Have Yourself a Merry Little Witness

by Dakota Cassidy

Hollie Jackson (Narrator)

• ISBN13: 9798200170197
• Publish Date: 9 February 2021 (first published 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Imprint: Tantor Audio
• Edition: Library Edition
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 5 hours and 12 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Kim Deister]

Have Yourself a Merry Little Witness was a bit of a two-for-one, with not only a murder case but a missing persons one, too. The whodunit in this one was very well done, the revealed identity of the bad guy a complete surprise. The twists and turns had me going in entirely different directions. And the motive shocked me even more! I also loved the developing romance between Halliday and Hobbs, and his easy acceptance of her visions as real and worthy. That made me love him even more! And Uncle Darling… her mother’s best friend and a retired drag queen. As overdramatic as he could be, he was also sweet, kind, loving, and utterly hilarious. I loved the interplay between Uncle Darling and Halliday, but I also loved it between Uncle Darling and Hobbs. Great story in a fun series!

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

I had a blast revisiting the town of Marshmallow Hallow and reacquainting myself with the characters. It was also a pleasure meeting Halliday’s drag queen uncle (Uncle Darling). His overdramatic personality brought humour to the story. However, Atticus Halliday’s familiar retains his spot as my favourite character in the series.

I enjoyed the mystery. Not only do we have a murder, the story also gave us a missing persons case. As Halliday and Hobbs dug, they discovered a connection between the murder and the case of missing persons.  I had a difficulties guessing the identity of the murderer and the motive for the murder. The revelation stunned me and the motive doubly shocking and a tad heartbreaking.

Halliday has finally trusted Hobbs with her secret in relation to her psychic and witch abilities. It made me happy to see her trusting him, which helped in the development of their romance. Her fear of his not understanding and thinking her a freak was all for naught. Despite Halliday’s many attempts to hide from the truth, she could not deny the chemistry she shared with Hobbs.

narration

Hollie Jackson did a wonderful job with the narration, which came as no surprise. She has become the voice of the characters. She did a great job of bringing out each of the character’s personality. However, I thought it weird her tone for Halliday remained the same during her illness.  

conclusion/recommendation

Overall, ︎Have Yourself A Merry Little Witness delivered a fun read which featured quirky characters. A great addition to the series. Looking forward to One Corpse Open Slay, which is the next book in the series.

 

[Berls]

3.5 stars

I can tell that this cozy mystery series is going to be one of those I really enjoy for a quick break. It makes me laugh and I'm already growing attached to the main characters.

And, as much as I do love the main characters, please oh please can we have more of Uncle Darling? Hal's cross-dressing uncle and his husband were probably what made this book just a bit better for me than the last one. Uncle Darling is what every guncle should be (fun, loving, and a bit on the dramatic side). I say that raising my son with two sets of guncles, so maybe that's where the affection comes from? ;)

The mystery in this one was equally good - it kept me guessing from beginning to end and I did not see the answer coming at all. This murder was much sadder than the one in the last book - with the recovering alcohol husband and father to a new baby dying at the very start. I guess that probably also hit my harder because I have a 16 month old and I don't even want to try and imagine that loss. So this book hit me in the feels unexpectedly.

I'm also enjoying the developing romance between Hobbs and Hal. I look forward to seeing where that's going. I feel like Hobbs has some secrets that need to be revealed though -- Texan boy moved to Marshmallow Hallow, Maine just because he visited once and loved it? And how does he afford his lifestyle? I want answers.

My only two negatives - 1 for the series overall and 1 for this book. For the series, each chapter begins with the title of a Christmas book or song and their year and author. This COULD be a neat way to start the chapters, if I saw any connection between them and the story. And maybe there is one, but it's going way over my head. The result is that at the start of every chapter I get slightly confused and pulled out of the story, until I remember it's just because I'm starting a new chapter. This probably wouldn't be as disruptive in the print as it is the audio.

My second negative is actually the narration, this time only. In general, I really enjoy Hollie Jackson's narration and she does a great job with the characters. I LOVED her voice for Uncle Darling, for example. BUT in Have Yourself a Merry Little Witness, Hal is sick. Comments keep getting made about how awful she SOUNDS. And yet, she sounded exactly the same as she always does in the narration. It had the effect of (1) puling me out of the story to think about the narration and (2) making me forget she was sick frequently. I think that, if I were reading it, I would be imagining her voice as ill. I hate to come down on a normally great narration, but for me, that was a disappointment. Won't stop me from reading future books in audio, by any means. But it did take away a bit of my joy in this one.