Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Egg The Halls
SERIES: Yolks on You #4
AUTHOR: Jessica Payseur
PUBLISHER: JMS Books
LENGTH: 199 Pages
RELEASE DATE: December 10, 2016
BLURB:
With the horrors of Halloween behind them, Kiko and Dom turn their puzzle solving skills to surviving the holiday season. Dom hasn’t had a proper Christmas in years, and Kiko’s sister visiting makes him feel almost like family — until his brother, Devin, decides to show up and throw his disapproval into the mix.
Just when it seems like they have enough to deal with at home, local artist Cat asks them to solve her vandalism problem. Still shaken from their last mystery, Kiko and Dom only agree to help her due to the lack of murder.
But when the property damage escalates and Kiko begins receiving threatening letters, this harmless little problem turns deadlier than anyone thought. And if they can’t get to the bottom of the family drama fast enough, Kiko might never be home for the holidays again.
REVIEW:
This author has once again produced a fun, fast paced, amateur sleuthing story that kept me guessing until the end.
I guess most people associate Christmas with holiday cheer, family and gift giving. Well, not in that ridiculously dangerous town of Mount Angus. In Mount Angus the new tradition that seems to pervade all holidays is murder. Murder, mayhem, and mystery. Although, for once, our story begins with some good old-fashioned vandalism rather than a death. So Kiko and Dom should be perfectly safe investigating, right? Yeah, right!
We have all the usual characters appearing in this book. Along with main couple Dom and Kiko, there’s Buddy and Martha who are still busy creating beer and speaking to the ghosts of dead cows. There’s Kiko’s hapless teenaged employee Chad, who manages to get himself injured in every book. And of course there’s Mother, Kiko’s bad tempered pet goose who is kept in diapers and prefers eating people food. Each new character that this author adds to her zany cast is well thought out, hilarious, and absolutely delightful. Well, except for the ones you aren’t suppose to like. But even they tend to be rather madcap and interesting.
I was happy to see Dom and Kiko in a better place relationship wise but as always there’s some drama outside of the mystery. This time it’s in the form of Dom’s brother who has decided to stay for Christmas and encourage Dom back into their homophobic family fold. Minus Kiko, of course. Kiko’s sister, who is also visiting adds some much needed levity to that mix.
This was actually much lighter than the previous book in the series with only one death occurring. But, oh!!! What a death! I was totally unprepared for that. I’m pretty sure there are some rules for authors somewhere that would clearly state that characters like…this one…are not to be killed. All I will say is, be assured that neither Kiko nor Dom dies.
As I believe I mentioned in my previous reviews, I wouldn’t read these books out of order. I dare say it’s doable but without understanding the relationships between the whole crazy cast of characters, I think you’ll miss some of the jokes.
I recommend giving this series a read if you’re in the mood for some lighthearted fun.
RATING: 
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