#BookReview The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle by Susan Wittig Albert @SusanWAlbert @ibpa

The Darling Dahlias and the Poinsettia Puzzle by Susan Wittig Albert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s Christmas, 1934, and the citizens of Darling, Alabama, are unwrapping a big package of Christmas puzzles.

Mildred Kilgore and Earlynne Biddle are planning to open a bakery on the square—if they can come up with the right recipes. Charlie Dickens faces two of the biggest puzzles of his career as an investigative reporter, and one of them involves his wife. Cute little Cupcake’s talent as a singer and dancer makes her a tempting target for an unscrupulous exploiter; Lizzy must enlist the Dahlias to protect her, while she herself is confronted by a romantic puzzle. And Sheriff Norris is forced to reopen a puzzling mystery that the town thought was solved and follow a string of clues that lead to a deadly situation at the nearby prison farm.

Once again, NYT best-selling author Susan Wittig Albert takes us to a place where real people have courage, respect their neighbors, and dream of doing their best, even when they’re not sure what that is. She reminds us that Christmas is a celebration of friendship, community, and what’s right with the world. There’s nothing puzzling about that.

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I've only read one book previously in this series and that was the one that was published before this one. But, I've read a number of Susan Wittig Albert books and I pretty much want to read anything she writes. And as always (nowadays) did I both listen to the audiobook as well as reading parts of the book. What can I say, the perks with my job is that I can listen to audiobooks all day long...

One thing that I find so great with this series is that, despite it having so many characters, is it easy to get into the story. Much thanks both to the character list as well as a few tidbits the author gives during the stories progress about the people in Darling. The Darling Dahlias is such a charming series and I loved to once again return to this little town in Alabama. Also, I love books set in the 30s, it such an interesting time period. As for this book, there are several things going on, a new bakery is open up (with lots of drama involved). Little Cupcake father is out to try to get her back after discovering her sing talents. And an old case has to reopen ... and much more happens in Darling. Oh, I almost forgot the puzzle competition set in Darling...

A lovely book that I recommend warmly!