Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge

Scotty Parker is a former child star who once played Tiny Tim, but now he’s grown up into the role of neighborhood Scrooge. He cuts the wires on his neighbors’ Christmas display and tells the kids that Santa had a stroke. His miserly, bah-humbug attitude lasts year-round, a fact known all too well by everyone who knows him. -- Scotty thinks he can stage a comeback with the screenplay he’s working on (The Return of Tiny Tim: Vengeance Is Mine!). Jaine is reluctantly recruited to help him edit the horrible screenplay. When Scotty is bludgeoned to death with a frozen chocolate yule log, the police start making a list of suspects. Jaine’s name is unfortunately at the top of the list. -- -- Series: A Jaine Austen Mystery - Book 16 Author: Laura Levine Genre: Cozy/Holiday Mystery Publisher: Kensington Books Publishing Date; September 25, 2018 -- Laura Levine is a talented writer. Her characters are modern, quirky, and written with an eye towards the current world we live in. Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge is the sixteenth book in this series, and like most of the other books, it is filled with lots of clues, suspects and dating issues for Lance and Jaine. Jaine isn’t having much luck herself, and that is what makes the two characters work well together. -- Jaine Austen is a writer, mainly ads. She doesn’t mind the work but hopes for better. Working with the victim is a bit overwhelming for her especially as she, like most everyone else, doesn’t like him. Lance is not really any help and is too self-centered to really care. Other characters in this book are far too sporadic to worry the reader; most are not memorable. -- The Jaine Austen Mystery series is popular and well liked. But I have an issue with this particular book. Anyone who would hand over their beloved pet to a complete stranger is incredibly callous, not to mention irresponsible. Especially when Jaine lives within easy driving range of Scotty. This is a big sticking point for me as a reader and as a pet owner. Then top it off with the fact that the strangers treat Prozac as if he belongs to them without asking Jaine’s permission for how the cat is taken care of, and Jaine allows this to continue throughout the story, makes it unbelievable. Add in that the victim is so unlikable that the reader will wonder why someone didn’t kill him sooner; this makes it hard for the reader to care about any of the characters. Unfortunately, mix all of this with the ending, and I’m afraid that I can’t give this book a high rating. -- Overall, Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge is a fast-paced, easy-to-read story that has moments of entertainment. If readers love this series, they will most likely enjoy this new addition, if they didn’t enjoy it previously, that won’t change.