It is a wonder Charlie ever leaves home considering how many disastrous stays at inns and hotels he has had. This time around, though, his leaving is with good reason. His sweetheart and his best friend are in love. Or so he thinks. Stranded at The Holly Tree Inn for Christmas on his way to America, Charlie recounts past inn experiences – an attentive reader might spot a reference to the urban legend Sweeney Todd is based on – and through his musings he discovers that things at home may not be what they seem. Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was an English author, social critic, and philanthropist. Much of his writing first appeared in small instalments in magazines and was widely popular. Among his most famous novels are Oliver Twist (1839), David Copperfield (1850), and Great Expectations (1861).

When Holly White’s fiancé cancels their Christmas Eve wedding with less than two weeks to go, Holly heads home with a broken heart. Lucky for her, home in historic Mistletoe, Maine is magical during Christmastime—exactly what the doctor prescribed. Except her plan to drown her troubles in peppermints and snickerdoodles is upended when local grouch and president of the Mistletoe Historical Society Margaret Fenwick is bludgeoned and left in the sleigh display at Reindeer Games, Holly’s family tree farm. When the murder weapon is revealed as one of the wooden stakes used to identify trees on the farm, Sheriff Evan Grey turns to Holly’s father, Bud, and the Reindeer Games staff. And it doesn’t help that Bud and the reindeer keeper were each seen arguing with Margaret just before her death. But Holly knows her father, and is determined to exonerate him.The jingle bells are ringing, the clock is ticking, and if Holly doesn't watch out, she'll end up on Santa's naughty list in Twelve Slays of Christmas, Jacqueline Frost’s jolly series debut.

'Boots,' an otherwise unnamed character in Dickens's Christmas story, is the main character in "Boots at The Holly Tree Inn", who, in his own vernacular tells the story of two children. The point at which any true appreciation of the short story begins is the clear perception that it is a distinct form of art; and the reason why the older novelists so rarely succeeded in the short story is that they did not apprehend this. If we bear in mind the three principles, that the short story must be complete in itself, that it is short because it cannot be long, and that it consists of a single incident, we can readily apply a critical test, which, while not infallible, nevertheless affords a valuable means of discrimination. Let us take the test of completeness and apply it to Dickens's exquisite story of "Boots at the Holly Tree Inn." The story as Dickens writes it covers a great variety of themes. We have an embittered lover, a detailed description of a mail-coach journey, of a snow-storm, of an inn, of his own ennui, of his own curious imaginings, elaborated in thousands of words, before he reaches the real story which the Boots at the Holly Tree has to tell. Finally, the icing on the cake... this story is fully illustrated by none other than, J. C. Beard, a revered master of watercolor, gouache and ink and with the same excitement that Charles Dickens would have had for this unique experience, we present the story to you.

Maine innkeeper Holly White returns to sleuth another seasonal slaying in the third Christmas Tree Farm mystery from author Jacqueline Frost. Reindeer Games Christmas Tree Farm is going into the B&B business, and Holly White is looking forward to her new role as innkeeper. Even better, Mistletoe, Maine's sheriff, Evan Gray, has deputized his little sister Libby to help Holly wrap presents for Mistletoe's toy drive. But a cold wind ruffles the cheery holiday decorations when a new guest checks in: Karen, a vicious B&B critic, who could make or break the new inn. And the short December days turn even darker when Evan and Libby find Karen's dead body in the gift-wrapped toy donation box. The suspect list is longer than Santa's naughty list, and local resident Cookie is on it, since her fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, a metal nutcracker that she gave to Holly. So is Libby, who recently moved to town from Boston in less-than-savory circumstances. But cranky Karen was an oh-holy-nightmare to lots of the townsfolk, such as Evan's reporter friend Ray; Christopher, the inn's former contractor; and confectioner Bonnie, whose Gum Drop Shop was a direct target of Karen's scathing prose. To figure out the killer's identity and clear Cookie's name, Holly and her friends brainstorm at The Hearth, the farm's café, while her mother keeps them fueled with Christmas goodies fresh from the oven. But if they can't put the culprit on ice, Holly may never see another Christmas.

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Perhaps best described as Dickens's ``other'' Christmas story, this is an elderly narrator's reminiscence of holidays past, each incident inspired by the gifts and toys that decorate the traditional tree. There is a range of appeal in the story itself, from snug memories of beloved toys to the passing along of eerie stories surrounding various childhood haunts. Ingpen renders the story quite accessible by focusing on objects of the period mentioned in the text, and by filtering the memory aspects of the telling through soft sweeps of paint. All ages.