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Beaufort Scales Mystery #5

A Toot Hansell Christmas Cracker

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Rebellious Christmas wreaths.

Mysterious welly-dwelling eggs.

A plague of irate water fowl.

And ten ladies of a certain age who are by no means the least troublesome of Toot Hansell's residents, as far as Detective Inspector Adams is concerned. She's entirely certain her training never covered dealing with the Women's Institute, dragons, or festive magic spills.

Not to mention invisible dogs with caffeine dependencies.

But Christmas is almost here. Things can't go too wrong ... can they?

Well. It is Toot Hansell …



Get some dragons in your Christmas with this collection of twelve short stories from the world of the Beaufort Scales mysteries, plus twelve festive recipes!

266 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2020

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About the author

Kim M. Watt

27 books248 followers
Hello lovely people!

I’m Kim (as you may have guessed, given that you're on the author page for Kim). I write funny fantasies and off-beat cosy (or cozy, depending where you're from) mysteries set in a world not so dissimilar to ours - and in fact sharing many locations.

And in this not-dissimilar world you'll find mystery-solving dragons with a strong affection for barbecues and scones, and snarky feline PIs with human sidekicks. You'll run across baking-obsessed reapers running petting cafes stocked with baby ghouls, Apocalyptic riders on Vespas, and women of a certain age Getting Things Done. There may even be the odd born-again troll redefining troll-ness for the modern age about the place.

You'll find myth and reality clashing in small and spectacular ways, and discover the healing magic of tea and a really good lemon drizzle cake.

But, most of all, there will be friendship, and loyalty, and people of all species looking out for one another. Because these, above all things, are magic.

And you can find me rambling on about all this (and more) over on my website, or join me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for bad puns and many, many cat memes. Many.

Come join me!

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
Profile Image for Eric.
575 reviews31 followers
April 16, 2023
Twelve whimsical short stories of Christmas tidings in Toot Hansell, with recipes for the many baked goods. The "folk" are in high spirits much to the vexation of the women of the Toot Hansell Women's Institute. Nothing serious here. Just fun.
Profile Image for Jon.
410 reviews7 followers
December 11, 2020
It's been a terrible year, and it isn't over yet, but to alleviate the gloom return to Toot Hansell and immerse yourself in the entirely enjoyable* world of Beaufort Scales, moderniser, would-be detective and dragon.

This festive story collection is a delight from start to finish, and each story comes with an equally festive recipe ... my cooking skills aren't really up to those, but they do all look delicious.

All our favourite characters are here - I especially enjoyed Gilbert as a one-dragon branch of PETA, his sweary antagonist Bertie the parrot and the hatchlings who turn out to be extremely rude - and very French.

Brighten up the holidays and visit Toot Hansell!

* - enjoyable for us, anyway. D.I. Adams may have another view.
Profile Image for Eden.
2,067 reviews
September 16, 2021
2021 bk 288. What a joy to find another of the Toot Hansel books. This is a collection of short stories mirroring The Twelve Days of Christmas - only in a British country village that has an excess of magic and magical visitors. Even the dragons are befuddled. Such fun that I stayed up about an hour after bed time to find out the conclusion - oh, and the recipes sound like fun to make!
Profile Image for Janice Clark.
Author 4 books9 followers
June 28, 2021
A cute set of vignettes based (very) loosely on the "Twelve Days of Christmas." As expected in Toot Hansell, there are magical creatures galore and many harrowing adventures, but it always ends with tea and cakes or other interesting goodies.
Profile Image for T.L. Clark.
Author 17 books190 followers
December 23, 2020
Back in August, I read Baking Bad - one of my few 5* reads of this year.
I was overjoyed to see a Christmas book also set in Toot Hansell.

This book is a collection of 12 short stories, each filled with pesky magickal beings, the WI and calamity. They all tie up together nicely. AND you get handy Christmassy recipes included - bonus!

Well, what can I say?
Utter chaos unfolds on the run-up to Christmas in Toot Hansell.
The WI seek assistance from their dragon friends who are, as usual, a bit clueless themselves.

Not only do you get Beaufort and Mortimer; the charming dragons with a baked goods obsession, but many other beings (not all good!).

There is such a wonderful quaint English village charm in these books - just adorable.
And the stories are all fun and sure to get you in the festive mood.
I'm definitely never getting an elf-on-the-shelf; never did trust that smug little git ;-)

There's danger, excitement, humour and plenty of cake!

I love this Toot Hansell world! There, I said it.
Give it a read.
229 reviews
December 10, 2020
Christmas in Toot-Hansell is a perilous time. The past two Christmases have been eventful (see "Yule be sorry" and "Tales of Beaufort Scales") and these connected twelve short stories reveal that for the ladies of the WI, DI Adams and the Cloverly dragons this year will be just as . . . . interesting. All the wonderful characters from the earlier books make an appearance (except Mirriam's sister's friend, the one who doesn't like wearing trousers, much to everyone's relief) as well as a host of mischievous and sometimes malevolent magical beings intent of making trouble. It's up to the WI, the dragons and (much to her annoyance) DI Adams to unravel the mysterious happenings in Toot-Hansell and keep the people safe as well as safely ignorant of the Folk all around them. With plenty of mince pies and mulled wine to keep our heroes and heroines fortified (as well as plenty more baked goods besides) they stand up to the challenge with spirit, charm and humour. To make things even better, recipes for all the baked goods featured in the stories are included. Half the time I'm not sure whether to keep reading or start baking. Overall, a perfectly delightful Christmas treat!
Profile Image for Carol.
114 reviews4 followers
December 19, 2020
Yay, another trip to Toot Hansell, where the W.I. make extra cake, just in case a dragon or two pop round for tea!

Christmas, is approaching, the dragons are in danger of overdosing on mince pies and odd things are happening. Even by Toot Hansell standards... But never fear, the W.I. are on hand to sort things out, assisted by the ever-bemused D.I. Adams and her invisible dog.

Not sure I'd want to *live* in Toot Hansell, but it's a fun place to visit!
Profile Image for Sean Nordquist.
10 reviews
August 12, 2024
Delightful and fun! And I love having the recipes after each chapter. This particular collection of connected short stories was so much fun. I love it.
Profile Image for Charlene Mattson.
Author 14 books17 followers
December 13, 2023
I keep having to pick a new favorite....

Cause they just get better and better!

This one starts making you think it will be more disjointed and like an anthology, but it all comes together. And there's a distinctly Pratchettesque whiff about this one which made it amazing.
32 reviews3 followers
December 21, 2020
Upfront: I'm an ARC reader so I received this book for free. Believe me, if I didn't like it, I would say so, regardless of the price.

I loved this book! Parts of it are poignant and insightful, parts of it had me laughing out loud, and the whole thing is a complete delight. Attacking wreaths, detecting dragons, and faeries spelled with "ae" because they can tell if you say it with an "ai" - what a perfect holiday gift!

I thought at first that these would be mostly unrelated, standalone, stories - and they can be read that way - but here's the clever part: read consecutively, they form a larger story. Each of the lovely ladies of the W.I., along with D.I. Adams, is involved in her own little bit of the happenings. Put together, they make up a larger puzzle. And that puzzle follows the pattern of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" because, as we all know, humans are always trying to fit things into patterns.

Looking at the more technical side of things, these stories are blessedly low on grammatical errors. The characters are individuals with depth, and consistent from story to story and book to book. And the circumstances, while magical, are wonderfully believable. Toot Hansell seems very much like a real place populated with real people of many types.

And the recipes! I've made ones from Ms. Watt's other books with good results. But even if you're not planning on baking anything, these are fun to read.

If you're looking for a truly wonderful last minute holiday gift, even if it's a gift to yourself, you could do a lot worse than "A Toot Hansell Christmas Cracker"!
Profile Image for Keith Willis.
Author 5 books64 followers
February 3, 2021
I’ve read each of Kim M. Watt’s Beaufort Scales novels with great enjoyment, a good cuppa, and a yummy slice of something baked. Thus, I was ecstatic to learn there was a new volume of dragony, cake-filled goodness, along with assorted mayhem and mischief, served up for the holidays.

A Toot Hansell Christmas Cracker is a bit different from the norm of Ms. Watt’s offerings. In this case, a series of twelve vignettes, and I have to confess that I was a bit baffled at the beginning. Although I enjoyed the early stories, I was laboring under the impression each chapter was a stand-along story, and several of them ended with a definite lack of satisfactory wrapping-up-ness. It took me a bit to realize the chapters all progressed towards one final, lovely, dragon-fueled climax which is both hair-raising and hilarious at once. So, shame on me for doubting one of my favorite authors. Patience has its rewards (often mince pies seem to feature prominently, as they naturally should at Christmas), and the Toot Hansell Women’s Institute, DI Adams and her invisible dog, Thompson the Cat, and a host of dragons manage to rout the villains in a most satisfactory manner and still have time to bake up something scrumptious.

Ms. Watt’s stories are cozies in the truest sense of the word, albeit with an underlying acknowledgement that beyond the tea and scones, some fairly dark and dreadful things might be lurking. So it’s best to keep a dragon handy (as one does), and enjoy the season with this wonderful outing in the Scales series.
Profile Image for Daydreamer.
219 reviews9 followers
January 2, 2021
I got an Arc of this book on exchange for an honest review.

So, this book is a collection of short stories, so I’ll be judging this book differently. I won’t explain every single story.
The stories are all inspired by the Christmas song “Twelve days of Christmas”, so there’s a small plot in each short story, but also an overarching one, connecting them all to each other.
I really enjoyed that aspect and loved the different plots, from french, swearing lizards to evil elves or fairies and dragons in dog costumes.

The characters were all from the previous Beaufort Scales novels, mainly the women of the W.I of Toot Hansell and I enjoyed to see more of them!
There are lots of magical creatures in this book, and also cakes and tea and mulled wine, and it all made for a very cozy Christmas-y setting.

The writing was sweet as always, pointing to the magic of friendship and love and just making you feel happy and comfortable.

All in all, it was a different Beaufort novel, but I really enjoyed it!
Profile Image for Marie Cordalis.
58 reviews3 followers
January 17, 2021
Well, I had intended to review this book around Christmas but life in the form of a medical disaster (My 12 year old transplanted kidney failed) and hospital stays and frantic attempts to get me on a dialysis schedule meant that Christmas and New Year's were definitely not what we planned.

So here we are in the middle of January and I'm finally reviewing it.

It was fabulous, fun, unexpected, mystical and just a downright blast to read. I mean who wouldn't want to live in the middle of a village called Toot Hansell! And get to be friends with dragons and talking cats and eat too many yummy baked goods? I love that each story had a recipe to match. and the stories were wonderful and surprising.

Reading this book and rereading the Gobbelino London series helped me get through a very difficult time. Because isn't reading all about escape? It is for me. A chance to get my head out of all of life's messes and live in a different world, even if just for a while.

Don't miss out. Read all of Kim Watt's books!
Profile Image for Catherine.
441 reviews
December 10, 2021
All it's cracked up to be

I bought this when it was released but decided to wait until December to read it. Anticipation made it hard to wait but so worth it. If this is your first encounter with the Cloverly Dragons, you're in for a lot of first rate stories. A somewhat different take on the old standby Twelve Days of Christmas song, it has various Fae Folk besides dragons taking up the roles in the song. From elves to faeries to gnomes & more, what happens when the ancient ones want their holiday back? Havoc ensues but the Folk never counted on the Toot Hansell's W.I. defense of their beloved Christmas Market. Bonus for bakers and those wanna be bakers. After every story is the recipe mentioned in the story. Ms Watt does that in all the Beaufort Scales mysteries. She nicely has the measurements in American & British units. I think once you read the first story, you'll be more than interested in his other adventures.
Profile Image for Jingizu.
95 reviews2 followers
December 21, 2020
The Twelve Days of Christmas will never be the same! At least not if you live in (or near) the village of Toot Hansel.

Just what was needed to end this dismal year! Twelve wonderful short stories, all connected (but can be read on their own), filled with the magic and friendships of Toot Hansel, the ladies of the W.I., DIs Adams and Collins, and of course, the Cloverly Dragons. (I really loved that we got to see more of the other ladies of the W.I. like Rose, Pearl, Carlotta, etc. and thought the friendship that is developing between Rose, the oldest of the ladies, and Lord Walter, the (presumably) oldest of the dragons, is really great).

Christmas is a magical time of year, in more ways than one! Highly recommended!

I received in ARC in return for an honest review.
Profile Image for Angel Ballard.
735 reviews4 followers
December 25, 2020
The wonderful world of Toot Hansell!
Having never read books from this author before, I had no idea what to expect. I read to keep my sanity and 2020 will go down in history as one of the worst years, ever, for planet Earth and her people. But, my! How timely is this book?!? I've not been interested in eating lately, it felt kind of pointless. But I've made 2 recipes from this book so far, all while reading because they made me hungry for the first time in many months! The 12 stories of Christmas told "Kim Watt style" had me laughing and forgetting about the world around me for a bit. I love dragons, faeries and dogs and this book had them all and then some! Lose yourself for awhile in this book! What a blessed escape! Thank you Ms. Watt for saving my sanity!
Profile Image for Kathie.
273 reviews8 followers
December 29, 2022
This book is loosely based on the twelve days of Christmas theme as it visits the village of Toot Hansell, where we meet up again with the women of the Women's Institute, DI Adams, and a variety of magical folk, including dragons, nymphs, goblins, an invisible dog, a mysterious cat and an evil Santa. Each chapter covers one day leading up to Christmas, and the magical mischief builds each day as the people of the village prepare for and stage their market fair. And the story reaches its climax as the WI women, with the help of the dragons, the dog and the cat, save the village from Christmas disaster. Baking goodies is an important part of the story and recipes are included. A very silly, fun read.
30 reviews2 followers
December 25, 2020
This was one of those books that I bought as gifts for several people before I got to the fourth chapter. It was a perfect way to introduce people to the humour and sensitivity of Kim Watt. It seemed to have worked as I gather that there will be least 3 new members of the Toot Hansell Auxiliary.

Even reading the recipes which follow each chapter, are entertaining. Whether you ever plan to make any or not,, they are a joy just to read. One gets an insight into the mind that created the most wonderful community.

If you are a devoted fan or just want something a little different to try,, this is the perfedt book for you. Just make sure it's understood, you will be laughing out loud.
Profile Image for Gail.
552 reviews1 follower
March 27, 2021
I want Christmas back!

With the writing I could literally smell all of the yummy recipes being made by the W.I.

I just adore these books, I've even emailed Kim to thank her for such wonderful creatures and people.

I can see D.I. Adams slowly loosening that top knot of hers and start to relax with all the goings on in Toot Hansell. I'm waiting for her to move into the a cottage there and learn how to bake. Though PLEASE not from Jasmine.

This Christmas things start to come alive in Toot Hansell, things that shouldn't and things that are, that do what they shouldn't.

Please buy these books, they're fab.
Profile Image for Tsippi Jelingold.
66 reviews4 followers
February 15, 2021
A collection of wonderful stories which, to misuse the immortal words of the late Douglas Adams, almost, but not quite, correspond to the twelve days of Christmas poem. From [not quite] a partridge in a pear tree to [almost] 12 drummers, these stories involve every member of the W.I., many of the Cloverly dragons, police Inspectors, talking cats, invisible dogs, rude lizards and even ruder birds, and much more. Even better - each story is accompanied by a recipe. Read this book; I recommend it to all Toot Hansell lovers.
247 reviews5 followers
December 17, 2020
Just what this weary world needed... a selection of amusing, light hearted and entertaining short stories featuring many of the characters we're already familiar with from the previous years Christmas stories. The icing on the cake is the wonderful recipes that alternate with the stories... they're as entertaining as the havoc being wrecked in Toot Hansell, and I'll be trying a few! homemade mincemeat, yum! This book totally helped me find my Christmas spirit.
46 reviews1 follower
February 26, 2022
Hungry?

If you aren’t when you start this book, reading the recipes will make you start thinking of your Christmas dinner in advance (long in advance as of this writing). I really got a kick out of the characters and their dialog (talking dragons is just cool to me - quite the personalities). You’ll have to excuse me, I have another book by Ms. Kim to read - suggest you start here, too! ;)
Profile Image for Sharen.
497 reviews4 followers
March 4, 2022
I love these dragons! 12 days of Christmas song. Every day is a different part of the song…..dryads, Faeries, water sprites, elves, and then there is the talking cat, the invisible dog, and of course dragons, and recipes…..awesome delicious recipes. So, curl up with a cup of tea, a tasty snack, follow the song and enjoy. I have the next book all set up to read. Kim M Watt is a great story teller!
Profile Image for Nirkatze.
1,040 reviews23 followers
June 1, 2024
These shorts had a lot of great cute moments in them but felt more like a collection of deleted scenes than fully realized individual stories. I enjoyed the continually expanding menagerie of creatures, and Dandy especially seemed to get a lot of useful and even heroic scenes in this book. I also really enjoyed the interspersed recipes. Really making me want to a) get an eyebook copy and b) try some of these out....
December 17, 2020
Toot Hansel is my favourite escape place to go to. It's a mystical small English village peopled with loveable and not so loveable beings. The stories have strange and good plot twists . I have Kindle Unlimited ,however these books are among the few I'll purchase no matter what. Marvellous stories for fantasy lovers.
Profile Image for Julie-Ann Amos.
136 reviews2 followers
December 27, 2020
Really enjoyable cosy mystery with Fantasy creatures. I did personally find it a little bit confusing because I used it as my entry to the series. Therefore there were a lot of characters that I didn’t know and I got them mixed up at times. That would’ve been avoided if I’d started with the first book in the series so it’s not a criticism of the book at all. As a story collection it was a great standalone, Just because each story used different characters and I didn’t know them yet I did get a little mixed up
239 reviews1 follower
January 11, 2021
I love this entire series and this book is a perfect play on the 12 days of Christmas. All the characters are quirky and interesting. The dragons band together to protect their humans from too much magic in the days before Christmas. The threats were varied and comical. I definitely recommend this book.
222 reviews16 followers
February 27, 2021
This collection of short stories spans the series - starting before and interleaved in between. It gets five stars for entertainment, for being up to the standard of the series and for the sheer ingenuity of arranging the stories to have some relevance to the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas."
27 reviews1 follower
March 22, 2021
A Treat at any time of the year

When the world feels totally at odds, a little escapism to Toot Hansell is just my cup of tea, mulled wine or whathaveyou. Dragons, the Old Folk and the WI combine perfectly and entertain the mind and feed the soul. And Christmas. For me, these books are a perfect respite from the world. Do read!
Profile Image for R. Jetleb.
Author 12 books6 followers
December 28, 2021
What a lovely collection of 12 Christmas short stories, modelled after the Twelve Days of Christmas song. Dragons, and faeries, and elves, oh my! These delightful, fanciful stories are threaded loosely together with an overall theme, but each can be enjoyed independently but are so much more enjoyable as a unit leading to a satisfying conclusion.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews

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