Christmas Mystery! - Cynthia Hickey

I'd been invited a few months ago to be a part of A Christmas Cozy 2, and it's been a blast, and a challenge. Having a complete mystery in around 5,000 words is not an easy task. I hope I was successful as I show how, and why, the baby Jesus was stolen from a nativity set. My purpose in writing the short story was not only to alert readers to my newest cozy series, but to tug on the heartstrings. I guess I'll have to wait and see whether I accomplished that in "A Thief For A Reason".





Even a 50,000 word mystery has it's challenges, but trying to set the stage, lay red herrings, suspects, clues, all in such a short word span was great fun.





My character, Stormi Nelson, the main gumshoe in my Nosy Neighbor series, is hosting the dessert part of a progressive holiday dinner. What transpires after she welcomes her guests is a rollicking, fun Christmas story about the true meaning of Christmas. (I hope).


Writing Christmas stories are fun, especially at this time of the year, and difficult in July when I wrote this short story. Now that the holidays are fast approaching, I can't wait to hear how readers enjoy my gift to them.





I won't tell you Happy Holidays, no, I believe it is MERRY CHRISTMAS! shouted from the rooftops and hills to glorify the birth of our savior. So, Merry Christmas and enjoy A Cup of Cozy 2 when it releases in a few weeks.

 

Multi-published and Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with a new cozy series, all of which stay in the top 50 of Amazon’s ebooks for their genre. She has several historical romances releasing in 2013, 2014, 2015 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents, and has sold more than 260,000 copies of her works. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs and two cats. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”. Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com