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Reviewed by Jenny Alexander for Readers' Favorite
Mischief and Mistletoe (Betty Benino Mysteries) by Janet Fix is a delightful mystery. It centers on Betty Benino and her family, who are coming to visit her at Christmastime. This is noteworthy because it's Betty’s first Christmas in this town since her husband’s passing. Eventually, it becomes evident that something fishy is going on when parts of the nativity scene at the church go missing. Betty and her two grandchildren do what they can to solve the caper, but it takes them a while to figure it out. In fact, the way the mystery is solved is quite a surprise. The ending is happy, and there is a promise of more Betty Benino mysteries.
As someone who has only recently begun to read cozy mysteries, I highly enjoyed Mischief and Mistletoe. Janet Fix's writing style was full of energy and witty. I love how Betty called her two grandchildren grandchewies, for example, and the squirrel named Nutty. As I was reading, I could picture the characters in my mind. The themes explored were grief, community, family, and faith. I appreciated that faith was part of this story in a non-preachy way. I imagine that a non-churchgoer wouldn’t be intimidated by the faith references. Also, I liked that reading Janet’s other books in this series wasn’t a requirement to reading this one. It was my first introduction to Fix's writing, and I followed along easily, even without having read her other books about Betty. Readers who enjoy K. L. Montgomery’s books will absolutely enjoy this one.
