Review: Slay Bells Ring

So this is a Christmas book, sort of, and it's chick-lit, sort of. Or at least that's what you might think when you first picked it up. Sure, it's set at Christmas time. But why not read about the festive season year round? And sure, the main character is a woman. But that's where you'd be wrong to dismiss this book. It's a fun murder mystery with characters who will win you over if you take the time to sit down and read this one.

Juliana Grissom is a lawyer who left her small-town background and never looked back. It wasn't that there was trouble in her past, no, it was that her family was back there and they all wanted her to come home and fit into the pre-determined fate they wanted her to fulfill. But when she gets the call that her air-head mother has been accused of murdering the one man Juliana knows her mother hates, she doesn't have a choice. She's got to go home again, even if it means losing her big-city job, taking up the inheritance she didn't suspect, and worst of all... interrogating her mother about her sex life.

Slay Bells is a fun, fluffy read with a zany mustery that will go in directions you don't expect. It's got heart-warming moments, and a bit of romance, but mostly it's about family, and coming home again, whether you want to or not. Ellie Ferguson, the penname of Amanda Green, delivers the goods if you enjoy cozy mysteries with a side of wit and wisdom. You might not like them, but they are family, and when the chips are down, they are the ones you can rely on.