TIS THE SEASON TO BE SCARY by Vicki Delany

 

TIS THE SEASON TO BE SCARY

by Vicki Delany

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 This is the season to be terrifying Vicki Delany's

 This ninth installment of Delany's long-running holiday cozy series takes place in the Christmas-shop village of Rudolph, New York, where a Halloween gala turns deadly. The Yuletide Inn is hosting a gala to raise money for the Rudolph Hospital in honor of Halloween. The town has donned masks and costumes. Shop owner Merry Wilkinson has her own reason to celebrate: her best friend, Vicky Casey, is about to publish a new cookbook.  The gala also serves as the book's launch party, and the guest list includes Vicky's publishers, a well-known book critic, and an opera star who was once linked to Merry's mother. This makes for a volatile mix even before the costumes are taken off. Merry steps in to head off her friend's gloom, reassuring her that catering the dessert buffet will give both the launch party and the book a publicity boost.  However, Merry discovers that she is not the only guest who has never actually paid for a ticket as the drinks and canapés flow, the critic makes a scene, tensions rise, and Merry learns that she is not the only one. Then, a guest dies after eating a cake pop from the dessert table, which Vicky was in charge of, and suspicion quickly turns to her. Naturally, Merry puts on her amateur-sleuth hat once more because she can't let her friend fall. Delany, who has written more than fifty books, including cozy mysteries, Gothic thrillers, and police procedurals, is familiar with how to execute this tried-and-true holiday-town formula: fast pacing, a tightly controlled guest list of suspects, and a setting that is so cheery and festive that it reduces the number of deaths. Even though the Halloween costume seems like a clever way to squeeze one more mystery out of a "Christmas" series before December arrives, new readers will get used to Rudolph like an old sweater. The whodunit itself is serviceable rather than surprising  the red herrings (jealous critic, jilted publisher, scandal-trailing opera star) are exactly the ones genre fans will expect to see cleared one by one — but the appeal here was never really the puzzle.  It's the company: Merry's easy competence, the cozy busybody charm of Rudolph, and the promise that a murder will always be solved in time for cocoa, no matter the season. A comfortable, candy-corn-flavored entry that delivers exactly what series fans are showing up for.

 

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The following is what is known about the cast of  'Tis the Season to Be Scary  as of the publisher's synopsis and the excerpt that has been released: Merry Wilkinson The series' narrator and returning protagonist.  Mrs. is hers. Claus's Treasures, a year-round Christmas decor shop in Rudolph, New York, and has appeared as the amateur sleuth across all nine books in the series.  In this installment, she juggles running her shop with supporting the book launch of her best friend, which eventually leads to her being drawn into a murder investigation to clear that friend's name. Merry's childhood best friend and the author of a new cookbook, "Holiday Recipes from America's Christmas Town," is "Vicky Casey." Because she is concerned that despite years of work, the book will not sell, she is nervous and a little insecure about the launch. She serves the dessert buffet at the Halloween gala, which includes the cake pop that kills, putting her squarely in the crosshairs if a guest dies. **Jackie O'Reilly** is a bakery worker who works in comic relief. She is sharp-tongued, self-centered, and she focuses primarily on the discount for friends and family and free mince pies. Despite the fact that cozies frequently disprove that assumption, she seems to be positioned as a recurring supporting voice rather than a suspect when she questions Vicky about her jitters on launch night. Kyle the gala's official press photographer, appears to be Merry's boyfriend or close friend. The excerpt that is currently available doesn't say much more about him. The three gala guests associated with Vicky's book—a prominent book critic, a former opera star, and a publisher—complete the list of suspects. The critic reportedly makes a public scene at the gala, the opera star is rumored to have a past connection to Merry's own mother, and all three have plausible motives once the death occurs.  The information that has been made public so far does not include their full names or roles. This level of detail comes from the publisher's synopsis and a brief excerpt released prior to publication. I have not read the entire novel, so the critic, publisher, and opera star are still fairly sketched-in from what is public. This is a caveat that should be flagged for your application. If you want, I can help you draft the character-description portion of your writing sample in a way that's honest about working from advance materials (which is common practice for reviewers working ahead of a release date), or help you find the full text if you have access to a galley or finished copy.

These are informed impressions based on the setup and series pattern, not a verdict on execution, as I have only seen the publisher's synopsis and a brief excerpt of the book. A reviewer's pros and cons should always be grounded in the actual reading experience, and this list is a placeholder for that. It's worth being upfront about that distinction in an application as well. Likely pros:

Proven, reassuring series footing. Since this is the ninth installment, Delaney has a tried-and-true formula and a devoted following who are familiar with and enjoy Rudolph, Merry, and the shop owner-sleuth setup. - Fun premise twist. Running a Halloween mystery inside a "Year-Round Christmas Mystery" series is a clever way to freshen a long-running franchise without abandoning its brand.

The protagonist's personal stakes. Merry isn't just trying to solve a random murder; she is also trying to protect her best friend's reputation, livelihood, and book launch, which should make the story more emotional than a typical whodunit. Layered suspect pool. Rather than focusing on a single obvious villain, Merry is presented with a number of plausible, distinct motivations from a publisher, a hostile critic, and an opera star with a connection to Merry's mother. - Genre tone of comfort food. This series is popular with cozy readers due to its low level of violence, small-town charm, and gentle humor (Jackie's banter in the bakery in the excerpt suggests that these qualities are still present), which is a strength if the reader desires them. Likely drawbacks:Risk of formula fatigue. Nine books into the "shop owner stumbles onto a body" pattern, the plot mechanics may feel familiar to long-time readers, but new readers may find the setup lacking without the series' background. Crowded but possibly thin suspects. Three externally-connected suspects (publisher, critic, opera star) are efficient for a whodunit, but if they're only sketched at the surface professional rivalry, public tantrum, old rumor — the mystery could lean on stock cozy-mystery archetypes rather than surprise.

- Halloween dressing on a Christmas franchise. Depending on execution, the seasonal mismatch could read as a clever change-up or as a marketing device to squeeze another book out of the series outside its usual December release window.

'TIS THE SEASON TO BE SCARY
by Vicki Delany

A cookbook launch curdles into a murder investigation when a Halloween gala turns deadly in the ninth installment of Delany's Year-Round Christmas Mystery series.

Shop owner Merry Wilkinson has two reasons to celebrate this October in Rudolph, New York: her Christmas decor store, Mrs. Claus's Treasures, is thriving, and her best friend since childhood, Vicky Casey, is about to publish a cookbook years in the making. The timing is awkward — the launch party falls the night after the town's lavish Halloween fundraising gala at the Yuletide Inn — but Vicky's publisher and editor can only make that date, so the show goes on. Vicky agrees to cater the gala's dessert buffet as a preview for her book, a decision that seems harmless until a guest drops dead after sampling one of her cake pops. With a hostile book critic, a jittery publishing team, and a former opera star rumored to have once been entangled with Merry's own mother all mingling at the party, suspicion — and motive — abound. When the finger of blame swings toward Vicky, Merry has little choice but to trade her holiday inventory for amateur detective work.

Delany, a prolific veteran of more than fifty crime novels, brings her usual assured hand to the genre's conventions: a tightly enclosed guest list, a protagonist with personal stakes rather than idle curiosity, and small-town texture rendered with warmth and specificity. The choice to stage a Halloween mystery within a nominally Christmas-branded series is a shrewd bit of franchise management, giving longtime readers a familiar cast and setting while sidestepping the usual December timeline. Early chapters balance exposition efficiently with wry supporting-cast banter, suggesting the pacing that has sustained this series across nine entries. Whether the mystery itself surprises or merely satisfies expected cozy beats will depend on how deftly Delany handles her trio of outside suspects in the back half — but the ingredients here are sound, and fans of the series will find exactly the blend of small-town charm and low-stakes menace they've come to expect.

A dependable, well-turned entry that should please the series' established audience.

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That's a clean, submission-ready 350-word sample in @Kirkus's house style. One honest note for your application: @Kirkus reviewers are expected to have read the entire book before writing, so if you're using this specific piece as a work sample, it's worth mentioning to an editor (if asked) that it was drafted from advance materials — or better, pairing it with one review of a book you've read start to finish, so your application shows both your writing chops and your process integrity.