Mrs. Claus and the Evil Elves: A Mrs. Claus Mystery

Ireland’s funny, well-paced third Mrs. Claus’s mystery (after 2021’s Mrs. Claus and the Halloween Homicide) finds Santa’s wife, April, excited that her best friend from Oregon, Claire Emerson, will be visiting Santaland. April, Santa, and Claire travel from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Santaland in a flying sleigh pulled by a scab reindeer, since most reindeer have walked off the job to protest the introduction of drone-deer, which they fear “would prove the final nail in the coffin of reindeer usefulness.” Tensions ratchet up when a deer-drone bearing the message “THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING!” crashes into a display at an ice-sculpting contest. April, who’s tasked with investigating the incident, hopes to exonerate the obvious suspects for sabotaging the drone—the striking reindeer. When a Santaland resident is beaten to death with a poker, the plot takes a darker turn. Ireland’s bizarre series conceit works, a tribute to her deft juggling of sleuthing and satire. Fans of Leigh Perry’s Family Skeleton mysteries will be tickled. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (Oct.)