It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And once the workers from Rockefeller Center cut down a beautiful blue spruce in Stowe, Vermont, it will also look like Christmas.But when the crews go to cut the tree down, it’s gone and so is their flatbed truck.As luck would have it, Alvirah Meehan, a former cleaning lady turned lottery millionaire and amateur sleuth, and her husband joins friends that include Regan Reilly, a private detective and her family for a weekend in Stowe. Alvirah’s friend Opal, who is also a lottery winner is on the trip. But she’s not rolling in the dough like Alvirah. Opal was a little too trusting to a con artist named Packy Noonan and lost all of her money as quickly as she got it.Speaking of Packy, he just got out of prison after a 12 year sentence for his scam and he may have closer ties to the missing tree than anyone would have imagined. Why would a career criminal want a tree anyway? Don’t worry, Alvirah is always in the right place, at the right time!Anytime I can listen to a Mary Higgins Clark book, I’m on board. It’s been a while since I’ve done the whole audio book deal and recently on my drive home I had the urge to stop at the library and pick a couple up. It’s the holiday season and I couldn’t resist picking up a couple of Holiday Higgins Clark books.I was introduced to Alvirah in another of Mary Higgins Clark’s books, that wasn’t Christmas related, and fell in love with the woman. Who wouldn’t love to win the lottery, can the old job and become a sleuth? That’s like a dream come true for this girl. I always feel like when I listen to books involving Alvirah that I may learn something I can use in my future. You never know when you may fall into one of her scenarios!This is my first Regan Reilly book, although I found out after I got it that this is Regan’s 9th book. The good thing about Mary Higgins Clark is that she writes in a way where you don’t necessarily have to read all of the other books to understand what’s going on in this one. You may understand a little more of the back stories that they mention, but she touches on them and gives you enough to make you want to go back and read more.The thing I love most about books by Mary Higgins Clark is that they make me want to write. There’s something about them that as soon as I start listening, I feel the book juices swirling around and I’m ready to pull over, grab my notebook and let it all out. It doesn’t happen like that in real life… I have listened to two audio books in a week and haven’t written a word, but at least I know where I can go for inspiration.This is the first collaboration book between mother and daughter that I have listened to. I loved Mary so much that I was afraid that I wouldn’t feel the same about her daughter, but I really liked this one. I’m not sure if I am ready to read one of Carol’s without her mother, but it’s a start. And Carol actually narrated this one, which was nice.PS, this is my first holiday book of the year. WAHOO and it gets 5 out of 5 bookmarks.
Pro:Das ist mal ein Cover, bei dem es mich überhaupt nicht stört, dass es wenig bis nichts mit dem Inhalt zu tun hat - einfach deswegen, weil es so niedlich ist! Und zumindest sieht man direkt, dass es sich um ein Weihnachtsbuch handelt...Allerdings ist es keine weihnachtlich-rührselige Geschichte, sondern ein unterhaltsamer Krimi mit überraschend trockenem Humor, skurillen Einfällen und schrulligen Charakteren! Ich habe oft schmunzeln oder sogar lachen müssen. Es ist kein Thriller, sondern eher ein "klassischer" Krimi - das Buch ist angenehm harmlos, ohne Blut und nennenswerte Gewalt, was ich für einen Weihnachtskrimi sehr angemessen und wohltuend fand! Insofern kommt keine nervenzerfetzende Spannung auf, aber es bleibt dennoch unterhaltsam bis zum Schluss und ich habe das Buch in einem Rutsch durchgelesen, weil es so viel Spaß gemacht hat.Die Mischung aus Weihnachtsgeschichte, Krimi und Humor fand ich originell und ansprechend, und nachdem ich dieses Buch fertiggelesen hatte, habe ich direkt das nächste, "Weihnachtsdieb auf hoher See", angefangen.Die "guten" Charaktere sind einfach wunderbar und lebensecht und liebenswert- da gibt es die erfolgreiche Krimi-Autorin und ihren Ehemann, den Bestatter... Die neugierige Amateur-Detektivin mit dem Gespür dafür, sich in Schwierigkeiten zu bringen, und ihren besorgten Gatten... Die Privatdetektivin, die ständig in Fälle hineinschlittert, auch wenn sie eigentlich Urlaub machen möchte, und den Kommisar, den sie heiraten wird...Auch die "Bösewichte" sind großartig: der äußerlich charmante und innerlich böse und durchtriebene Gauner, der es sich so einfach vorgestellt hat, seine Beute aus dem Baum zu pflücken, und seine beiden oft begriffsstutzigen Komplizen, die eher Hindernis als Hilfe sind... Und dann gibt es da noch den erfolglosen Dichter, der keine Ahnung hatte, worauf er sich einließ, als er sich bereit erklärte, eine Scheune zu besorgen und zu bewachen, und den grummeligen alten Mann, der rein zufällig in die Geschichte hineingezogen wird.Der Schreibstil ist angenehm und flüssig zu lesen, und auch die Übersetzung ist meiner Meinung nach gut gelungen. Kontra:Manches ist vielleicht nicht 100%ig wahrscheinlich - es passieren ziemlich viele Zufälle, und manches löst sich dann doch etwas zu praktisch und glatt auf... Aber mal ehrlich, bei einem lustigen Weihnachtskrimi erwarte ich keinen knallharten Realismus, insofern hat es mich überhaupt nicht gestört. Zusammenfassung:Wer klassische, humorvolle Krimis im Stile von Miss Marple mag, der wird sicher auch hier auf seine Kosten kommen! Und wer sich dabei noch in Weihnachtsstimmung bringen will, sollte es mit diesem Buch versuchen.
What do You think about The Christmas Thief (2006)?
It is really hard to like characters who have won the lottery and are complaining about normal life problems. I didn't connect with any of them at all. Characterization was lacking, with no real differentiation between personalities. The biggest difference was that Opal found every way to complain about losing her money as fast as she won it.I'm also confused as to who we should be siding with here. We get a good look at the antagonist but he is made so likeable that it doesn't seem right. The protagonists were annoying and shallow.Finally I still don't get the reason why they had to cut the tree down. It might have made more sense to check the tree first and none of this would have happened.
—Kim
The Christmas Thief follows Alvirah Meehan, a lottery-winning millionaire-turned-mystery-solver, as she and her husband, Willy, take a Christmas vacation in snowy Vermont. Joining them is Regan Reilly, private detective, her fiancée Jack, and her parents, including her mystery-writing mother. Also joining Alvirah is her friend Opal, a fellow lottery-winner who invested all her money with scam artist Packy Noonan and is now penniless once again. Little does the party know, Packy Noonan has just been released from jail and is headed straight for them. What follows is an adventure involving stolen jewels, kidnapping, and a missing Christmas tree. From my research, it appears as though Alvirah is the protagonist in most every one of Mary Higgins Clark’s books, and Regan is Carol Higgins Clark’s leading woman. Essentially, this book is a crossover between the two women’s series, and I felt a bit lost without knowing both of the back stories. It was hard to figure out the relationships between the characters (like Regan Reilly and her fiance Jack Reilly: same surname but apparently no relation?) and feel any empathy to the plights of the characters (such as Opal’s kidnapping, which I don’t feel is a spoiler because it’s written in the description on the back of the book). I also did not appreciate the “suspense” the “Queen of Suspense” was offering up. Rather than subtle foreshadowing, the Clarks spelled things out in a blunt way. Altogether, the book felt a bit fantastical (Lottery winners? Stolen diamonds? Really?) and not very mystery-like. At any given moment, I knew where the characters were and what they were doing as well as the locations of all the stolen property. Where was the mystery supposed to be? Also, for having 2 primary characters who supposedly solve crimes for a living, Alvirah and Regan were pretty slow to pick up clues and piece the whole situation together. Overall, I didn’t like it. The story didn’t offer much in terms of mystery, humor, or any other kind of entertainment. It wasn’t exactly painful to read, but I wish I had spent that time reading something better.
—Lauren
Stowe, Vermont is the place where the tree for the Rockefeller Center is to be cut down. A tree that Maria Van Trapp herself, stood next to a long time ago. Packy Noonan is just released from prison for a scam where he stool millions from unsuspecting people. One named Opal, who lost all her lottery winnings to. Packy stashed a flask with millions of dollars worth of diamonds in a branch of the same tree before he was incarcerated and is on his way to retrieve those diamonds. When he hears this is the tree to be cut down, he decides to beat those people to the punch and cut down the tree, stash it on a flatbed and get his diamonds and head out of the US forever. Alvirah, also a lottery winner, turned sleuth, with her husband and friends Regan Reilly, Opal and others are all headed to Vermont to witness the cutting of this tree. With Opal and Packy's history together, paths cross and it's the suspense of who gets the diamonds and saves the tree.I found it to be a cute, little mystery. I thought the bad guys were pretty amusing because they were so stupid. Because I am not familiar with these characters from the series, I felt a little lost. It was a fun, easy read.
—Becky
