Jingle all the Slay

Marshmallow Hollow Mysteries, Book 1

By: Dakota Cassidy

Narrated by: Hollie Jackson

Length: 5 hrs

Publisher's summary

Welcome to Marshmallow Hollow, Maine, where it's all Christmas all the time and murder is hung by the chimney with care....

I'm Halliday Valentine, a psychic witch who's recently moved from New York City back to my very human hometown of Marshmallow Hollow, where I run the family factory that caters to all things Christmas. I inherited the factory from Mom, who inherited from Nana Karen, but now it's just me, my curmudgeonly British familiar hummingbird, Atticus; one ungrateful rescue cat; my talking reindeer, Karen; and my BFF Stiles (the only human aware of my witchy side).

Oh, and Digby Dainty (known as Hobbs), the tall drink of water who rents my guest cottage. We have a lot in common, including a love of true crime. So as macabre as it sounds, when a shady real estate tycoon shows up dead in the middle of the annual ice festival, I'm thrilled to spend time with Hobbs, flexing our amateur sleuthing skills.

Well...not thrilled. I mean, a guy's dead after all. In fact, the only thing more surprising than a murder in our charming Christmas town is how many of my friendly, beloved neighbors seemed to want the man dead....

©2020 Dakota Cassidy (P)2021 Tantor

Fun winter read

Witty characters and fun story! Perfect for a snow day listen! Love this authors work!

Easy listening

It was easy listening. loves the characters. i like to listen while I work. cute story

Fabulous Start to a New Series!

I loved this book! I am a huge Christmas fan and Dakota Cassidy fan and cozy mystery fan so I was very excited when I found this series. I loved the characters and development. The plot was interesting. It didn’t take very long to get into but wasn’t rushed in any way either.
I like Hollie Jackson as a narrator and thought she did quite a wonderful job with this book.

Oh What Fun!!!

OMG, this was the first book that I've read of Dakota Cassidy's and I loved it! It definitely helped get me more in the Xmas mood...and gave me lots of laughs and thrills along the way! I fell head over heels for all the characters in this little town and if you really want a big bonus chip... listen to the Audio... Hollie Jackson does a super job at narrating. This is a great read and I'm anxious to dive into more of Ms. Cassidy's books now!❤❤❤

Fun Spinoff from Witchless in Seattle

I love Christmas, so Hal the heroine owning a Christmas store is fabulous! The little references to everything Christmas makes the story a delight.

Enjoyable

Such a fun little story! I really enjoy this reader also! Will gladly read more of her books and looking for this reader!!

Charming Christmas Cozy Beginning

I want to start by saying this is my first story I've listened to by Dakota Cassidy and I saw in a review this is a spin off series from her others. I will say I think this stands on it's own and I felt fine starting here.There is quite the crew of characters in this little town of Marshmallow Hollow, Maine and I look forward to gaining more knowledge of all those we are introduced to. I enjoy the protagonist Halliday Valentine, a psychic witch who has a slew of magical friends that fill out the cast. The humor is sweet and the pacing is a little slower matching the mood of the small town. The flirtation and banter with her love interest, Digby Dainty (known as Hobbs), feels natural as does their growing relationship. I was impressed with the sense of authentic feeling the story depicts of the town and feelings of connection between the community members. This story didn't fall into the trap of having me eye roll at the dangerous decisions our protagonist made or her involvement in the case. I was impressed again that the actions of the characters felt much more real and less forced, more reasonable instead of nonsensical. This is not the best paranormal cozy mystery I have ever listened to but I will say it is a solid entry with great promise for what could be developed. Being so pleased with this beginning I am definitely now curious to check out Cassidy's other series, though it is hard for me to speak to those who are coming from those long running series how this compares. I will say Hollie Jackson does an excellent job of creating a large spectrum of easily distinguishable voices though at times I found myself put off by her inflections and rhythms--this is not about a lack of talent just more preference. I appreciate how audible allows you to listen to a sample for this very reason. We all enjoy different voices. Overall for those who enjoy some humor without being too hokey, a realistically depicted strong small town female lead, some romantic flirtation without being lusty, a cast of eccentric characters human and animal, with some great magical elements woven throughout and a slightly slower pace I think this would be one to check out.

Decent mystery.

I couldn’t get into this like I did the Nun series. I m going to give it another try.

Meh

Won’t be continuing with this series, but if you are into paranormal, formal type, romance novels you might appreciate the story line.

Too cute!

Not my style- read to fill a jingle bell themed prompt. But the book was read well. Enjoyed the performance. If you like this type of story you will enjoy this audiobook.