Some time ago, when I entered the room of a 94-year-old audiobook patron residing in a care centre, I found her listening intently to a book I had chosen for her. She took off her headphones and said gleefully: “I’m getting addicted to murder!”
For those who enjoy murders mysteries during any season — even when the days are merry and bright — here are some good Christmas murder stories.
Sitting on our new book shelf, I found The Mistletoe Murder and other stories, published two years after the death of acclaimed mystery author, P.D. James. Over the years, she was frequently asked by newspapers and magazines to write a short story for Christmas. Four of her best are published in this volume for the first time.
The Big Book of Christmas Stories edited by Otto Penzler, includes 60 of his all-time favourite holiday crime stories, many of which are difficult or nearly impossible to find anywhere else. From classic Victorian stories by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, R.L. Stevenson and Thomas Hardy to contemporary tales by Mary Higgins Clark, Agatha Christie, Sara Paretsky and Ed McBain, this massive, suspenseful, funny and frightening collection touches on most aspects of this holiday season.
Christmas at the Mysterious Bookshop, “stories of mistletoe and mayhem from 17 masters of suspense,” is another good read, collected by Edgar Award-winning editor Penzler. The publication of this book is itself a delightful story. For the past 17 years, Penzler, owner of the legendary Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, had commissioned an original story by a leading mystery writer. The requirements were that it be a mystery/crime/suspense story, that it be set during the Christmas season and that at least some of the action must take place in The Mysterious Bookshop. These stories were then produced as pamphlets and 1,000 copies were given to customers of the bookstore as a Christmas present. All of these stories have been collected in this one volume. Some of the tales, by famous contributors such as Anne Perry, Lisa Atkinson, Ron Goulart and Donald E. Westlake, are humorous, suspenseful and even mystifying.
Anne Perry’s Christmas Vigil includes two Victorian holiday mysteries: “A Christmas Promise” and “A Christmas Odyssey.” In these two holiday mystery stories, set in Victorian London, Christmas arrives with a helping of magic and murder.
Those who still want some light, short, Christmas-y reading — without the murder — can find these offerings by favourite authors:
• Holiday Kisses, featuring stories by Jaci Burton, Shannon Stacey, HelenKay Dimon and Alison Kent;
• Our First Christmas, with contributors Lisa Jackson, Mary Burton, Mary Carter and Cathy Lamb;
• Mischief and Mistletoe, contributors Mary Jo Putney, Jo Beverley, Joanna Bourne, Patricia Rice, Nicola Cornick, Cara Elliott, Anne Gracie and Susan King;
• Merry Christmas, Baby, by Donna Kauffman, Nancy Warren, Erin McCarthy, MaryJanice Davidson, Lucy Monroe and Susanna Carr;
• and Best Canadian Christmas Stories, edited by Don Bailey and Bob Hilderley, and featuring 31 stories by famous Canadian authors, among them Alice Munro, Stephen Leacock, Margaret Atwood, Jane Rule and Margaret Laurence.
These and other Christmas stories can be found in your local libraries.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published on Wednesdays. Teresa Rehman works at Coquitlam Public Library.
