Christmas Corpse by Mona Marple ~ an Audiobook Review

by Donna Huber

Welcome to Candy Cane Hollow, where every day feels like Christmas!

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free audiobook was provided for an honest review.

August 2025; Tantor Media; 9798318521041
audio (4h 6m), ebook, print; cozy mystery

I know it might feel a little early for Christmas books, but if my inability to check out the ones on my wishlist at Libby is any evidence, there are plenty of people reading Christmas books year-round.

Christmas Corpse is the first book in Mona Marple's Christmas Cozy Mystery series, and it is now available as an audiobook (the paperback and Kindle versions came out in 2020). There are 8 books total so far in this series (book 8 came out this summer). Hopefully, they will all come out as audiobooks eventually (spoiler: according to Amazon, several more of them will come out in audio in December).

If you are thinking it is ironic that an author with the last name Marple is writing a cozy mystery series, it is a pen name for Katie Forrest.

This book has everything you'd expect in a Christmas cozy. 

1. It is short - it's just over 4 hours. But since it is in a Christmas series, it isn't an outtake from the "regular scheduled storyline". 
2. The plot is a little ridiculous and predictable - Holly is driving through a snowstorm when her car skids off the road. She is rescued by Mrs. Claus and apparently, Santa's village has relocated from the North Pole to just outside London. Of course, Old St. Nick is retired, and Nick Jr is in training to take over. At least she didn't wake up and realize it was all a dream or a head injury-related hallucination.
3. The characters are quirky - hello! It's set in Santa's village, so you have elves and such.
4. Mostly a fluffy story - There is a little romance brewing. While there is a murder, it's not gruesome, and sometimes I forgot there was a dead body.

I love listening to Christmas stories (there are only so many hours I can listen to Christmas carols) while I'm baking cookies or decorating the house. Charlie Albers does a great job as the narrator of the audiobook. I didn't have any trouble telling the characters apart.

Even though it is predictable, it doesn't mean it wasn't fun. I definitely think this would be a great palate cleanser if you typically binge-read holiday rom-coms. I'm looking forward to reading more books in this series.

Buy Christmas Corpse at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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