Packy Noonan was able to stash away a flask of diamonds worth $70 million in one of the largest Christmas trees in Stowe, Vermont, before he was arrested and sent to prison for 12 years on other high crime con frauds. He was just biding his time until his release. He would then cut the tree down and retrieve the hidden diamonds, move to Brazil and work on a new identity, with a new facelift and all.

Meanwhile, this tree was chosen by the Rockefeller Center in New York to be cut down this year for their Christmas tree. As it turns out Willie and Alvirah, and some good friends from New Jersey have all planned a trip to Stowe on the same weekend it was to be cut down.

Everyone was excited, and everyone was headed to Stowe, Virginia. Packy was being released from prison and was planning on cutting down the tree holding his diamonds. Willie and Alvirah were going to find the tree given to them to collect maple syrup from. And they were all going to get to see the tree cutting for this year's Christmas tree in New York.

This was a fast and actually pretty good little read. Although the ending was predictable, the story was cute and interesting. ( )

Alvirah Meehan, the lottery winner turned amateur sleuth, teams up with private investigator Regan Reilly to solve another Christmas mystery. A beautiful eighty foot blue spruce has been chosen as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. The people who picked the tree don't have a clue that attached to one of its branches is a flask full of priceless diamonds that Packy Noonan, a scam artist, hid there twelve years ago. I am not a big fan of Mary HIggins Clark although I don't mind her daughter;s stuff (Carolyn HIggins Clark). They teamed up for this very simple read - don't expect anything in depth. I read this for a bookclub for our December meeting. This isn't a big group and no one seemed to like it at all and only a few of us read the entire book. I finished it, but it wasn't a long read. I did think the main idea of stealing the Rockerfeller Christmas tree was a fun idea.

Very easy to read, somewhat predictable. Clark has a lot of humor in her stories, mainly toward the thief, who is usually a dumb cluck. I always enjoy her characters, but we really don't get too much involved with them this time. Very quick read. ( )

A good story about a criminal who years ago hid diamonds in a tree that is now this year's Christmas tree for Rockefeller Center. Interesting twists and believable story. ( )

Audiobook performed by Carol Higgins Clark

From the book jacket: Alvirah Meehan, the lottery winner turned amateur sleuth, teams up with private investigator Regan Reilly to solve another Christmas mystery. This time the case involves an eighty-foot blue spruce that has been chosen as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. The folks who picked the tree don’t have a clue that attached to one of its branches is a flask full of diamonds that Packy Noonan, a scam artist just released from prison, had hidden there over twelve years ago.

My Reactions
There’s not much holiday spirit in this slim volume; it is more a fun and entertaining comic crime caper than a mystery. The coincidences required for the plot to work stretch credulity a bit, but they do add to the suspense and enjoyment. I like this cast of characters: Alvirah and her husband, Willy; Regan and her fiancé, Jack, as well as her parents, Luke and Nora; and Alivirah’s friend Opal, a fellow lottery winner, who lost her money to Packy’s scam. And then there’s Packy and his band of incompetents: Jo-Jo, Benny and Milo.

Carol Higgins Clark narrates the audio version. Her pacing is good, but the voices she used for the various characters just irritated me. ( )