Christmas is coming, folks are going nuts and Melanie's friend, Claire, has a new business ... give her your list and she'll do the shopping for you! It's going well until she discovers the body of her newest client. She had been living in a rather run down house on the estate of a rich (very rich) recluse. Why? And is there a connection to their high school years? And, for fun, there are puppies! Three abandoned puppies add to the chaos in a house already filled with Poodles (and one mutt). Here Comes Santa Paws is a fun, short, seasonal addition to Laurien Berenson's Melanie Travis Canine Mystery series.

I picked this book: Christmas Calamity at the Vicarage because of the theme. It is part of the Churchill & Pemberley Mystery series by Emily Organ. I know that I jumped in to the middle of the series here, but a bit of background would have been nice (and it can be done without spoiling the earlier books, Diana Xarissa does this quite well). Seems Churchill and Pemberley are 'little old lady sleuths' so when a body is found during the annual party at the vicarage, they jump right in to find the murderer. There are some great 'nods' to the game of Clue, a fun 'hunt' for the mince pies, as well as the other necessary elements of a snow storm and an old house with .... secrets. Oh, and all the evidence is pointing towards Churchill and Pemberley. ;-)

Reading Hermit With Dog