The Snow Lies Deep by Paula Munier

In this seventh book about Mercy Carr, formerly Army Military Police, she is now settled in chilly Vermont, happily married, and has a nine-month-old baby, Felicity. Although Felicity is too young to recognize the season, Mercy and her mother are obsessed with making the baby’s first Christmas as memorable as possible. This begins with a trip to town for a photo op with Santa, and includes massive holiday decorations, indoors and out, and parties scheduled at Mercy and Troy’s home, Grackle Tree Farm.

It is while Mercy and Felicity are in a very long line to meet Santa, when the unwilling Santa (the town’s mayor, a reluctant last minute substitute) gets up and disappears. Naturally, Mercy hands the baby to a friend and dashes after him with her beloved dog, Elvis, only to find the poor man set on fire with a Yule log. That is only the beginning of an intricate plot involving illicit trappers (Mercy’s husband, the game keeper’s, problem), mysterious Russian immigrants, lost wills, and local druids. Mercy recognizes she has no reason to be involved in this case, and keeps saying she wants to be home with the baby but everyone else knows Mercy better than she knows herself:

Dr. Darling laughed. “If you really think you’re going to be able to stay out of this investigation, you’re dreaming.”

“Not my investigation.”

“Maybe it should be.”

“I really don’t have the time,” Mercy shrugged.

“You won’t be able to resist the call of this conundrum.”

“I’ve got my baby and I’ve got my wildlife studies. That’s enough to keep me occupied.”

Famous last words! Mercy is fortunate that she has many relatives and friends willing to take Felicity whenever she needs to investigate these murders but I can’t help feeling she was a more intrepid and appealing heroine when she wasn’t so eager to be home with her child. It reminds me of the “Moonlighting Syndrome," named after the decline in ratings of that TV show after the romantic tension between lead characters was resolved. While I understand that it’s natural for Mercy to want to be home with her child, it’s not really what I want in my sleuth!

Munier does her best to appease readers like me by leaving the baby at home while Mercy does investigate and, as always, she has come up with interesting characters and an unpredictable mystery, wrapped in small-town holiday packaging. Elvis keeps leading Mercy to clues and her mysterious uncle provides background detail on some of the mysterious Russians suddenly turning up in town. The contrast between the folksy Christmas decorations and mood of the village and the increasingly violent murders just add to the intrigue. My favorite character continues to be Mercy’s grandmother, an amazing vet and cook, who always appears at the right moment with cinnamon rolls or dinner.

Paula Munier at Wellesley Books

The book references The Snow Maiden by Rimsky-Korsakov and, coincidentally, it turned up on the radio while I was reading the book although I don’t often play the classical music radio station!

This is my fifth book of the year for the Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge. It was fun to meet the very congenial author when she appeared at a joint event with Julia Spencer-Fleming in Wellesley in December. She commented that I have a virtue name just like Mercy, her mother, grandmother, and baby! That reminded me of my much-missed father, who always used to say, “Constance is a virtue.”

Title: The Snow Lies Deep
Author: Paula Munier
Publication: Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s, hardcover 2025
Genre: Mystery
Source: Personal copy (autographed)