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Christmas Bizarre: Short Story Mysteries for the Holidays (Rikkhe St. Claire Hygge & Bisous Holiday Mysteries Book 1)
Veronica Cline Barton’s Christmas Bizarre brings together holiday traditions, intriguing mysteries, supernatural encounters, and heartfelt moments in a collection of five interconnected stories. The book centers on Rikkhe St. Claire, a successful interior designer with Danish and French roots, who hosts an annual Christmas storytelling gathering at her Malibu home. Surrounded by family, close friends, her boyfriend Pete, and her beloved poodle Coco, Rikkhe invites everyone to share an unusual tale from their past. There’s even a friendly competition to determine whose story is the best. It’s an inviting premise that immediately establishes the book’s warm, conversational personality. With a crackling fireplace, festive drinks, and plenty of affectionate teasing, Barton creates the feeling of spending an evening with an entertaining group of people who have some extraordinary experiences to share. Each tale has its own setting, characters, and emotional stakes, giving the collection a pleasing variety while maintaining a connection through the family’s holiday celebration.
The five stories take readers across different countries and historical periods, blending mystery, romance, and the unexplained. In “Noël à Versailles,” an eccentric French heiress with a fascination for Marie Antoinette becomes entangled in a troubling mystery involving an elaborate Advent calendar. “Lady H” transports readers to a historic Kentucky estate, where an architect discovers a haunting story connected to the property’s past. “The Ornament” follows a European river cruise and a woman’s deeply personal search for a treasured Christmas decoration. In “The Rocking Horse,” a nanny working in Sweden encounters strange occurrences in a house with a tragic history. Finally, “Moving Pictures” explores old Hollywood glamour, a forgotten film, and a love story that continues to resonate decades later. Barton gives each setting a distinctive personality, filling her scenes with architectural details, beautiful furnishings, holiday decorations, and local traditions. Her background descriptions are especially engaging, bringing everything from French estates to Scandinavian homes and Hollywood memorabilia into focus.
There’s something reminiscent of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol in the way Christmas Bizarre connects the supernatural with compassion, memory, and the emotional significance of Christmas. Both works use unusual encounters to explore human relationships and the lasting influence of the past. Barton approaches these ideas through several intimate stories, each emphasizing the connections people maintain across generations. Her writing also incorporates elements familiar to readers of cozy mysteries, particularly its curious characters, intriguing circumstances, and reassuring sense of community. The stories sometimes move quickly through significant events, giving them the rhythm of family legends being retold around a fireplace. That approach suits the book’s storytelling format, although some readers may wish to spend more time with certain characters and mysteries. Barton’s enthusiasm for historical settings and decorative details is evident throughout, and her affectionate treatment of her characters gives even the darker episodes an underlying warmth.
What makes Christmas Bizarre particularly appealing is its celebration of the stories families carry with them and the unexpected ways those stories connect people. Love, loss, loyalty, generosity, and second chances appear throughout the collection, often alongside eerie circumstances or puzzling discoveries. Rikkhe and her family provide a comfortable gathering place for these experiences, and their reactions help reinforce the personal significance of each tale. The book’s combination of holiday atmosphere and supernatural intrigue makes it especially suited to readers who enjoy Christmas fiction with a mysterious twist. There’s also a gentle appreciation for preserving history, whether through restoring an old home, cherishing an heirloom, or remembering someone whose life made a difference. Barton clearly enjoys bringing these experiences together, and that enthusiasm gives the collection its charm. Christmas Bizarre is an enjoyable seasonal read for anyone who appreciates a little mystery with their Christmas traditions, especially when the stories come with a touch of romance, an occasional ghost, and a generous helping of heart.
Pages: 86 | ASIN: B09HTZDT59
The True Gift of Christmas
Clancy is a heartwarming children’s Christmas story about an anxious camel who learns to face his insecurities, embrace his uniqueness, and discover the courage to take part in something special. What draws you to write children’s literature?
When I was young, my grandmother often read Dr. Seuss’ books aloud, and I found myself mesmerized by the melody of the words and the way they bounced off the page. I knew that if I ever wrote a children’s book, I would write in poetic meter and use words that were a little bit of a challenge for the intended age range. This approach naturally invites conversation between the reader and the child, just like Dr. Seuss’ books did for my grandmother and me. When I began writing Clancy, that famous anapestic tetrameter started to flow through me. (One of my favorite examples of this style is Dr. Seuss’ I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew). Advancing a story in twenty-four-syllable stanzas while sustaining the rhyme scheme brings me irrational levels of joy. If I hit a roadblock, I maneuver the words and count out the beats like solving some sort of musical jigsaw puzzle. Clancy and the cast of Cameltown’s characters wouldn’t be the same any other way.
Clancy worries about his crooked hump, awkward knees, unruly hair, and troublesome tooth. Why did you choose these specific insecurities to shape his character?
I wanted Clancy to struggle with characteristics that were common to all camels. If you look at a group of camels, you’ll notice they all have imperfect humps, knobby knees, wild tufts of hair on their heads, and not a single one of them has straight teeth. Yet Clancy was convinced that he was alone in his imperfections. In reality, we’re all a little bit like Clancy. None of us is perfect, but we tend to put our own flaws under the magnifying glass. Sadly, children begin to internalize their insecurities as early as age five. When focusing on their own perceived shortcomings, children tend to develop feelings of unworthiness, which can cause them to pull away and create a deeply ingrained negative self-image.
This is why the role of a trusted adult confidant is so important in a child’s life. This caring adult doesn’t “fix” the problem; they guide the child through it. In Clancy’s case, this adult confidant was Mayor Camello. The mayor gave Clancy his undivided attention, shared his vulnerability by disclosing his own past struggles, and encouraged Clancy to pray.
Christian faith plays a central role in the book. How did your own beliefs influence the story’s messages about worry, trust, and belonging?
As a Christian, when I feel overwhelmed, I’m reminded to cast my anxieties on God, because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).
Clancy was so fixated on his own insecurities that anxiety took hold of him. He forgot that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8). God loves us so dearly that He delights in using us, flaws and all, for things greater than we could ever imagine (1 Corinthians 2:9).
If readers take away one lasting message from Clancy’s Christmas journey, what would you most want it to be?
Christmas has become such a commercialized holiday that we often lose sight of why we’re even celebrating. The same reminder Clancy receives is the very one we all need: the true Gift of Christmas is Jesus. He was born, died, and, as evidenced by the hundreds of documented witnesses (1 Corinthians 15:6), was resurrected to life as an eternal sacrifice for our sins. All He asks is that we believe.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Website | Instagram | Amazon
Written in playful, bouncing rhymes, Clancy is a timelessly whimsical, read-aloud storybook. Through the heart of a timid camel, we discover that when we cast our burdens on the Lord, He helps us to overcome our fears and insecurities with confidence. With vibrant characters wrapped up in an engaging gospel message, Clancy captivates children ages 1-100.
Ex-Mas Song
Ex-Mas Song follows Justin R., a man who survives a suicide attempt during a snowstorm and wakes into a Christmas-haunted reckoning with his failures, his toxic attachment to Blair, his fractured family life, and his need for recovery. The novel moves through a psychiatric ward, painful memory, spiritual confrontation, and Dickensian visitations until Christmas becomes less a holiday than an autopsy of the heart, and, finally, a chance to choose life.
I found the book emotionally raw in a way that feels deliberately unpolished at the edges. Justin’s voice is funny, bitter, wounded, and frequently self-lacerating; he jokes because the alternative is to collapse. The Christmas references pile up almost like snowdrifts, songs, sweets, movies, scripture, old family rituals, and that abundance gives the novel its strange pulse. It can be messy, but the mess has intention. The story understands that despair is rarely neat, and recovery often begins in the least ceremonial places: an ER curtain, a locked ward, a stale room, a remembered plate of fudge.
I liked the way the book refuses to make healing sentimental. Blair isn’t simply a villain, Justin isn’t simply a victim, and the psychiatric ward is not merely a setting for misery. Everyone is carrying some private corrosion. The Christian framework is explicit and central, but the strongest moments are not sermons; they are moments of recognition, when Justin sees how much of his life has been governed by appetite, fear, resentment, and bad bargains. The prose can swing from comic riff to apocalyptic vision in a single breath, and while that tonal volatility may not suit every reader, it gives the book a feverish, singular energy.
This book is best for readers of Christian fiction, inspirational fiction, and contemporary spiritual drama, especially those who appreciate stories about suicide recovery, addiction, toxic relationships, forgiveness, and faith-based transformation. Readers who love A Christmas Carol will recognize the structure immediately, though this feels closer in grit and confession to a recovery-room answer to Dickens than a cozy retelling. Ex-Mas Song is a bruised Christmas carol for anyone who has mistaken survival for defeat.
Pages: 486 | ASIN : B0CNJKZJ3F
Innate Character
The Man Who Obviated Christmas follows a lonely, aging catalog manager whose comic Christmas Eve misadventure with two stranded kittens leads him toward an unexpected late-life reckoning. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
Last autumn, I decided to send a Christmas story instead of a greeting card to a few of my old friends. The idea was for an anti-Santa Claus figure. The cat rescue was the result. Edward had the proportions of Santa, was dressed in black, climbed a ladder instead of sliding down a chimney, was gruff to children, and yet brought them joy and gave away all his money for presents. After Christmas, I found that I was still intrigued with Edward and Kleo. They were live characters. For me, once I get a couple of live characters, the book has basically been written, I sit back and watch and record. So Christmas became the backdrop, the mood, the tint.
Edward Brash is often vain, fussy, and ridiculous, yet deeply sympathetic. How did you balance his comic flaws with his emotional vulnerability?
Social isolation can induce all of those flaws. But loss doesn’t necessarily affect a person’s innate character. Inwardly, Edward was still the raw kid who wound up for one magical year with a beautiful, sophisticated wife. In self-induced mourning for three decades, he has grown a skin, but in his mind, he could toss all the years away and would again magically become slim if Autumn walked through the door.
Why did Christmas feel like the right setting for Edward’s story, especially given the novel’s resistance to easy sentimentality?
See above. Also, this is a story set intentionally in black and white. What could be more black and white than a cold Christmas Eve or a rainy New Year’s Eve?
Kleo is not presented as a simple cure for Edward’s loneliness. How did you approach writing their relationship with restraint and emotional honesty?
I wish I had a woman’s point of view, because I would have made Kleo the principle character instead of Edward.) It’s beyond my experience that mature people can fall in love and simply shed their characters. By New Year’s Eve, Edward and Kleo still don’t know much about each other’s private lives. Is Kleo delusional? Is Edward hiding something? But they’ve spent their lives working together, eyeing and unconsciously evaluating each other every business day. They trust each other. Maybe that’s enough to make the survival existences they have each fashioned tolerable, at least for a start.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
Edward Brash has spent decades building a life defined by control, routine, and emotional distance. Once shaped by youthful love and possibility, he now exists behind an impenetrable persona, moving through his days as a capable but detached executive. The rhythms of work and solitude have replaced connection, and the world beyond his routines feels increasingly distant.
On a bleak Christmas Eve, a chance encounter disrupts that carefully ordered existence. Drawn into an unexpected and chaotic effort to rescue two children’s stranded cats, Edward finds himself acting on instinct rather than detachment. The moment is small and almost absurd, yet it unsettles something long dormant within him.
The following morning, in a cemetery where he has created a private ritual of remembrance, Edward encounters a colleague he has long misunderstood. Their conversation unfolds into an unlikely connection, revealing hidden histories, shared isolation, and the quiet persistence of longing beneath carefully maintained lives.
Over the course of a single holiday, Edward is forced to confront the distance between who he has become and who he once was. Yet this is not a story of easy redemption or clear resolution. Instead, it offers an unflinching exploration of those who find themselves outside the structures of belonging, questioning whether reconnection is ever truly possible.
For readers drawn to thoughtful, character-driven fiction, The Man Who Obviated Christmas is a reflective and deeply human novel about solitude, memory, and the uncertain path back to meaning.
Fang, Bang and the Midnight Mouse: The Christmas Call
The Christmas Call, the latest installment in J-J Murray’s Fang, Bang, and the Midnight Mouse series, is tailor-made for cozy holiday read-alouds shared with family. Illustrated by Katie Tayler, the story opens on a snug Christmas Eve with the Jollie family, where cat detectives Fang and Bang are reveling in their favorite season. The warmth doesn’t last long. Trouble strikes at the Hill Inn when a prized wheel of Stilton cheese disappears without a trace. Summoned to investigate, the two feline sleuths follow a tantalising trail of crumbs far from home, all the way to Cambridge, where they come face to face with Midnight Mouse and her mischievous crew. What follows is a brisk, festive mystery packed with sharp twists, seasonal mayhem, and more than a few cat-astrophes.
One of the book’s greatest strengths is how naturally it weaves together humor, intrigue, and genuine warmth. The pace is swift and confident, keeping young readers absorbed as Fang and Bang pursue clues through snowy streets, bustling museums, and even a Christmas carol service. The language remains light and approachable, sprinkled generously with cat puns that will prompt giggles from children and knowing smiles from adults. At times, the narrator speaks directly to the reader, posing questions and inviting them to think alongside the detectives, which adds a playful, interactive dimension to the story.
Katie Tayler’s illustrations brim with energy and charm. Every page feels alive with movement and warmth, allowing Fang and Bang’s distinct personalities to shine. The festive settings are richly imagined, and the artwork supports the text beautifully, guiding young readers through the action while deepening the cozy Christmas atmosphere.
Beneath the mystery lies a thoughtful message about generosity and empathy, particularly fitting for the holiday season. Midnight Mouse is not portrayed as a simple villain. Her motivations are handled with surprising tenderness, offering children a nuanced understanding that mistakes do not define a character’s worth. A brief section at the end exploring the history of Stilton cheese adds an unexpected educational touch, enhancing the story without interrupting its momentum.
Overall, this is a delightful choice for families seeking a festive tale that balances entertainment with heart. The Christmas Call is witty, inventive, and warmly inclusive, an excellent pick for young readers who enjoy mysteries, animal heroes, and Christmas adventures wrapped in charm.
Pages: 32 | ASIN : B0FXNP9YC4
Let the Story Lead Itself
The Best Worst Christmas Ever follows a father and his three children trapped by a blizzard on Christmas Eve, who, after the power goes out, spend the evening on a magical adventure through their shared imagination. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
After writing five adult mysteries, I wanted to challenge myself with something completely different and decided to cross over to a fantasy. I started brainstorming ideas not long before Christmas, so it was an easy decision to choose a holiday setting. I thought it would be fun to see the story from different points of view as it progressed, and what better way to do that than to have it told by children of different ages with different ideas of what the story should be. The power outage was the only way I could think of to force bickering children to sit still and listen to each other talk. It also created more of a cozy atmosphere in the home.
Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your character’s life?
I have three daughters, all grown now, that I used to read to every night at bedtime. Much of their interactions with each other and reactions to the stories, including their likes and dislikes, found their way into the voices of the children in this story.
When you first sat down to write this story, did you know where you were going, or did the twists come as you were writing?
I had my first novel all planned out, but by the third chapter, it had taken itself in a totally different direction, and I never used most of what I’d plotted in advance, so I’ve learned to just let the story lead itself as I write. Virtually all of the events in this book were the result of ideas that only entered my mind while writing the chapter before it. It’s surprising how different parts end up fitting together even without following an outline.
What is the next novel that you are working on, and when will that be available?
I wrapped up my five-mystery series in a way that would make it unfair to the characters to bring them back and put them in harm’s way again. Now, though, I’ve had several requests to write a prequel, including one from my editor. It’s an intriguing idea that I may pursue this winter, but at this point, it’s only a concept that will require a lot of gray hair to bring to reality, so the release of an actual book is hard to imagine at this stage.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
From the Back of a Donkey, Journey of a Lifetime – Second Edition
Nancy Elaine Hartman Minor’s From the Back of a Donkey: Journey of a Lifetime reimagines one of the most familiar stories in the Christian tradition, the birth of Jesus, through the eyes of Mary. The book blends biblical retelling, creative storytelling, and devotional reflection into a narrative that feels both ancient and deeply personal. Each chapter combines Mary’s imagined thoughts and prayers with scriptural passages and reflection questions for the reader, making it part story, part meditation, and part journal. The style is warm, vivid, and grounded in faith, giving life to moments that the Gospel of Luke only hints at.
Reading this book, I found myself unexpectedly moved. Minor doesn’t just recount events; she breathes humanity into them. Her Mary isn’t distant or saintly in the untouchable sense; she’s tender, curious, even a little scared, and wholly devoted to God. The writing feels like sitting down with someone who loves to tell stories by firelight, earnest and filled with wonder. There’s something beautiful in the author’s refusal to make Mary flawless. Instead, she lets her faith shimmer through her doubts and daily tasks, through her conversations with Joseph and her cousin Elizabeth. I loved that. It made the sacred story feel reachable, even intimate.
Stylistically, the book reads with a kind of musical rhythm, almost like a prayer. At times, I caught myself pausing just to let a sentence sink in. The writing is rich with sensory detail like the smell of baked bread, the roughness of wood, the brightness of stars, and yet it never drifts into heavy language. The author’s tone feels humble and heartfelt. Occasionally, the abundance of biblical references slows the pace, but it never feels forced; rather, it roots the story in the faith that inspires it. I could tell this book was written not only with literary care but also with devotion.
From the Back of a Donkey draws the reader into reflection, not just about Mary’s journey, but about their own. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to experience the Christmas story in a fresh, contemplative way. It’s perfect for believers who enjoy devotional reading, book clubs that center on faith, or anyone who wants to feel a deeper connection to the humanity behind the divine story.
Pages: 99 | ASIN : B0CP8WMQS4
Christmas Actually: A festive novel about family and forgiveness
Christmas Actually, by Lisa Darcy, is a heartwarming yet humorously chaotic exploration of midlife, motherhood, career revival, and family dynamics set against the backdrop of the holiday season. Katie, the protagonist, is a once-aspiring photographer grappling with the pressures of parenting, a faltering marriage, and the rediscovery of her professional identity. The story unfolds with relatable messiness and sharp wit, drawing readers into Katie’s world of imperfect Christmases and the quest for fulfillment.
Lisa Darcy’s writing is charmingly down-to-earth, though, at times, it feels a bit overly descriptive. Early in the book, Katie’s chaotic dinner party with her husband’s Mormon colleagues is laugh-out-loud funny yet painfully awkward. The tension between Katie’s desire to reclaim her photography career and her insecurities about keeping up with new technology is palpable. Darcy has a knack for making the reader feel like they’re part of Katie’s bustling household, with all its mishaps and tender moments.
What I enjoyed most were the layered relationships, especially between Katie and her teenage daughter, Lexi. Their interactions brim with a mix of love and exasperation, reflecting the generational clash over social media and self-expression. The holiday theme is cleverly interwoven without being overbearing. Katie’s hesitation to embrace Christmas traditions mirrors her internal struggles, and her eventual engagement with the festive season aligns beautifully with her personal growth. Darcy’s portrayal of the season’s chaos, complete with mismatched decorations and burned pavlovas, is refreshingly real.
Christmas Actually is perfect for readers who appreciate stories about juggling life’s messiness with humor and grace. It’s especially suited for working moms, fans of domestic dramas with comedic undertones, and anyone needing a reminder that life doesn’t need to be picture-perfect to be fulfilling. Lisa Darcy’s relatable characters and sharp observations will leave you smiling—and perhaps reaching for your camera to capture your own “perfectly imperfect” moments.
Pages: 346 | ASIN : B0DCDCFY1B
