It’s a few days before Christmas, and Benjamin is dropping off his dog with his friend, Piper, before spending the next year sailing around the world. It’s supposed to be a quick trip, but things just keep going wrong, and Piper might be in more danger than it seems.

This book was kind of strange. From the description on the back of the book, I was under the impression that Benjamin and Piper were going to be trapped inside the bed and breakfast for the majority of the book, but that’s definitely not what happened. I also thought Benjamin and Piper would have more of a relationship than just having met while she was on vacation over the summer, and, I guess, kept in contact since then. There is a book about Benjamin’s sister that I believe he’s in, but I don’t think Piper is. Basically… I kind of felt like I was missing something, but I don’t think there’s anything in that other book for me to miss.

This book started off with Piper being attacked twice in the first chapter. There was no lead up at all, which isn’t necessarily bad, but then I felt like the other parts of the story (without any action) were really dragging. I was also confused, and so were Piper and Benjamin, so maybe that was intentional. But I didn’t understand why they weren’t taking being attacked twice in one day (and a plethora of other incidents) seriously. They did call the cops, but it still didn’t really feel like they were doing anything. I also couldn’t get past the ridiculous nicknames they were giving the attackers/people involved in the mystery: Kodiak, Blondie, and Alpha (though that’s actually what the guy went by). I just can’t. And, this book was written in 2015, so tell me why we were talking about tape decks and “attending college through correspondence?”

I read the first 20% of the book pretty quickly, but then I really had to force myself to not quit reading until I got to about 60%. I’m gonna be completely honest with you, I knew I had to finish this book because we all agreed to read a Christmas mystery, and I didn’t have enough time to find another book to fit in that category. That’s the only reason I didn’t quit, but now that I finished it, I am glad that I kept going. The ending was fast paced, and all the pieces came together in a, mostly, satisfying end to the mystery.

As far as Christmas spirit goes, this was probably a 2 out of 5 Christmas trees. It was set around Christmas, there was snow on the ground, and Piper was planning a big Christmas party… but the vibes weren’t really there.