In the third book the Diane Kelly’s Mountain Lodge series, Misty Murphy’s inn at Beech Mountain, North Carolina has been booked for the week before Christmas by Nigel Goodwin. He’s travelled from the UK with his wife and assistant to pitch his new exclusive resort to potential investors. 

But not all the locals are onboard with the idea. And some aren’t shy to come to the lodge and express their opinions to both Goodwin and his prospective investors. Then a blizzard strikes and the police have to be called to intervene when the protestors and the investors disagree. 

With all the extra snow, a makeshift sledding hill is made and Misty’s twin sons, on a break from college, use the sledding hill between snowboarding runs at a local ski hill…and Goodwin’s body is discovered. 

Although the police are involved right away, Misty wants to know  who killed Goodwin and why. She’s helped by her boyfriend Rocky, his daughter, Misty’s sons, and Patty who runs the diner across from the lodge. 

There’s a good mystery story with plenty of suspects with a motive to kill Goodwin, and the setting of the lodge is perfect. The author has the ability to bring the place to life so you can picture yourself enjoying a winter getaway. Lots of secondary characters are on scene, so there’s an eclectic group along with core series characters. Misty’s cat is also featured, but that was one element I found jarring. Every so often there’d be a chapter in Yeti’s POV and it did lift me out of the story itself. 

4 stars