Pickled for Revenge by A. Piper Burgi takes readers to the snowy Black Forest village of Ettering, where holiday cheer isn't just encouraged; it's practically mandatory. Nicko Marquard is a cynical journalist who can't stand Christmas and just wants to get through December without any fuss, but Mayor Arnold Blaschke has other plans, forcing him into an itchy Saint Nicholas suit to kick off the village's ridiculously over-the-top living Advent calendar. Any hope of a quiet holiday disappears on opening day when the village pastor turns up dead in his bathtub, a Christmas pickle ornament stuffed in his mouth. Blackmailed into keeping the peace and solving the murder, Nicko reluctantly becomes a detective, chasing down missing nativity statues, anonymous threats, and a village full of suspicious neighbors, all while trying to figure out who's actually behind Ettering's holiday nightmare.

Pickled for Revenge by A. Piper Burgi is dark, funny, and tense in a way that's hard to pull off in a cozy mystery, but Burgi manages it well. The Black Forest setting comes through beautifully: the particular chill of a small snowy village where everyone knows your business, made even funnier by how seriously the town takes its holiday traditions. Nicko's voice carries the whole book. He's dry, exasperated, and completely done with all of it, and that attitude makes the escalating chaos around him funny rather than just silly. His friendship with Rupert adds a lot of warmth too, and their back and forth gives the investigation a real sense of fun even as the danger keeps creeping in underneath it. It's a really entertaining mystery, and I recommend it to anyone who likes their cozy whodunits with a sharper, darker edge.

Pickled for Revenge by A. Piper Burgi is a quirky Christmas mystery. If there’s one thing that Nicko loathes, it’s Christmas. He hates everything about it, from the merriment to the jingling bells. It doesn’t help that his small town is obsessed with the holiday, and once December starts, it’s like living inside a constant Christmas pageant. Of course, this is spearheaded by the mayor, who takes holiday participation as seriously as civic duty, and naturally, this means Nicko has been roped into the part of Saint Nicholas. Oh, but it gets worse. He’s to partner with his friend Rupert, who will be Servant Rupert. If that wasn’t bad enough, the festivities take a dark turn when they discover the local pastor has been found dead. His death not only causes chaos for the upcoming Christmas event, but it pulls Nicko and his friend into a potentially dangerous investigation.

Balancing the holiday elements is the mystery surrounding the pastor’s death, which has Nicko and Rupert investigating as everyone else seems to be concerned with the upcoming festivities. This creates an interesting humor in the story that keeps everything upbeat as well as quirky. While you see the panic and chaos around getting everything perfect, you’re also meeting a variety of characters that are perfectly suited to the setting. From the mayor hungry for power to Aunt Hilda, everyone feels ideally placed in the town, and most contrast Nicko in some way. This is particularly seen in Rupert and Nicko’s dynamic, which is a delightful blend of sarcasm, skepticism, and humor. Pickled for Revenge by A. Piper Burgi is a delightful mystery with a protagonist who rivals Scrooge in who hates the holidays the most, and it makes this holiday-themed mystery so much fun.