Holt’s clever whodunnit is set in the quaint Christmas Village known as Pointsettia Point which resides within a snow globe of sort – a climate-controlled bubble that keeps the environment pleasantly perfect for the Yuletide tourist crowd. Angel, the daughter of the village’s resident Santa Claus, teaches Ornithology and music at the College of Christmas Knowledge. Her most popular course is the Birds of Christmas, a study of the 23 birds given as gifts in the song “The Twelve days of Christmas.”

Angel’s boyfriend, Ebenezer is infuriated when the town’s vehement climate activist mayor, Glacier, slaps a tax on his heating shop, Lump of Coal, for selling coal-burning furnaces. The happy holiday season takes a turn for the worst when a dead body is discovered at the foot of the town’s iconic Pear Tree that is the focal point of the popular “Twelve Days of Christmas Drive Through Exhibit.”

Everyone is a suspect! Can Angel solve the mystery and save Christmas for Poinsetta Point, or will its citizens all find lumps of coal in their stockings?

“Everyone has a dream space where they find peace. I have several,” confesses author Merry Holt. “Mountains, rivers, and oceans all bring me serenity, but it’s the holidays that lift me out of the deepest funk. In Cartridge in a Pear Tree, a snow globe insulates my happy place, and I populate it with delightful locals who live within its dome. But these good-willed townspeople, like all neighbors, hide some dreadful secrets. Cozy mysteries allow us to acknowledge the world’s darkness in a light-hearted way. Trauma, betrayal, even murder happen in all societies, and my frosty Christmas Village provides a perfect place to process them.”

About the Author

Merry Holt is a mother, author, and traveler. For twenty years, she provided a home to two profoundly disabled young women, which gave her a new perspective on how the world views people with disabilities. She and her husband now travel the world in search of other people’s stories. Her previous work includes articles for International Living Magazine and her mystery novels, Reclaiming Raven and Cotton Candy Killer.

Merry lives in Florida with her husband, when they is not on the road exploring the world.