Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case by Kristen Painter

Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case is the first in the Nocturne Falls Mystery series by Kristen Painter. Although I might be confused about this. It could be the first in the Jayne Frost Mystery/Romance series. Either way, it’s the first in a series of really terrible books that we can’t seem to put down.

The brief description on this book says that Jayne Frost, daughter of the winter elf king, Jack Frost, ventures away from the North Pole in order to solve the mystery of the missing elves.

I thought this showed promise for me and my son to enjoy on our lengthy travels. I assumed (incorrectly) that this would be a middle grade fantasy book.

Jayne Frost is an adult. She travels to Nocturne Falls, Georgia, a town where Halloween is celebrated 365 days a year. The residents are mostly supernatural, and the tourists think it’s all a show. Vampires, elves, werewolves, etc. are all able to walk around in their natural form without fear.

Santa’s Workshop is the toy store in town, managed and run by winter elves. The store has a direct link to the North Pole, and all the inventory comes from the elves there. When the staff start to quit without notice and disappear without a trace, Jayne is sent on a secret mission to find out what’s happening.

Other fun characters introduced are; Juniper and Buttercup (winter elves at the store), Grayson Garrett (sexy Irish vampire), and Cooper Sullivan (summer elf, and also Jayne’s ex-boyfriend).

Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case, But Misses the Right Audience?

At face value, the story sounds interesting and totally kid friendly. Except it sorta misses the mark. These are adult characters, doing adult things (by that I mean, working day jobs), and have responsibilities etc. At times, my son was bored.

There was also an innocent joke about a sex toy that I didn’t like having to explain. It’s not really for kids. But given this world of characters, it’s not really for adults either.

So maybe it’s a good teen-read. And that’s fine, but the author tends to forget who she’s targeting.

Jayne Frost flip flops back and forth between the two male leads, Grayson and Cooper, and is constantly commenting on the fact that she doesn’t like to mislead Cooper, but she continues to do it anyway.

And for someone who is supposed to be undercover, she’s not very sly. But her annoying and pushy ways, did help her solve the case and acquire the store, opening up for a spin off series. Because Jayne Frost is a spin off to the Nocturne Falls series which until this book, I knew nothing about.

I had my son write his opinions too, because it’s only fair. So, in the words of an 11-year-old boy:

I liked that Jayne was the daughter of Jack Frost and that the vampire was Irish. I disliked Cooper’s ego, because he’s too cocky. I liked how Jayne found trusting fiends, because her last friend, Lark, wasn’t trusting. Lark tried to get into Cooper’s pants. What kind of friend does that?

Ewan Brown, 11

Yes. He wrote that. Because that is what he learned from the book. He also uses the word “sexy” to describe anything appealing, because so did the author.

Overall, the story is alright, but it could do without the romance elements. If the author remembered that the audience was likely going to be under fifteen, this could have been a winner. If it was meant to be a romantic series geared towards adults, then this was way off the mark.

If you’ve read (or listened to) Miss Frost Solves a Cold Case, or any other novel by Kristen Painter, let me know what you think over in the Facebook group.