Cosimano, Elle and Morrissey, Hannah – Home for the Homicides

Home for the Homicides

~Elle Cosimano and Hannah Morrissey

Home for the Homicides by Elle Cosimano and Hannah Morrissey brings together two authors living at opposite ends of the bookshelf, hanging them together on a Christmas book tree strung with twinkle lights, dropping them into a Hallmark town, and tossing them into a snowball fight where genres hit at random and somehow all manage to stick.

Meet Special Agents Mark Shepherd and Holly Frost of the SBI, the State Bureau of Investigations, a division that exists to assist smaller departments throughout the state when they run short on manpower. But after their in-office shenanigans, Commander Davenport has made it clear that the pressure is on. Whoever delivers the most impressive performance will take over the Major Crimes assignment desk.

Then murder comes to the town of Christmas, a place where crime practically has to make an appointment to show up. With the annual Jingle Bell Jubilee approaching, Mark and Holly are shipped off to solve the murder before the festivities begin. The pressure is on, but secrets get in the way, pride has to be put aside, a killer remains on the loose, and the two have to fight off a connection they insist doesn’t exist. Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays! It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

Cosimano and Morrissey team up to create a cast of quirky, off-the-wall, and endearing characters that carry both authors’ fingerprints. Holly is the rule follower who takes her work seriously. She’s shaped by trauma and her avoidance of Christmas, and her heartaches and struggles feel genuine and relatable, making her easy to root for. Mark is Holly’s opposite in almost every way: the class clown with a badge, all bravado and bad decisions, and a smooth-talking charmer who somehow always manages to come out smelling like candy canes. Beneath the swagger, though, he carries the fear that he’ll never be enough for anyone.

Together, the two are hot cocoa and peppermint schnapps. They shouldn’t work as well as they do, but somehow they taste great together. The supporting cast are more than decorations on the Christmas tree, although a few feel beautifully placed rather than fully developed, leaving me wishing I had gotten to know them a little better.

The pacing is quick and light, although it occasionally slides onto a patch of ice when the plot tries to juggle a few too many baubles at once. The banter crackles, the slow burn simmers, and the enemies-to-lovers tension earns its steam. Readers are dropped into the Hallmark town of Christmas, complete with a coffee shop serving Christmas-themed specialties, then handed a murder involving a decorative icicle, a hunky lumberjack stripper who isn’t shy about throwing his axe around, and a list of suspects whose names alone are enough to make readers laugh out loud – Buddy Thelf as just one example. The town of Christmas is rendered so warmly you can practically smell the cinnamon before you spot the crime-scene tape.

If you’re looking for a different take on a holiday-themed book that runs the gamut of genres, Home for the Homicides should be on your TBR for its October 13, 2026 release. This isn’t the book for readers looking for an airtight procedural or deep literary snowdrifts. But for anyone who wants their whodunit wrapped in bright lights and tied with a bow made of banter, this is a charming, bingeable holiday read.

I would like to thank NetGalley and authors Elle Cosimano and Hannah Morrissey for the opportunity to preview Home for the Homicides. As always, all opinions and reviews are of my own volition, Karen Brooks aka The Tx Lit Chic. I have not been promised any compensation, current or future, by the author or publisher for a fair and honest review of Home for the Homicides.

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