Book Review for Stone Cold–A Christmas Castle Hideout

Christmas, goons, and a moat in Stone Cold

If you’ve been around for any length of time, you know how I am about contemporary fiction. When a character starts pulling out a cell phone or laptop, I usually bug out. There are exceptions, though. One of these was Ann Swindell’s Christmas in the Castle Library, which was filled with the type of historical research that I would love to do as a profession (thus capturing my imagination when I read it), and I can also appreciate a funny-for-the-sake-of-funny murder mystery.

What grabbed me about Stone Cold?

Humor! Yep, I could tell this one would have laughter in spades.

Set in New York—make that starting in New York—right before Christmas, Beryl Stone is struggling through her down-and-out state while nursing her injured Aunt Jackie, until said aunt turns up dead. Prepped by Aunt Jackie’s strange comments to grab her go-bag and hightail it out of there if anything strange happens, Beryl runs for her life. That’s when she ends up in Michigan, still tracked by the goons who killed her aunt, and stumbles upon a castle that she’s hoping will provide a safe hiding place until she can figure out what got her aunt killed.

In comes former agent Gibbs, with a broken leg and a morose attitude about spending Christmas cooped up in a wheelchair. Still, he’d rather spend it alone than with anyone hovering over him. Yes, the castle’s his home.

Is Stone Cold worth the read?

This was a funny story that mixed mystery with hilarity as the main characters tried to solve Aunt Jackie’s death without losing their own lives. My personal resistance against contemporary fiction probably affected my appreciation of the humor packed into this little read, so take these thoughts with a helping of salt. I felt that there were too many movie references and that these references were all over the place, to the point they didn’t seem to fit Beryl’s character. Admittedly, I am very picky about the movies that I watch. She seemed picky too, though, and a few places didn’t ring true with the rest. Then there was the part with the officer and his gun. Even on painkillers, I doubted that Gibbs would have forgotten his pistol so many times and sent Beryl to hide in the house when he was laid up in bed.

Even with the bits that made the story a little cheesy, it was still a story worth the time to read, especially if you’re in the mood for a laugh. When you’re ready for that, pull Stone Cold (Amazon affiliate link) off the shelf and enjoy the banter between a murder suspect and a former agent. Keep your shoes on for this one, though. It’s cold out there.

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Learn more about Chautona Havig

From her little house in California's Mojave Desert, USA Today bestselling author Chautona Havig writes Christian fiction "without apology or pretense—lived, not preached." Her stories are meant to make readers laugh, cry, question, and consider, and to point them to Jesus as the true Source of hope. Stone Cold is a Christmas novella in her Agency Files series, so visit her website to find the rest of her books.

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