When Christmas Comes

A bit slow and pretty dark.

Grabbed this as it was included on audible, and it seems to track with some of the other Christmasy stuff I was reading.

This is a murder mystery. Honestly, I think I was a little distracted, or maybe I listened too fast, but this one seemed to lack a lot of needed substance. The main character, Cameron Winter, is called in to help solve the murder of Sweet Haven’s librarian. There are various details about the main character that were left vague or tight lipped to the point where I thought this wasn’t the first book. It is. He has the build of a man that works out and has hands as if he does lots of push-ups on concrete (who knew that was a thing). Almost bringing to mind the kind of bare knuckle boxing look of Daredevil to mind. When asked, he just says he’s an English professor.

Then, he is brought in because sometimes “he can see outside of himself and just figure stuff out.” This almost brought to mind Will Graham from the Hannibal series, except there’s not substance behind the claim. He simply sees things differently sort of aka—there are no hints and the author makes it up?

Another jarring detail that’s there, but also somehow lacking, is that he is haunted and in therapy from a traumatic childhood. The therapy sessions happen during the story, and seem to link to why he is the why he is, but they never actually pay out to anything worthy of much. Oh, and for Cameron Winter, every woman is “young” and “beautiful” and guess what, interested in him. It read like a lack of a personality for the main, and a lack of existence for the women.

The murder, how it was solved, and the twist surrounding it, all read as awfully flat to me. Nothing, not a single line in the entire book, made me care whatsoever. Again, maybe it’s me, and maybe it’s not.

Personally 2/5*. I wish the characters were more than mobsters and smiling women enhancing the character’s looks. Narration was good though!

I won this book in an Instagram giveaway last year sometime. I finally decided to pick it up as I was in the mood for a good Christmas mystery. This is more along the lines of being a cozy mystery so the simplistic writing style and book length fits perfectly.

Cozy mysteries are meant to be short and have a sometimes predicable plot. That being the case, When Christmas Comes was an easy and enjoyable read. I look forward to more in this series.

More like 2.5 stars, but I'm being generous and rounding up.

I reserved this at my library before Christmas and forgot to remove the hold, so figured I might as well read it. Even though I found it in the “holiday themed” section of book suggestions, it's not really a holiday story. It's more Christmas-adjacent. It takes place in winter, around the holidays, but that's about it. The mystery wasn't terrible, but for me at least it was pretty easy to figure out. Early on I figured out that there were some grand theatrics that would eventually result in a soapy type resurrection of Jennifer (I was correct - almost the whole damn town was in on it). But really that was the not the part that bothered me about this book. I didn't get the purpose in all the psychiatrist scenes. Other than yet again to inform the reader how attractive the narrator was. Because apparently that's the one thing every character needs to tell the reader. Mostly I found him whiny. Whiny about a childhood crush at that. That's what made the grey, melancholy cloud hanging over the whole of this story even darker. And that's why 2.5 stars.

When Christmas Comes (Cameron Winter) by Andrew Klavan

Because Klavan said that this is his favorite character, I decided to read this story.

It's a good, engaging read. There is an inexplicable murder of a very nice librarian by her heroic Ranger fiance. The fiance has confessed and going to be sentenced. It is an open and shut case.

Cameron Winter is called in by a desperate defense attorney to find some basis for exonerating the killer, who is a very honorable person who seems to have acted entirely out of character. Winter is a former spook and has a knack of pulling at the right thread to get an answer.

The story is a mystery that honestly provides the clues that set up the answer. I didn't get the correct answer. I had the right basic idea but was entirely on the wrong track. I liked the Winter character and will follow him in other stories.

Rating: 3.5 leaves out of 5
Characters: 2.5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 3/5
Writing: 3.5/5
Genre: Crime/Mystery
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Meh

Do I recommend this book to anyone? No. I honestly didn't get the point of this story at all. They call it a mystery, and it is, but I had no desire to get to know the who and what and why. The main character is unremarkably dull. I get no point of his psychiatrist.

I should have listened to my gut when I read Stephen King endorsed the author.