Ana T. Drew

A long-forgotten cold case may add up to murder!

The Twelve Suspects of Christmas is a spin-off cozy mystery set in the Provencal world of the author’s culinary-themed Julie Cavallo Investigates series. It features elderly grandmothers Rose Tassy and Annie Malian. The two sassy senior sleuths work together to uncover the truth behind the decades-past suicide of Annie’s first love.

The main characters, Rose and Annie, are the grandmothers of Julie Cavallo and Gabriel Adinian, respectively, the leads in the foundation series; both appear in this story and lend a hand or two when needed. However, the investigation is all on the two older women and told from their viewpoints. While Rose has been studying to become a licensed PI in the future and guides their steps and interviews, Annie was personally involved with the victim back in the day, provided background details, and can interpret some of the clues. The pair gets off on the wrong foot with each other at their first meeting, so their collaboration is sometimes uneasy and uncomfortable initially. I liked how they secretly acknowledged their antipathy toward the other but still managed to work together successfully and loved watching them gain confidence with each other and eventually become friends. Annie also has quite a surprise waiting when the two women are menaced by one of the bad guys. BEST. SCENE. EVER.

The case itself is from the early 1960s, and I enjoyed Annie’s occasional flashbacks to that time and place when she was a young woman in love. The author creates ample and opposing angles for their investigation and how the victim may have run into trouble, hence, the twelve suspects of the title. Each possible avenue of investigation was intriguing and followed plausible lines of inquiry, with some clues coming to light after twists in the plot. Yet, with the plethora of suspects available, it was still easy to keep them all separate and sorted without confusion. The strong subplots made for an intriguingly robust and complex mystery in a compact length.

I recommend THE TWELVE SUSPECTS OF CHRISTMAS to cozy mystery readers who enjoy stories with a culinary theme, books set in France or Provence, and fans of the original series.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.… (mais)

Provence, France.

At 84, Annie Malian has only one item on her bucket list. Annie needs to uncover the truth about the 1961 murder of Grégoire Lacaze. The accused was Annie's fiancé, René Chantome. Rose Tassy, a retired teacher, is studying to become a licensed private detective. Rose agrees to help Annie, and their investigation begins.

At times, the unlikely pair have a clash of personalities, constantly apologizing to each other, with conversations sometimes becoming as comical as they are serious. As the investigation takes Rose and Annie and sometimes Rose by herself to different locations in France by rail and car during the Christmas season, the story is an armchair traveler's delight.

I enjoyed the author's storytelling, a blend of creativity, facts, real and fictional locales, and historical figures. I encourage readers to read The Author's Note to learn the factual and historical aspects intermingled throughout the book.… (mais)

Annie is determined to prove her long-dead love did not die by his own hand. She seeks the help of Rose Tassy, another elder who is working toward getting her PI license. But when Rose hesitates to take her case, Annie makes her an offer, and they set out to find out who killed Rene and why.

They travel through France seeking answers, including visiting a tycoon, Rene's family, and a retired gangster. Are they going to be able to find the truth? And what will Annie do if he did actually kill himself...

I wanted to read this story because I love mysteries, and also Christmas. I must tell you that while it does take place at Christmas, there is very little in the story that actually alludes to it, and what is done seems rushed.

I didn't really care for either of the main characters; Annie is a prude and judgmental toward everyone; Rose is twice as self-centered as Annie and narcissistic. Both of them together were very hard to read about. But the two elderly women manage to make it through to the end, with a resolution in hand.

But the resolution felt odd, and none of the characters were fully developed; everyone save Rose and Annie were just bits and pieces of the plot. When the killer is finally discovered, we really have learned very little about them. Such is the way of this book; the writing seemed disjointed. I hate to give mediocre reviews, but the book did not flow. There were too many characters and most of them didn't really need to be included. In fact, if there were less, this might have been a very good book.

Unfortunately, I cannot offer a better review. However, I do have a different book by this author, and I will read that one to see if anything improves.

I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.… (mais)

The Twelve Suspects of Christmas by Ana T. Drew follows the adventures of Annie and Rose, senior sleuths, as they try to crack a 50 year old cold case. Despite their differences in outlook and physical ability, they track clues all over France to discover if Annie’s fiancé took his own life all those years ago after being accused of murder.

The setting was cozy with some holiday feasts and family gatherings, and there were some amusing interviews with suspects and family members. However, there were a lot of characters between suspects, the dead fiance’s family, and Rose’s and Annie’s families. There is just enough focus on them to think that you should keep track of them, but not enough for any character development, so it became a little confusing. It did make for a fairly complicated mystery with plenty of red herrings and twists.

Rose and Annie become good friends over the course of the story, which is expected given the cover, but I am not sure how. They are very different from each other, they have completely different outlooks on life, and both are pretty opinionated and self-involved. There was some softening towards each other but it’s not really clear why. Their partnership just didn’t come together for me.
I did enjoy the final takedown at the end, but overall, this just wasn’t my favorite. It might have been a better fit if I had read this author’s series with Rose’s niece; the characters and style may have been more familiar.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. The review is my own.… (mais)