charlie can't believe the nerve of the man. Lest she be considered a primary suspect in his murder, Charlie takes it upon herself to find out who else she can point the police to. Charlie and her pet pigs begin visiting other suspects, partly in hopes of finding out who may have murdered the repairman, and also in hopes of finding some place cool to hang out. Charlie's not-so-subtle investigation turns the heat up even hotter when a killer targets her.

This story was hilarious! Charlie reminded me strongly of Darynda Jones' Charlie Davidson, another wise-cracking sleuth. The pet pigs added additional hilarity, especially since both of them were females, yet given the names of Dave and Arnold. I chuckled all through the story and was bummed when it ended.

Favorite lines:
♦ "With his talent for customer service, I can't imagine I'm the only person who's ever thrown a gnome at him as he fled the scene."
♦ "Why do people keep thinking I'm stupid enough to dump a body on my own front stoop? Do you not realize how deeply insulting that is?"
♦ "I'm so insulted you're killing me for solving a case I didn't solve until after you'd decided to kill me. That's not fair at all."
♦ *"The ultimate festive murder album would be Christmas Is for Drinking Too Much and Punching Your Uncle by Smoky Binkles. Trust me, people try to kill me every time I make them listen to it. My mother tossed the star off the top of the tree at me last year like it was a throwing star when it got to I Wanna Lick Your Christmas Pudding."
This line almost killed me dead. I don't know why, but it set me into absolute braying guffaws. I laughed until I cried. I even laughed until I snorted, and I'm not a snort-laugher. 'M laughing all over again, just re-reading the line!

So, yeah. Utter hilarity and insanity, and I loved it. Five stars! Will certainly be looking to read more in this series.