The Discombobulated Decipherers: A Brilliant Minnesota Mystery, Volume 2

De: Julie Seedorf

Narrado por: Darla Middlebrook

It’s Christmas in Brilliant, Minnesota, and Brilliant is known for its glitzy Christmas traditions. A world-renowned Christmas pageant, the town square decked out with Santa’s Village, and a live nativity scene bring visitors to Brilliant each year. Just as the tourists arrive, Jezabelle Jingle and her mystery writer friend, Miranda, find the body of Ernest the elf dead and wrapped in a bundle of Christmas lights in the town square. Is Ernest part of a new holiday puzzle the Discombobulated Decipherers need to solve? Or is dead Ernest part of a bigger plot? Will Jezabelle decipher the clues so Brilliant can celebrate Christmas in peace? Or will Jezabelle be the next gift-wrapped box under the village tree?

©2017 Hermiony Vidalia Books (P)2019 Julie Seedorf

Puzzle Solvers are Back!

What a delightful mystery! I enjoyed the setting of Brilliant, Minnesota as Christmas fast approaches and the preparations for the upcoming Christmas pageant with the ever-joyful message of Christ’s birth. The characters are fun, and I am so relieved to meet those who are a bit older than the average puzzle solvers. The mystery is challenging; I couldn’t figure out whodunit and was in for a surprise!

Jezabelle and her friend / business partner Lizzy run the Brilliant Bistro, a central meeting place in town. Mornings and afternoons, they serve coffee and food, evenings are for wine and food. Hick handles the baking. Early one morning, Miranda, the local mystery writer, found a “statue” wrapped in Christmas lights in the park that turned out to be Ernest the “elf”. Who would have killed the man who is shorter in stature than many, and is this a puzzle that Jezabelle and her friends can solve? Since Hank, the police chief, shut down the Penderghast Puzzle Protectors, they aren’t supposed to be doing those kinds of puzzles any longer.

The Discombobulated Decipherers are formed. Whether or not they can solve this puzzle, there are plenty to be deciphered. Our friends are finding glass blocks each bearing the name of one of the three wisemen. Snoop, the flashy photographer/ reporter seems to be missing. A homeless man has been hanging around town, but nobody knows where he is staying. George, the church custodian, is missing, and Jezabelle has a secret admirer who sends extravagant gifts to her at the Bistro.

In this novel, many are not who they seem to be. Jezabelle, Lizzy, and their friends try to uncover the secrets, including secrets hidden by the original founders of the town, the Brilliant brothers. Surprises are everywhere, leading up to a satisfying conclusion leaving no loose ends. Those who have read the author’s Fuchsia mysteries will appreciate the references to Granny.

The audiobook narrator brought the characters to life in some ways. Some of the voices seemed almost too old for the folks represented. Overall, I enjoyed this cozy mystery and highly recommend it in audio, print, or ebook to those who enjoy well-written mysteries with a Christian Christmas message.

From a thankful heart: I won a copy of this audiobook; a review was not requested.

A delightful and clever world

Very early one December morning, while she is busy preparing the baking for her new cafe's morning rush, Jezebel Jingles is alarmed to see her neighbor, the mystery writer Miranda, rush in to the kitchen as the adventures of the The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors make way for the newer adventures of The Discombobulated Decipherers by Julie Seedorf. Miranda announces that the elf statue has fallen over, only to learn that there was no elf statue. Instead, a man acting in the live pageant, Ernest the Elf, has died and frozen stiff while wrapped in Christmas lights. Near the body is a glass cube with the name of Gaspar, the traditional name of one of the wise men, on it. As cubes with the names the remaining wise men, Melchior and Balthazar, appear, the residents of Brilliant, MN decide they have found a great new puzzle to solve. But since Jezebel has promised Hank Hardy, the chief of police, that she would disband the Penderghast Puzzle Protectors, she promptly forms the Discombobulated Decipherers to solve the mystery of the cubes and of the other strange happenings going on in Brilliant.

Any book by Seedorf will be a whimsical mystery, and The Discombobulated Decipherers is a lot of fun too. I did feel that it is a little less whimsical and wonderfully strange than The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors, my favorite of Seedorf's eight books for adults, but that book set the bar high for delight. I enjoyed being reunited with Jezebel Jingles and her pals, who remain their quirky, unique selves. I did wish there was more of a puzzle like in the previous book. The book felt like less of a mystery than The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors. However, I still enjoyed the strange and imaginative world of Brilliant created by Seedorf.

The audio edition of the book is performed by Darla Middlebrook, a new narrator for Seedorf. It took me a little while to adjust to the new voices used by Middlebrook for the characters, but soon I found her to be effective and felt she did a good job of interpreting Seedorf's vision of her clever and delightful world.

I highly enjoyed getting to visit Brilliant again in The Discombobulated Decipherers, with its fun and light-hearted depictions of life. This is a great book to enjoy when you need a great pick-me-up. The book ends on an especially strong note, with a special church Christmas pageant on Christmas Eve and church service on Christmas Day. I definitely recommend this book, but I suggest starting with The Penderghast Puzzle Protectors to meet the residents of Brilliant there first. I give this book four stars.